Ancient Greek comedy

{{Short description|Genre of ancient Greek literature}} [[File:Phlyax scene Louvre CA7249.jpg|thumb|260px|Theatrical scene with two comedic actors on a Sicilian [[red-figure]] calyx-[[krater]] {{circa|350}}–340 BC.]] '''Ancient Greek comedy''' ({{Langx|grc|κωμῳδία|translit=kōmōidía}}) was one of the final three principal [[drama]]tic forms in the [[Theatre of ancient Greece|theatre of classical Greece]]; the others being [[Greek tragedy|tragedy]] and the [[satyr play]]. Greek comedy was distinguished from tragedy by its [[happy ending]]s and use of comically exaggerated [[character archetype]]s, the latter feature being the origin of the modern concept of the [[comedy]]. [[Classical Athens|Athenian]] comedy is conventionally divided into three periods; [[Old Comedy]] survives today largely in the form of the eleven extant plays of [[Aristophanes]]; Middle Comedy is largely lost and preserved only in relatively short fragments by authors such as [[Athenaeus]] of [[Naucratis]]; New Comedy is known primarily from the substantial papyrus fragments of [[Menander]]. A burlesque dramatic form that blended tragic and comic elements, known as [[phlyax play]] or hilarotragedy, developed in the Greek colonies of [[Magna Graecia]] by the late 4th century BC.

The philosopher [[Aristotle]] wrote in his ''[[Poetics (Aristotle)|Poetics]]'' (c. 335 BC) that comedy is a representation of laughable people and involves some kind of blunder or ugliness which does not cause pain or disaster.<ref>Aristotle, ''Poetics'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Aristot.+Poet.+1449a line 1449a]: "Comedy, as we have said, is a representation of inferior people, not indeed in the full sense of the word bad, but the laughable is a species of the base or ugly. It consists in some blunder or ugliness that does not cause pain or disaster, an obvious example being the comic mask which is ugly and distorted but not painful."</ref> [[C. A. Trypanis]] wrote that comedy is the last of the great species of poetry Greece gave to the world.<ref>Cf. Trypanis, ''Greek Poetry from Homer to Seferis'', Chapter 4, p. 201</ref>

==Periods== The [[Alexandrine grammarians]], and most likely [[Aristophanes of Byzantium]] in particular, seem to have been the first to divide Greek comedy into what became the canonical three periods:<ref name="Mastromarco94">Mastromarco (1994) p. 12</ref> Old Comedy ({{lang|grc|ἀρχαία}} ''archaía''), Middle Comedy ({{lang|grc|μέση}} ''mésē'') and New Comedy ({{lang|grc|νέα}} ''néa''). These divisions appear to be largely arbitrary, and ancient comedy almost certainly developed constantly over the years.<ref name="Winkler2001p173"/>

===Old Comedy (''archaia'')=== {{Main|Old Comedy}} [[File:3304 - Athens - Stoà of Attalus Museum - Theatre mask - Photo by Giovanni Dall'Orto, Nov 9 2009.jpg|thumb|Terracotta comic theatre mask, 3rd century BC ([[Stoa of Attalus]], Athens)<ref>''Athenian Agora'' V K 136</ref>|203x203px]] The most important Old Comic dramatist is [[Aristophanes]] (born in 446 BC). His works, with their pungent [[political satire]] and abundance of [[Human sexuality|sexual]] and [[scatological]] [[innuendo]], effectively define the genre today. Aristophanes lampooned the most important personalities and institutions of his day, as can be seen, for example, in his buffoonish portrayal of [[Socrates]] in ''[[The Clouds]]'', and in his racy anti-war farce ''[[Lysistrata]]''. He was one of a large number{{clarify|date=January 2016}} of comic poets working in Athens in the late 5th century BC, his most important contemporary rivals being [[Hermippus]] and [[Eupolis]].

The Old Comedy subsequently influenced later European writers such as [[Rabelais]], [[Cervantes]], [[Jonathan Swift|Swift]], and [[Voltaire]]. In particular, they copied the technique of disguising a political attack as buffoonery.

===Middle Comedy (''mese'')=== [[File:New comedy first slave theatre mask NAMA3373 Athens Greece.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Marble image of a theatre mask, 2nd-century BC.]] The line between Old and Middle Comedy is not clearly marked chronologically, [[Aristophanes]] and others of the latest writers of the Old Comedy being sometimes regarded as the earliest Middle Comic poets. For ancient scholars, the term may have meant little more than "later than Aristophanes and his contemporaries, but earlier than [[Menander]]". Middle Comedy is generally seen as differing from Old Comedy in three essential particulars: the role of the chorus was diminished to the point where it had no influence on the plot; public characters were not impersonated or personified onstage; and the objects of ridicule were general rather than personal, literary rather than political. For at least a time, mythological burlesque was popular among the Middle Comic poets. Stock characters of all sorts also emerge: courtesans, parasites, revellers, philosophers, boastful soldiers, and especially the conceited cook with his parade of culinary science.

Because no complete Middle Comic plays have been preserved, it is impossible to offer any real assessment of their literary value or "genius". But many Middle Comic plays appear to have been revived in [[Sicily]] and [[Magna Graecia]] in this period, suggesting that they had considerable widespread literary and social influence.

===New Comedy (''nea'')=== [[File:Figurine actor BM TerrD226.jpg|thumb|An actor in the mask of a bald man, 2nd century BC|355x355px]] New Comedy followed the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and lasted throughout the reign of the [[Macedon]]ian rulers, ending about 260 BC.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/LX/GreekComedy.html |title=mlahanas.de |access-date=2010-09-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100614171954/http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/LX/GreekComedy.html |archive-date=2010-06-14 |url-status=dead }}</ref> It is comparable to [[situation comedy]] and [[comedy of manners]].<ref name="Winkler2001p173">Winkler, Martin M. (2001), [https://books.google.com/books?id=f4vCQYhKCvcC&pg=RA2-PT112 ''Classical Myth & Culture in the Cinema''], p. 173</ref> The three best-known playwrights belonging to this genre are [[Menander]], [[Philemon (poet)|Philemon]], and [[Diphilus]].

The playwrights of the New Comedy genre built on the legacy from their predecessors, but adapted it to the portrayal of everyday life, rather than of public affairs.<ref>H Nettleship, ed, ''A Dictionary of Classical Antiquities'' (London 1894) p. 152-3</ref> The satirical and farcical element which featured so strongly in Aristophanes' comedies was increasingly abandoned, the de-emphasis of the grotesque—whether in the form of choruses, humour or spectacle—opening the way for greater representation of daily life and the foibles of recognisable character types.<ref name="The Birds 1998">S Halliwell ed., ''The Birds'' (Oxford 1998) p. ix</ref>

Apart from Diphilus, the New Comedians preferred the everyday world to mythological themes, coincidences to miracles or metamorphoses; and they peopled this world with a whole series of semi-realistic, if somewhat stereotypical figures,<ref name="The Birds 1998"/> who would become the stock characters of Western comedy: braggarts, the permissive [[father figure]] and the stern father (''[[senex iratus]]''), young lovers, parasites, [[Hooker with a heart of gold|kind-hearted prostitutes]], and cunning servants.<ref>H Nettleship, ed, ''A Dictionary of Classical Antiquities'' (London 1894) p. 153</ref> Their largely gentle comedy of manners drew on a vast array of dramatic devices, characters and situations their predecessors had developed: prologues to shape the audience's understanding of events, messengers' speeches to announce offstage action, descriptions of feasts, the complications of love, sudden recognitions, ex machina endings were all established techniques which playwrights exploited and evoked.<ref>J Boardman ed., ''The Oxford History of the Classical World'' (Oxford 1986) p. 180-2</ref> The new comedy depicted Athenian society and the social morality of the period, presenting it in attractive colors but making no attempt to criticize or improve it.{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}}

[[File:New Comedy Period (Ancient Greece) (14610356907).jpg|thumb|left|140px|Possible depiction of Knemon from Menander's play ''[[Dyskolos]]'' (the Grouch)]] In his own time, Philemon was perhaps the most successful among the New Comedy, regularly beating the younger figure of Menander in contests; but the latter would be the most highly esteemed by subsequent generations.<ref name="H Nettleship 1894 p. 478">H Nettleship, ed, ''A Dictionary of Classical Antiquities'' (London 1894) p. 478</ref> Menander's comedies not only provided their audience with a brief respite from reality, but also gave audiences an accurate, if not greatly detailed, picture of life,<ref name="J Rose, 1967 p. 78">H J Rose, ''A Handbook of Latin Literature'' (London 1967) p. 78</ref> leading an ancient critic to ask if life influenced Menander in the writing of his plays or if the case was vice versa.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Post|first=Levi Arnold|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ILv1X3g3B98C&q=ancient+critics+comments+on+menander&pg=PA216|title=From Homer to Menander|date=1951|publisher=University of California Press|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Nauck|first=August|title=Aristophanis Byzantii Fragmenta|publisher=De Gruyter|year=1986|location=Berlin|pages=249}}</ref> Unlike earlier predecessors, Menander's comedies tended to centre on the fears and foibles of the ordinary man, his personal relationships, family life and social mishaps rather than politics and public life. His plays were also much less satirical than preceding comedies, being marked by a gentle, urbane tone,<ref name="Classical World 1986 p. 182">J Boardman ed., ''The Oxford History of the Classical World'' (Oxford 1986) p. 182</ref> a taste for good temper and good manners (if not necessarily for good morals).<ref name="J Rose, 1967 p. 78"/>

The human dimension of his characters was one of the strengths of Menander's plays, and perhaps his greatest legacy, through his use of these fairly stereotype characters to comment on human life and depict human folly and absurdity compassionately, with wit and subtlety.<ref>J Boardman ed., ''The Oxford History of the Classical World'' (Oxford 1986) p. 184</ref> An example of the moral reformations he offered (not always convincingly) is Cnemon from Menander's play ''[[Dyskolos]]'', whose objections to life suddenly fade after he was rescued from a well.<ref name="Classical World 1986 p. 182"/> The fact that this character was not necessarily closed to reason makes him a character whom people can relate to.

[[File:Relief with Menander and New Comedy Masks - Princeton Art Museum.jpg|thumb|Roman, [[Roman Republic|Republican]] or [[Roman Empire|Early Imperial]], ''Relief of a seated poet ([[Menander]]) with masks of New Comedy'', 1st century BC – early 1st century AD, [[Princeton University Art Museum]]]] Philemon's comedies tended to be smarter, and broader in tone, than Menander's;<ref name="H Nettleship 1894 p. 478"/> while Diphilus used mythology as well as everyday life in his works.<ref>H Nettleship, ed, ''A Dictionary of Classical Antiquities'' (London 1894) p. 195</ref> The comedies of both survive only in fragments but their plays were translated and adapted by [[Plautus]]. Examples include Plautus' ''Asinaria'' and ''Rudens''. Based on the translation and adaptation of Diphilus' comedies by Plautus, one can conclude that he was skilled in the construction of his plots.

Substantial fragments of New Comedy have survived, but no complete plays. The most substantially preserved text is the ''Dyskolos'' ("Difficult Man, Grouch") by Menander, discovered on a papyrus, and first published in 1958. The [[Cairo Codex]] (found in 1907) also preserves long sections of plays including ''[[Epitrepontes]]'' ("Men at Arbitration"), ''[[Samia (play)|Samia]]'' ("The Girl from Samos"), and ''[[Perikeiromene]]'' ("The Girl who had her Hair Shorn"). {{Citation needed|date=January 2010}} Much of the rest of our knowledge of New Comedy is derived from the [[Latin]] adaptations by Plautus and [[Terence]].

====Influence====

[[File:Quintus Horatius Flaccus.jpg|thumb|upright|Horace "Quintus Horatius Flaccus", by Anton von Werner]] [[Horace]] claimed Menander as a model for his own gentle brand of [[Roman satirists|Roman satire]].<ref>A Palmer ed., ''The Satires of Horace'' (London 1920) p. xiii</ref>

The New Comedy influenced much of Western European literature, primarily through Plautus and Terence: in particular the comic drama of [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]] and [[Ben Jonson]], [[William Congreve (playwright)|Congreve]], and [[William Wycherley|Wycherley]],<ref>''The Drama: Its History, Literature and Influence on Civilization'', vol. 1. ed. Alfred Bates. London: Historical Publishing Company, 1906. pp. 30–31.</ref> and, in France, [[Molière]].<ref>J Boardman ed., ''The Oxford History of the Classical World'' (Oxford 1986) p. 450</ref>

The 5-act structure later to be found in modern plays can first be seen in Menander's comedies. Where in comedies of previous generations there were choral interludes, there was dialogue with song. The action of his plays had breaks, the situations in them were conventional and coincidences were convenient, thus showing the smooth and effective development of his plays.

Much of contemporary romantic and situational comedy descends from the New Comedy sensibility, in particular generational comedies such as ''[[All in the Family]]'' and ''[[Meet the Parents]]''.

==Dramatists==

===Old Comedy=== {| | * [[Susarion]] of [[Megara]] (''fl.'' {{Circa|580 BC}}) * [[Epicharmus of Kos]] (''fl.'' between c. 540 – c. 450 BC) * [[Phormis]] (late 6th century) * Dinolochus (''fl.'' 487 BC) * [[Euetes and Euxenides|Euetes]] (''fl.'' 485 BC) * [[Euetes and Euxenides|Euxenides]] (''fl.'' 485 BC) * [[Mylus]] (''fl.'' 485 BC) * [[Chionides]] (''fl.'' 487 BC) * [[Magnes (comic poet)|Magnes]] (''fl.'' 472 BC) * [[Cratinus]] (519–422 BC), won a series of victories from 454 BC to 423 BC * [[Euphonius]] (''fl.'' 458 BC) * [[Crates (comic poet)|Crates]] (''fl.'' c. 450 BC) * [[Ecphantides]] * [[Pisander]] * [[Epilycus]] * [[Callias Schoenion]]<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20080715215125/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0577.html Ancientlibrary.com]}}</ref> * [[Hermippus]] (''fl.'' 435 BC) * [[Myrtilus (comic poet)|Myrtilus]] (5th century) * [[Lysimachus (comic poet)|Lysimachus]] | * [[Hegemon of Thasos]], 413 BC * [[Sophron]] * [[Phrynichus (comic poet)|Phrynichus]], won 4 victories between 435 BC and 405 BC * [[Lycis]], before 405 BC * [[Leucon]] * [[Lysippus]] * [[Eupolis]] (c. 446–411 BC) * '''[[Aristophanes]]''' (c. 456–386 BC), won more than 12 victories between 427 BC and 388 BC * [[Ameipsias]] (c. 420 BC)<ref>Won a second prize with his Κόυνος in 423 BC and won a first prize in 414 BC with his Κωμασταί. {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20101120041626/http://ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0150.html Ancientlibrary.com]}}</ref> * [[Aristomenes of Athens|Aristomenes]], between 431 and 388 BC * [[Telecleides]] 5th century BC * [[Pherecrates]] 420 BC * [[Plato (comic poet)|Plato]] * [[Diocles of Phlius]]<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20121011202413/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/1016.html Ancientlibrary.com]}}</ref> * [[Sannyrion]]<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070406020553/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/3039.html Ancientlibrary.com]}}</ref> * [[Philyllius]], 394 BC * [[Hipparchus]] * [[Archippus (poet)|Archippus]], 415 BC | * [[Polyzelus]], c. 364 BC * [[Philonides]] * [[Xenophon (comic poet)|Xenophon]] * [[Autocrates]] * [[Eunicus]] 5th century BC * [[Apollophanes]] c. 400 BC * [[Nicomachus]], c. 420 BC * [[Cephisodorus]] 402 BC<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20071219064234/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0677.html Ancientlibrary.com]}}</ref> * [[Metagenes (poet)|Metagenes]], c. 419 BC * [[Cantharus (comic poet)]] 422 BC<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20080616022847/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0605.html Ancientlibrary.com]}}</ref> * [[Nicochares]] (died c. 345) * [[Strattis]] (c. 412–390 BC) * [[Alcaeus (comic poet)|Alcaeus]], 388 BC * [[Theopompus (comic poet)|Theopompus]] | |}

===Middle Comedy=== {| | * [[Nicophon]] 5th century BC * [[Eubulus (poet)|Eubulus]] early 4th century BC * [[Araros]], son of Aristophanes 388, 375 * [[Antiphanes (comic poet)|Antiphanes]] (c. 408–334 BC) * [[Anaxandrides]] 4th century BC * [[Calliades (poet)|Calliades]] 4th century BC * [[Nicostratus (comic poet)|Nicostratus]], son of [[Aristophanes]] * Phillipus, son of Aristophanes * [[Athenion (comic poet)|Athenion]] possibly 4th century BC * [[Philetarus]] c. 390 BC – c. 320 BC * [[Anaxilas (comic poet)|Anaxilas]], fl. 340 BC<ref>Sir Edwin Arnold, ''The Poets of Greece'' [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.21486/page/n239 p. 221].</ref> * [[Ophelion]] * Callicrates * [[Heraclides (poet)|Heraclides]] | * [[Alexis (poet)|Alexis]] (c. 375–275 BC) * [[Amphis]] mid-4th century BC * [[Axionicus]] * [[Cratinus Junior]] * Eriphus, plagiarist of Antiphanes * [[Epicrates of Ambracia]] 4th century BC * [[Stephanus (playwright)|Stephanus]], 332 BC * [[Straton of Sardis|Strato]] * [[Aristophon (comic poet)|Aristophon]] * [[Sotades]] * [[Augeas]] * [[Ephippus of Athens|Ephippus]] * [[Heniochus of Athens|Heniochus]] | * [[Epigenes of Athens|Epigenes]] * [[Mnesimachus]] * [[Timotheus of Miletus|Timotheus]] * [[Sophilus]] * [[Antidotus]] * [[Naucrates (comic poet)|Naucrates]] * [[Xenarchus (comic poet)|Xenarchus]] * [[Dromo Comicus]] * [[Crobylus]], possibly New Comedy, after 324 BC * [[Timocles]] 324 BC<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20080511184248/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/3470.html Ancientlibrary.com]}}</ref> * [[Damoxenus (playwright)]] c. 370–270 BC<ref>Wrote two plays, Σύντροφοι and Ἐαυτὸν πενθῶν. [[Athenaeus]] quotes one long fragment from the former and one short fragment from the latter. He is comtempoary with Epicurus, who mentions him. {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110514092156/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0943.html Ancientlibrary.com]}}</ref> * [[Xenarchus (comic poet)|Xenarchus]], around 393 BC | |}

===New Comedy=== {| | *[[Eubulus (poet)|Eubelus]] * [[Philippides of Kephale|Philippides]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/fastihellenici00clingoog|title=Fasti Hellenici|date=March 12, 1834|publisher=s.n.|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> 335 BC, 301 BC * [[Philemon (poet)|Philemon]] of [[Soli, Cilicia|Soli]] or [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]] (c. 362–262 BC) * [[Menander]] (c. 342–291 BC) * [[Apollodorus of Carystus]] (c. 300–260 BC) * [[Diphilus]] of [[Sinop, Turkey|Sinope]] (c. 340–290 BC) * [[Euphron]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/1209.html |title=Ancientlibrary.com |access-date=2009-08-11 |archive-date=2005-12-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051231192315/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/1209.html |url-status=usurped }}</ref> * [[Dionysius Chalcus]], after the god Archestratus | * [[Theophilus (poet)|Theophilus]], contemporary with Callimedon * Sosippus, contemporary with Diphillus * Anaxippus, 303 BC * Demetrius, 299 BC * [[Archedicus]], 302 BC * Sopater, 282 BC * [[Phoenicides of Megara]], around 280 to 260 BC<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DP%3Aentry+group%3D27%3Aentry%3Dphoenicides-bio-1 A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, Phoenicides]</ref> * Hegesippus * [[Plato Junior]] | * [[Theognetus]] * Bathon * Diodorus * [[Machon]] of Corinth/Alexandria 3rd century BC * [[Posidippus (comic poet)]] (c. 316–250 BC) * Laines or Laenes 185 BC * Philemon 183 BC * Chairion or Chaerion 154 BC * [[Alciphron]] | |}

Some dramatists overlap into more than one period.

==See also== * Competitions (''[[agon]]'') at the [[Dionysia]] (mixed audiences) and [[Lenaia]] (local Athens audience only) festivals * [[Cult of Dionysus]] * [[Phallic processions]] * [[Theatre of Dionysus]] * [[Prolegomena de comoedia]]

==Notes== {{Reflist|2}}

==Sources== * Brown, Andrew. 1998. "Ancient Greece." In ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre.'' Ed. Martin Banham. Cambridge: [[Cambridge University Press]]. 441–447. {{ISBN|0-521-43437-8}}. * Brockett, Oscar G. and Franklin J. Hildy. 2003. ''History of the Theatre''. Ninth edition, International edition. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. {{ISBN|0-205-41050-2}}. * Carlson, Marvin. 1993. ''Theories of the Theatre: A Historical and Critical Survey from the Greeks to the Present.'' Expanded ed. Ithaca and London: [[Cornell University Press]]. {{ISBN|978-0-8014-8154-3}}. * Csapo, Eric, and William J. Slater. 1994. ''The Context of Ancient Drama.'' Ann Arbor: [[University of Michigan Press]]. {{ISBN|0-472-08275-2}}. * Freund, Philip. 2003. ''The Birth of Theatre''. Illustrated ed. Vol 1. of ''Stage by Stage''. London: Peter Owen. {{ISBN|978-0-7206-1167-0}}. * Janko, Richard, trans. 1987. ''Poetics with Tractatus Coislinianus, Reconstruction of Poetics II and the Fragments of the On Poets.'' By [[Aristotle]]. Cambridge: Hackett. {{ISBN|0-87220-033-7}}. * Ley, Graham. 2006. ''A Short Introduction to the Ancient Greek Theater.'' Rev. ed. Chicago and London: [[University of Chicago Press]] {{ISBN|0-226-47761-4}}. * Olson, S. Douglas, ed. 2007. ''Broken Laughter: Select Fragments of Greek Comedy.'' Oxford: [[Oxford University Press]]. {{ISBN|978-0-19-928785-7}}. * Taplin, Oliver. 1993. ''Comic Angels and Other Approaches to Greek Drama Through Vase-Painting.'' Oxford: [[Clarendon Press]] {{ISBN|0-19-814797-X}}. * Trypanis, Constantine Athanasius. 1981. ''Greek Poetry from Homer to Seferis.'' Chicago: [[University of Chicago Press]] {{ISBN|0-226-81316-9}}.

==Further reading== * [[F. M. Cornford|Cornford, Francis Macdonald]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=uhE9AAAAIAAJ ''The Origin of Attic Comedy''], Cambridge: University Press, 1934. * Padilla, Mark William (editor), [https://books.google.com/books?id=-0JVScga2oYC&q=rites+of+passage+in+ancient+greece "Rites of Passage in Ancient Greece: Literature, Religion, Society"], [[Bucknell University]] Press, 1999. {{ISBN|0-8387-5418-X}} * Rozik, Eli, [https://books.google.com/books?id=aGG40fhg6usC ''The roots of theatre : rethinking ritual and other theories of origin''], Iowa City : University of Iowa Press, 2002. {{ISBN|0-87745-817-0}}

==External links== *[http://www.leeds.ac.uk/classics/heath/Aristotle%20on%20comedy.pdf "Aristotle on Comedy" by Malcolm Heath, University of Leeds]. *[http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/inourtime/inourtime_20060713.shtml BBC Radio 4 ''In Our Time'' programme on ancient Greek Comedy, Thursday 13 July 2006].

[[Category:Ancient Greek comedy| ]]