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Cinesias (poet)
Cinesias ( el, Κινησίας; c. 450 – 390 BC) was an innovative dithyrambic poet (an exponent of the "new music") in classical Athens whose work has survived only in a few fragments. An inscription indicates that he was awarded a victory at the Dionysia in the early 4th century (IG 2/32.3028). His contemporary, the comic poet Aristophanes, ridiculed him in his play ''The Birds'', in which Cinesias attempts to borrow wings from the birds as an aid to poetic inspiration. Aristophanes refers to him also in ''The Frogs'' (lines 153, 1437), ''Ecclesiazusae'' (line 330), ''Lysistrata'' (line 860), and in a fragmentary verse (fragment 156. 10 K-A). Another comic poet, Strattis, wrote an entire play against Cinesias, of which only fragments survive (fragments 14-22 K-A), and he was considered by Pherecrates Pherecrates (Greek: Φερεκράτης) was a Greek poet of Athenian Old Comedy, and a rough contemporary of Cratinus, Crates and Aristophanes. He was victorious at least once ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dithyramb
The dithyramb (; grc, διθύραμβος, ''dithyrambos'') was an ancient Greek hymn sung and danced in honor of Dionysus, the god of wine and fertility; the term was also used as an epithet of the god. Plato, in ''The Laws'', while discussing various kinds of music mentions "the birth of Dionysos, called, I think, the dithyramb." Plato also remarks in the ''Republic'' that dithyrambs are the clearest example of poetry in which the poet is the only speaker. However, in '' The Apology'' Socrates went to the dithyrambs with some of their own most elaborate passages, asking their meaning but got a response of, "Will you believe me?" which "showed me in an instant that not by wisdom do poets write poetry, but by a sort of genius and inspiration; they are like diviners or soothsayers who also say many fine things, but do not understand the meaning of them." Plutarch contrasted the dithyramb's wild and ecstatic character with the paean. According to Aristotle, the dithyramb was the o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Classical Athens
The city of Athens ( grc, Ἀθῆναι, ''Athênai'' .tʰɛ̂ː.nai̯ Modern Greek: Αθήναι, ''Athine'' or, more commonly and in singular, Αθήνα, ''Athina'' .'θi.na during the classical period of ancient Greece (480–323 BC) was the major urban centre of the notable ''polis'' (city-state) of the same name, located in Attica, Greece, leading the Delian League in the Peloponnesian War against Sparta and the Peloponnesian League. Athenian democracy was established in 508 BC under Cleisthenes following the tyranny of Isagoras. This system remained remarkably stable, and with a few brief interruptions remained in place for 180 years, until 322 BC (aftermath of Lamian War). The peak of Athenian hegemony was achieved in the 440s to 430s BC, known as the Age of Pericles. In the classical period, Athens was a centre for the arts, learning and philosophy, home of Plato's Academy and Aristotle's Lyceum, Athens was also the birthplace of Socrates, Plato, Pericles, Ari ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Inscriptiones Graecae
The ''Inscriptiones Graecae'' (IG), Latin for ''Greek inscriptions'', is an academic project originally begun by the Prussian Academy of Science, and today continued by its successor organisation, the . Its aim is to collect and publish all known ancient inscriptions from the mainland and islands of Greece. The project was designed as a continuation of the ''Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum'' (''Corpus of Greek Inscriptions'', abbreviated CIG) published by August Böckh between 1825 and 1860, and as a parallel to the ''Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum'' (''Corpus of Latin Inscriptions'') founded by Theodor Mommsen in 1847. From 1860 to 1902, it was directed by Adolf Kirchhoff. From 1902 to 1931, Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff was in control of the project; he reorganised and re-energised the IG, turning it into one of the most important series for the publication of source material in Classical studies. After the Second World War, the project suffered from a lack of financial an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dionysia
The Dionysia (, , ; Greek: Διονύσια) was a large festival in ancient Athens in honor of the god Dionysus, the central events of which were the theatrical performances of dramatic tragedies and, from 487 BC, comedies. It was the second-most important festival after the Panathenaia. The Dionysia actually consisted of two related festivals, the Rural Dionysia and the City Dionysia, which took place in different parts of the year. They were also an essential part of the Dionysian Mysteries. Rural Dionysia The Dionysia was originally a rural festival in Eleutherae, Attica ( – ''Dionysia ta kat' agrous''), probably celebrating the cultivation of vines. It was probably a very ancient festival, perhaps not originally associated with Dionysus. This "rural Dionysia" was held during the winter, in the month of Poseideon (the month straddling the winter solstice, i.e., Dec.-Jan.). The central event was the ''pompe'' (πομπή), the procession, in which ''phalloi'' (φαλ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aristophanes
Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme In Ancient Greece, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states. Demes as simple subdivisions of land in the countryside seem to have existed in the 6th century BC and ear ... Kydathenaion ( la, Cydathenaeum), was a comedy, comic playwright or comedy-writer of Classical Athens, ancient Athens and a poet of Ancient Greek comedy, Old Attic Comedy. Eleven of his forty plays survive virtually complete. These provide the most valuable examples of a genre of comic drama known as Ancient Greek comedy, Old Comedy and are used to define it, along with fragments from dozens of lost plays by Aristophanes and his contemporaries. Also known as "The Father of Comedy" and "the Prince of Ancient Comedy", Aristophanes has been said to recreate the life of ancient Athens more convincingly than any other author. His pow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Birds (play)
''The Birds'' ( grc-gre, Ὄρνιθες, Órnithes) is a comedy by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. It was performed in 414 BC at the City Dionysia in Athens where it won second place. It has been acclaimed by modern critics as a perfectly realized fantasy remarkable for its mimicry of birds and for the gaiety of its songs. Unlike the author's other early plays, it includes no direct mention of the Peloponnesian War and there are few references to Athenian politics, and yet it was staged not long after the commencement of the Sicilian Expedition, an ambitious military campaign that greatly increased Athenian commitment to the war effort. In spite of that, the play has many indirect references to Athenian political and social life. It is the longest of Aristophanes's surviving plays and yet it is a fairly conventional example of Old Comedy. The plot of the play revolves around Pisthetaerus, an Athenian who convinces the birds to create a great city in the sky, and thus r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Frogs
''The Frogs'' ( grc-gre, Βάτραχοι, Bátrakhoi, Frogs; la, Ranae, often abbreviated ''Ran.'' or ''Ra.'') is a comedy written by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. It was performed at the Lenaia, one of the Festivals of Dionysus in Athens, in 405 BC and received first place. Plot ''The Frogs'' tells the story of the god Dionysus, who, despairing of the state of Athens' tragedians, travels to Hades (the underworld) to bring the playwright Euripides back from the dead. (Euripides had died the year before, in 406 BC.) He brings along his slave Xanthias, who is smarter and braver than Dionysus. As the play opens, Xanthias and Dionysus argue over what kind of jokes Xanthias can use to open the play. For the first half of the play, Dionysus routinely makes critical errors, forcing Xanthias to improvise in order to protect his master and prevent Dionysus from looking incompetent—but this only allows Dionysus to continue to make mistakes with no consequence. To find ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ecclesiazusae
''Assemblywomen'' ( grc-gre, Ἐκκλησιάζουσαι ''Ekklesiazousai''; also translated as, ''Congresswomen'', ''Women in Parliament'', ''Women in Power'', and ''A Parliament of Women'') is a comedy written by the Greek playwright Aristophanes in 391 BC. The play invents a scenario where the women of Athens assume control of the government and institute reforms that ban private wealth and enforce sexual equity for the old and unattractive. In addition to Aristophanes' political and social satire, ''Assemblywomen'' derives its comedy through sexual and scatological humor. The play aimed to criticize the Athenian government at the time.Zumbrunnen, John. "Fantasy, Irony, And Economic Justice In Aristophanes' Assemblywomen And Wealth." American Political Science Review 100.3 (2006): 319–333. International Bibliography of Theatre & Dance with Full Text. Web. 25 Sept. 2016. Plot The play begins with Praxagora emerging from a house on an Athenian street before daybreak. She ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lysistrata
''Lysistrata'' ( or ; Attic Greek: , ''Lysistrátē'', "Army Disbander") is an ancient Greek comedy by Aristophanes, originally performed in classical Athens in 411 BC. It is a comic account of a woman's extraordinary mission to end the Peloponnesian War between Greek city states by denying all the men of the land any sex, which was the only thing they truly and deeply desired. Lysistrata persuades the women of the warring cities to withhold sexual privileges from their husbands and lovers as a means of forcing the men to negotiate peace—a strategy, however, that inflames the battle between the sexes. The play is notable for being an early exposé of sexual relations in a male-dominated society. Additionally, its dramatic structure represents a shift from the conventions of Old Comedy, a trend typical of the author's career. It was produced in the same year as the ''Thesmophoriazusae'', another play with a focus on gender-based issues, just two years after Athens' catastrophic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Strattis
Strattis ( grc, Στράττις) was an Athenian comic poet of the Old Comedy. According to the Suda, he flourished later than Callias Schoenion. Therefore, it is likely that his poetry was performed at the 92nd Olympiad, that is, 412 BC. Strattis was a contemporary of Sannyrion and Philyllius, both of whom were attacked in the extant fragments of his plays. The drama in which Philyllius was attacked was the ''Potamioi''. According to the scholiast of Aristophanes, this drama was performed before Aristophanes' ''Ecclesiazusae''. Therefore, this could not be later than 394/3 BC. Also, in his ''Anthroporrhaistes'', Strattis attacked Hegelochus, the actor of the ''Orestes'' of Euripides. Therefore this play would have been performed later than 408 BC, the year in which the ''Orestes'' was performed. Strattis was performing his works at the end of the 99th Olympiad, that is, 380 BC, when he attacked Isocrates on account of his fondness for Lagisca when he was far advanced in years. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pherecrates
Pherecrates (Greek: Φερεκράτης) was a Greek poet of Athenian Old Comedy, and a rough contemporary of Cratinus, Crates and Aristophanes. He was victorious at least once at the City Dionysia, first probably in the mid-440s (IG II2 2325. 56; the fourth entry after Teleclides and three poets whose names have been lost, and just before Hermippus), and twice at the Lenaia, first probably in the mid- to late 430s (IG II2 2325. 122; just after Cratinus and just before Hermippus). He was especially famous for his inventive imagination, and the elegance and purity of his diction are attested by the epithet Ἀττικώτατος (most Attic) applied to him by Athenaeus and the sophist Phrynichus. He was the inventor of a new meter, called after him, the Pherecratean, which frequently occurs in the choruses of Greek tragedies and in Horace. According to an anonymous essay on tragedy, Pherecrates wrote 18 plays, suggesting that one or more of the 19 surviving titles must be elimi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dithyrambic Poets
The dithyramb (; grc, διθύραμβος, ''dithyrambos'') was an ancient Greek hymn sung and danced in honor of Dionysus, the god of wine and fertility; the term was also used as an epithet of the god. Plato, in ''The Laws'', while discussing various kinds of music mentions "the birth of Dionysos, called, I think, the dithyramb." Plato also remarks in the ''Republic'' that dithyrambs are the clearest example of poetry in which the poet is the only speaker. However, in '' The Apology'' Socrates went to the dithyrambs with some of their own most elaborate passages, asking their meaning but got a response of, "Will you believe me?" which "showed me in an instant that not by wisdom do poets write poetry, but by a sort of genius and inspiration; they are like diviners or soothsayers who also say many fine things, but do not understand the meaning of them." Plutarch contrasted the dithyramb's wild and ecstatic character with the paean. According to Aristotle, the dithyramb was the o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
