1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910493200503321

Autore

Nelson Stephanie

Titolo

Aristophanes and his tragic muse : comedy, tragedy and the polis in 5th century Athens / / Stephanie Nelson

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Leiden, Netherlands ; ; Boston, [Massachusetts] : , : Brill, , 2016

©2016

ISBN

90-04-31091-6

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (394 p.)

Collana

Mnemosyne Supplements, , 0169-8958 ; ; Volume 390

Disciplina

882/.01

Soggetti

Greek drama - History and criticism

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front Matter -- Introduction -- Comedy and Tragedy in Athens -- Satyr Drama and the Cyclops: Where Tragedy and Comedy Meet -- The Acharnians and the Paradox of the City -- The Wasps: Comic Heroes/Tragic Heroes -- Oedipus Tyrannos and the Knights: Oracles, Divine and Human -- Persians, Peace, and Birds: God and Man in Wartime -- Women at the Thesmophoria and Frogs: Aristophanes on Tragedy and Comedy -- Conclusion: The Dionysia’s Many Voices -- Synopses -- Glossary -- Bibliography -- Index.

Sommario/riassunto

Despite the many studies of Greek comedy and tragedy separately, scholarship has generally neglected the relation of the two. And yet the genres developed together, were performed together, and influenced each other to the extent of becoming polar opposites. In Aristophanes and His Tragic Muse , Stephanie Nelson considers this opposition through an analysis of how the genres developed, by looking at the tragic and comic elements in satyr drama, and by contrasting specific Aristophanes plays with tragedies on similar themes, such as the individual, the polis, and the gods. The study reveals that tragedy’s focus on necessity and a quest for meaning complements a neglected but critical element in Athenian comedy: its interest in freedom, and the ambivalence of its incompatible visions of reality.