Slaves and Slavery in Ancient Greek Comic DramaBen Akrigg, Rob Tordoff How did audiences of ancient Greek comedy react to the spectacle of masters and slaves? If they were expected to laugh at a slave threatened with a beating by his master at one moment but laugh with him when they bantered familiarly at the next, what does this tell us about ancient Greek slavery? This volume presents ten essays by leading specialists in ancient Greek literature, culture and history, exploring the changing roles and representations of slaves in comic drama from Aristophanes at the height of the Athenian Empire to the New Comedy of Menander and the Hellenistic World. The contributors focus variously on individual comic dramas or on particular historical periods, analysing a wide range of textual, material-culture and comparative data for the practices of slavery and their representation on the ancient Greek comic stage. |
Contents
| 1 | |
Chapter 2 Slaves and politics in early Aristophanic comedy | 63 |
Chapter 3 Slavery drama and the alchemy of identity in Aristophanes | 76 |
Chapter 4 Slaves in the fragments of Old Comedy | 91 |
Chapter 5 Aristophanes slaves and history | 111 |
the comic slave in Greek art | 124 |
the banality of violence | 144 |
the social networking of slaves in Menander | 159 |
Chapter 9 Sex slaves in New Comedy | 173 |
from vase to stage? | 197 |
slaves citizens and inbetweens | 209 |
| 228 | |
| 248 | |
| 262 | |
Common terms and phrases
Acharnians Aeschin Aeschylus ancient Greek appears Arist Aristophanes Aristophanic comedy Aspis Athenian citizen Attic audience benefit Charinus Charisios child chorus classical Athens Cleostratus Cnemon comedy’s comic slave context Daos Davus defined Demeas Demos depicted difficult Dionysus discussion domestic slaves drachmas drama Dyskolos economic elite Epitrepontes Erechtheum Euripides evidence example fifth century figures figurines final finally find first fourth century fragments Frogs Getas girl Gorgias Greek comedy grotesque costume Habrotonon helots Heracles hero hetaira household identified identity Karion Khremylos Konstan Laureion Lenaia male masters and slaves Menander Menander’s metics Moschio number of slaves Old Comedy Olson Pamphile Parmeno Pherecrates Plautus play plot probably prostitutes public slaves punishment Pyrrhias rape reflect relationship role scene servile sex slaves sexual significant slave characters slave mask slave names slaveholding slavery Smicrines social Sommerstein Sostratus specific status suggests Svay Pak Syros theatre Thesmophoriazusae tokens tragedy Trendall Wasps woman women Xanthias