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Comic Poets
Ancient Greek comedy () was one of the final three principal dramatic forms in the theatre of classical Greece; the others being tragedy and the satyr play. Greek comedy was distinguished from tragedy by its happy endings and use of comically exaggerated character archetypes, the latter feature being the origin of the modern concept of the comedy. 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'' (c. 335 BC) that comedy is a representation of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Poetics (Aristotle)
Aristotle's ''Poetics'' ( ''Peri poietikês''; ; ) is the earliest surviving work of Greek dramatic theory and the first extant philosophical treatise to solely focus on literary theory. In this text, Aristotle offers an account of , which refers to poetry, and more literally, "the poetic art", deriving from the term for "poet; author; maker", . Aristotle divides the art of poetry into verse drama (comedy, tragedy, and the satyr play), lyric poetry, and epic. The genres all share the function of mimesis, or imitation of life, but differ in three ways that Aristotle describes: # There are differences in music rhythm, harmony, meter, and melody. # There is a difference of goodness in the characters. # A difference exists in how the narrative is presented: telling a story or acting it out. The surviving book of ''Poetics'' is primarily concerned with drama; the analysis of tragedy constitutes the core of the discussion. Although the text is universally acknowledged in the West ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eupolis
Eupolis (; 446 411 BC) was an Athenian poet of the Old Comedy, who flourished during the time of the Peloponnesian War. Biography Very little is known about Eupolis' life. His father was named Sosipolis. There are few sources on when he first appeared on the stage. A short history of Greek Comedy, written by an anonymous writer of antiquity, reported that Eupolis first produced a play in the year when Apollodorus was the Eponymous archon, which would be 430/429 BC. The same source claims Phrynichus also had his debut that year. However, the Chronicon of Eusebius of Caesarea places Eupolis' debut in 428–27 BC and adds that Aristophanes also produced a play that year. This is the version preserved in the Latin translation by Jerome. But the Armenian translation places the event in 427/426 BC. Cyril of Alexandria placed the debut of Eupolis at some point between 428 and 424 BC, and placed the debuts of Aristophanes and Plato the comic poet during that same period. George Sy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hermippus
Hermippus (; fl. 5th century BC) was the one-eyed Athenian writer of the Old Comedy, who flourished during the Peloponnesian War. Life He was the son of Lysis, and the brother of the comic poet Myrtilus. He was younger than Telecleides and older than Eupolis and Aristophanes. According to the Suda, he wrote forty plays, and his chief actor was Simeron, according to the scholiast of Aristophanes. The titles and fragments of nine of his plays are preserved. He was a bitter opponent of Pericles, whom he accused (probably in the ''Moirai'') of being a bully and a coward, and of carousing with his boon companions while the Lacedaemonians were invading Attica. He also accused Aspasia of impiety and offences against morality, and her acquittal was only secured by the tears of Pericles (Plutarch, ''Pericles'', 32). In the "Female Bread-Sellers", he attacked the demagogue Hyperbolus. The "Mat-Carriers" contains many parodies of Homer. Surviving titles and fragments Ninety-four fragme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lysistrata
''Lysistrata'' ( or ; Attic Greek: , ''Lysistrátē'', ) is an ancient Greek comedy by Aristophanes, originally performed in classical Athens in 411 BC. It is a comic account of a woman's mission to end the Peloponnesian War between Greek city states by denying all the men of the land any sex, which was said to be the only thing they truly and deeply desired. Lysistrata persuades the women of the warring cities to engage in a sex strike as a means of forcing the men to negotiate peace – a strategy that inflames the battle between the sexes. The play is notable for being an early exposé of sexual relations in a male-dominated society. Its 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's defeat in the Sicilian Expedition. Plot The play begins with these lines spoken by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Clouds
''The Clouds'' (, ''Nephelai'') is a Greek comedy play written by the playwright Aristophanes. A lampooning of intellectual fashions in classical Athens, it was originally produced at the City Dionysia in 423BC and was not as well received as the author had hoped, coming last of the three plays competing at the festival that year. It was revised between 420 and 417BC and was thereafter circulated in manuscript form. No copy of the original production survives, and scholarly analysis indicates that the revised version is an incomplete form of Old Comedy. This incompleteness, however, is not obvious in translations and modern performances. Retrospectively, ''The Clouds'' can be considered the world's first extant "comedy of ideas" and is considered by literary critics to be among the finest examples of the genre. The play also, however, remains notorious for its caricature of Socrates, and is cited by Plato in the ''Apology'' as a contributing factor to the philosopher's trial a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Socrates
Socrates (; ; – 399 BC) was a Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and as among the first moral philosophers of the Ethics, ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no texts and is known mainly through the posthumous accounts of classical writers, particularly his students Plato and Xenophon. These accounts are written as dialogues, in which Socrates and his interlocutors examine a subject in the style of question and answer; they gave rise to the Socratic dialogue literary genre. Contradictory accounts of Socrates make a reconstruction of his philosophy nearly impossible, a situation known as the Socratic problem. Socrates was a polarizing figure in Athenian society. In 399 BC, he was accused of Asebeia, impiety and corrupting the youth. After Trial of Socrates, a trial that lasted a day, he was sentenced to death. He spent his last day in prison ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Innuendo
An innuendo is a wikt:hint, hint, wikt:insinuation, insinuation or wikt:intimation, intimation about a person or thing, especially of a denigrating or derogatory nature. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging (also called insinuation), that works obliquely by allusion. In the latter sense, the intention is often to insult or accuse someone in such a way that one's words, taken literally, are innocent. According to the ''Advanced Oxford Learner's Dictionary'', an innuendo is "an indirect remark about somebody or something, usually suggesting something bad, mean or rude", such as:'' "innuendos about her private life" ''or'' "The song is full of sexual innuendo".'' Sexual innuendo The term sexual innuendo has acquired a specific meaning, namely that of a "risqué" double entendre by playing on a possibly sexual interpretation of an otherwise innocent uttering. For example: "We need to go deeper" can be seen as either a request for further inquiry or allude to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scatological
In medicine and biology, scatology or coprology is the study of faeces. Scatological studies allow one to determine a wide range of biological information about a creature, including its diet (nutrition), diet (and thus habitat (ecology), where it has been), health and diseases such as tapeworms. A comprehensive study of scatology was documented by John Gregory Bourke under the title '' Rites of All Nations'' (1891), with a 1913 German translation including a foreword by Sigmund Freud. An abbreviated version of the work was published as ''The Portable Scatalog'' in 1994. Etymology The word derives from the Greek language, Greek ( ) meaning "dung, feces"; ''coprology'' derives from the Greek of similar meaning. Psychology In psychology, a scatology is an obsession with excretion or excrement, or the study of such obsessions. In sexual fetishism, scatology or scatophilia (usually abbreviated ''scat'') refers to coprophilia, when someone is sexual arousal, sexually aroused ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Human Sexuality
Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied with historical contexts over time, it lacks a precise definition. The biological and physical aspects of sexuality largely concern the human reproductive functions, including the human sexual response cycle. Someone's sexual orientation is their pattern of sexual interest in the opposite and/or same sex. Physical and emotional aspects of sexuality include bonds between individuals that are expressed through profound feelings or physical manifestations of love, trust, and care. Social aspects deal with the effects of human society on one's sexuality, while spirituality concerns an individual's spiritual connection with others. Sexuality also affects and is affected by cultural, political, legal, philosophical, moral, ethical, and religi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Political Satire
Political satire is a type of satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics. Political satire can also act as a tool for advancing political arguments in conditions where political speech and dissent are banned. Political satire is usually distinguished from political protest or political dissent, as it does not necessarily carry an agenda nor seek to influence the political process. While occasionally it may, it more commonly aims simply to provide entertainment. By its very nature, it rarely offers a constructive view in itself; when it is used as part of protest or dissent, it tends to simply establish the error of matters rather than provide solutions. Because of the exaggerated manner of these parodies, satirical news shows can more effectively sway their audiences to believe specific ideas by overemphasizing the flaws of the critiqued subject. This can be very harmful to the reputation of public figures or organizations since the satire frames them in a com ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
