Athenian Comedy in the Roman Empire

by C. W. Marshall (Editor), Tom Hawkins (Editor)

Overview

Athenian comedy is firmly entrenched in the classical canon, but imperial authors debated, dissected and redirected comic texts, plots and language of Aristophanes, Menander, and their rivals in ways that reflect the non-Athenocentric, pan-Mediterranean performance culture of the imperial era. Although the reception of tragedy beyond its own contemporary era has been studied, the legacy of Athenian comedy in the Roman world is less well understood.

This volume offers the first expansive treatment of the reception of Athenian comedy in the Roman Empire. These engaged and engaging studies examine the lasting impact of classical Athenian comic drama. Demonstrating a variety of methodologies and scholarly perspectives, sources discussed include papyri, mosaics, stage history, epigraphy and a broad range of literature such as dramatic works in Latin and Greek, including verse satire, essays, and epistolary fiction.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781472588852
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	11/19/2015
Series:	Criminal Practice Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Tom Hawkins is Associate Professor of Classics at Ohio State University, USA, and the author of Iambic Poetics in the Roman Empire (2014).

C. W. Marshall is Professor of Greek at the University of British Columbia, Canada. His publications include The Stagecraft and Performance of Roman Comedy (2006), Classics and Comics (2011) and No Laughing Matter (Bloomsbury, 2012) and The Structure and Performance of Euripides' Helen (2014).
C. W. Marshall is Professor of Greek, Department of Classical, Near Eastern, and Religious Studies and Distinguished Scholar in Residence, Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, University of British Columbia, Canada. His publications include The Stagecraft and Performance of Roman Comedy (2006), Classics and Comics (2011) and No Laughing Matter (Bloomsbury, 2012).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
1. Ignorance and the Reception of Comedy in Antiquity
Tom Hawkins and C. W. Marshall
2. Juvenal and the Revival of Greek New Comedy at Rome
Mathias Hanses
3. Parrhesia and Pudenda: Genital Pathology and Satiric Speech
Julia Nelson Hawkins
4. Dio Chrysostom and the Naked Parabasis
Tom Hawkins
5. Favorinus and the Comic Adultery Plot
Ryan Samuels
6. Comedies and Comic Actors in the Greek East: An Epigraphical Perspective
Fritz Graf
7. Plutarch, Epitomes, and Athenian Comedy
C. W. Marshall
8. Lucian's Aristophanes: On Understanding Old Comedy in the Roman Imperial Period
Ralph M. Rosen
9. Exposing Frauds: Lucian and Comedy
Ian C. Storey
10. Revoking Comic License: Aristides' Or. 29 and the Performance of C Comedy
Anna Peterson
11. Aelian and Comedy: Four Studies
C. W. Marshall
12. The Menandrian world of Alciphron's Letters
Melissa Funke
13. Two Clouded Marriages: Aristainetos' Allusions to Aristophanes' Clouds in Letters 2.3 and 2.12
Emilia A. Barbiero

Editorial Reviews

"Marshall and Hawkins have assembled a diverse and stimulating collection of essays, which will prove to be a valuable resource for future work in this area.” - Mouseion

“Contributors treat diverse authors, texts, and evidence, yet each chapter remains firmly rooted in a measured consideration of the received genre. Readers with an interest in Athenian comedy, Old or New, or in a cautious yet productive approach to comic reception, will discover much of value in this well-executed volume.” – Classical World

“An exciting collection that exposes not only the enduring influence of classical Athenian comedy but also the depth and sophistication of later Greeks' response to it. Like their subject matter, these essays are vibrant, acute, learned and not infrequently surprising.” —Tim Whitmarsh, A. G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture, University of Cambridge, UK

“These studies offer a rich panorama of the continuing vitality of Greek comedy throughout the rest of antiquity. We can see comedy, Old and New, continuing to engage, inspire – and sometimes enrage – small town audiences and imperial elites, and it's well worth joining the throng!” —Niall W. Slater, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Latin and Greek, Emory University, USA

From the Publisher