Great Playwrights of Comic Drama in Athens

Greek Classics Include First Anti-War Comedy

Aug 30, 2009

Greek comedy evolved from riotous wine festival celebrations, through wartimes and periods when strict censorship laws were enforced.

Ancient Greek comedy is usually arranged in three variations in form and content – old, middle, and new.

Aristophanes and Politics in Athens

Aristophanes (about 450 to 380 B.C.) is considered to be the greatest old comedy writer. Of his many plays, eleven survive, while those of his contemporaries are lost.

From the beginning of his career, Aristophanes directed his attention to Athens’ political situation. The people were demoralized by the death of their hero, Pericles. The effects of the Peloponnesian war (431-404 B.C.) were devastating.

First Anti-War Comedy

His first surviving play, Archarnians was written during the sixth year of the war. The first comic drama written in opposition to war, it speaks of its evils and the advantages of peace.

Aristophanes’ comedy, The Babylonians was aimed at Cleon, Athens’ unscrupulous leader. The demagogue was also the object of Aristophanes’ satirical powers in The Knights. Cleon was so powerful that no one would perform the character or wear a mask that identified him. The poet smeared his face with wine dregs in mockery of Cleon’s bloated and alcoholic appearance. He then performed the role himself, and received great praise from the public.

Lysistrata was Aristophanes’ return to the theme of pacifism twenty-one years after the start of the Peloponnesian war.

After the defeat of Athens by the Spartans, liberties were significantly decreased. A law forbade the use of individuals’ names in comedy. It was far too dangerous for playwrights to directly attack state policies.

Comic Drama and Censorship

Playwrights were extremely careful to avoid conflict with the vengeful law enforcers. The prohibition was often evaded by simply identifying individuals by use of masks and other external means. Theatre audiences quickly recognized the characters.

The poets’ subjects were from antique myths, or were parodies of the tragedians. They turned from ridicule of the demagogues to another group of characters that included drunkards and misers. They drew from the everyday lives of the population.

Little is known of the thirty or so playwrights from this period that covered, roughly, 404 B.C. to Alexander’s succession in 336 B.C..

Antiphanes (about 408 to 334 B.C.) was one of the most important writers of middle comedy. Extremely prolific, he has about three hundred comedies attributed to him. Surviving fragments and titles of his plays, such as Cyclops and Minos, have mythological themes written in a graceful style.

One of the few long fragments of his work is of his important play, Poiesis. In it, the playwright exposes the differences between writing tragedy and comedy. He contended, as Aristophanes had, that writing comedy was more difficult. A great favorite of audiences, his body was returned to Athens for burial after his death in Chios.

Menander and the New Comedy

The world had drastically changed since the time of Aristophanes. Athens lost its freedom under Alexander’s domination. Poets of the new comedy drew their fictional characters from cooks, merchants, farmers, and slaves. Their comedy was more restrained, but gave faithful pictures of Athenians’ lives. The wild caricatures of the past were no long presented. Most of the works written by the sixty-four known comic playwrights are lost.

Menander (342-292 B.C.) was the most prominent poet. During his career of thirty-three years, he wrote105 plays. The work of “the most gifted poet of his time” was thought to be lost. Only fragments were known for a long time. In 1906, parts of his works were found in Cairo. A later discovery was made of a papyrus manuscript of his Dyskolos (The Grouch). Though incomplete, it provided considerable insight into the content and structure of Menander’s play.

His characters, concerned with the everyday affairs of Athens, spoke in contemporary dialect. Menander’s work is described as “comedy only in a broad sense of the term”. His plays depicted serious situations, with some comic relief. His writings display sympathy for human weakness, and are among the most quoted of the classics.

The works of these comic dramatists were later translated into Latin and adapted by Roman playwrights.

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The copyright of the article Great Playwrights of Comic Drama in Athens in Ancient Theatre is owned by Kathleen Airdrie. Permission to republish Great Playwrights of Comic Drama in Athens in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.