Even the best comedies are strongly tied to the time and place of their composition. Just try getting all the jokes in Shakespeare without peeking at the footnotes for help. But every now and again, a comedic gem shines through the ages, even from as far back as Classical Greece.
Maybe this is because ancient Greek ideas are so deeply embedded in Western culture, or maybe Athens just produced some truly brilliant playwrights. Whatever the case, some Greek comedies still entertain millennia after their first performances. Ancient Greek comedy encompasses centuries, so scholars often break it down into three distinct periods.
Old Comedy (5th century BC) is characterized by its focus on social and political issues, with plenty of farce and innuendo. Middle Comedy (400–320 BC) moves away from the political to favor myth-based parodies and stock characters. Finally, New Comedy (320 to the mid-3rd century) leans into a style modern audiences would see as similar to situational comedy, while also introducing the five-act structure that would come to dominate European theater.
Today, we look at four Greek plays: three Old Comedies and one New Comedy. This split isn’t because Old Comedies are more amusing than those from the other periods. It is, in part, because the Middle Comedies are mostly lost to us, and few New Comedies have survived to the present day.
Even among the relatively better-represented Old Comedies, all the works we have today were penned by the playwright Aristophanes. It’s a sad thought, but many hilarious and innovative works may be lost to time. Thankfully, we can still enjoy these plays.
A scene from a 1947 production of Aristophanes’ _Lysistrata_ at Oslo’s Centralteatret. ( .S. Polyfoto / Wikimedia Commons) _O women, if we would compel the men to bow to Peace, … We must refrain from every depth of love …. Why do you turn your backs?
Extract — continue reading at the source.
