Pericles' character in Old Attic comedy

O.A. Rykantsova

V.V. Mayakovsky Central City Public Library, St. Petersburg, 191025 Russia

E-mail: olgarikantsova@mail.ru

Received April 15, 2020

 

Full text PDF

DOI: 10.26907/2541-7738.2020.3.56-71

For citation: Rykantsova O.A. Pericles’ character in Old Attic comedy. Uchenye Zapiski Kazanskogo Universiteta. Seriya Gumanitarnye Nauki, 2020, vol. 162, no. 3, pp. 56–71. doi: 10.26907/2541-7738.2020.3.56-71. (In Russian)

Abstract

The paper discusses Aristophanes’ plays and the surviving fragments of other Old Attic comedy authors as one of the most important sources on Pericles’ biography. The main themes of comic invectives at Pericles were analyzed. Besides the caricature of Pericles’ appearance, the comedies contain serious attacks against the politician: Pericles’ omnipotence and the tyrannical nature of his power are demonstrated; the politician is accused of unleashing the Peloponnesian War and its incorrect conduct. Such problems as the distortion degree of Pericles’ comic character, its perception by the Athenian public, and the influence of comedy on the historical tradition concerning Pericles’ politics remain debatable and do not lose their relevance. The paper is another attempt to correlate Pericles’ image in comedy with what we know about him from other sources. Despite the subjectivity of the comic genre, comedy allows us to imagine more vividly Pericles’ character reflected in the writings of historians, in “The History” by Thucydides in particular. Perhaps, the attacks on Pericles in comedies were not taken seriously by the public while the strategist’s authority was unshakable, but at the beginning of the Peloponnesian War the comic accusations could intensify enmity to the disgraced politician. The word of fiction, especially when aptly said, has a great influence on historical tradition, an example of which is Pericles’ biography written five centuries after his death by Plutarch, who actively used the fragments of Old Attic comedy in his works.

Keywords: Athens, Pericles, Old Attic comedy, Aristophanes, Peloponnesian War

References

  1. Vickers M. Pericles on Stage: Political Comedy in Aristophanes’ Early Plays. Austin, Univ. of Texas Press, 1997. xxxiv, 255 p.
  2. Vickers M. Aristophanes and Alcibiades: Echoes of Contemporary History in Athenian Comedy. Berlin, W. de Gruyter, 2015. xxii, 241 p.
  3. Borukhovich V.G. Aristophanes and Alcibiades. In: Dovatur A.I. (Ed.) Klassicheskaya filologiya [Classical Philology]. Leningrad, Izd. Leningr. Univ., 1959, pp. 52–68. (In Russian)
  4. Bowie A.M. Aristophanes: Myth, Ritual and Comedy. Cambridge, New York, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1993. xvi, 328 p.
  5. Rusten J.S. ‘The Odeion on his head’: Costume and identity in Cratinus’ Thracian Women fr. 73, and Cratinus’ techniques of political satire. In: Harrison G.W.M., Liapis V. (Eds.) Performance in Greek and Roman Theatre. Leiden, Boston, Brill, 2013, pp. 279–290.
  6. Azoulay V. Pericles of Athens. Princeton, Oxford, Princeton Univ. Press, 2014. xviii, 294 p.
  7. Surikov I.E. Pericles and Alcmeonides. Vestnik Drevnei Istorii, 1997, no. 4, pp. 14–35. (In Russian)
  8. Olson S.D. Eupolis’ “Demes” and the Athenian politics in 413–412 BCE (translated by E.Yu. Chepel). Shagi / Steps, 2017, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 128–140. (In Russian)
  9. Davies J.K. Athenian Propertied Families 600–300 B.C. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1971. xxxi, 653 p.
  10. Bowie A.M. Myth and ritual in comedy. In: Brill’s Companion to the Study of Greek Comedy. Leiden, Boston, Brill, 2010, pp. 143–178.
  11. Schwarze J. Die Beurteilung des Perikles durch die attische Komödie und ihre historische und historiographische Bedeutung. München, C.H. Beck, 1971. vii, 219 S. (In German)
  12. Matveeva S.Yu., Panov A.R. Image of Pericles in comedies by Aristophanes. Modern Science, 2016, no. 12, pp. 53–56.
  13. Podlecki A.J. Perikles and His Circle. London, New York, Routledge, 1998. xv, 253 p.
  14. Tracy St.V. Pericles: A Sourcebook and Reader. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London, Univ. of Calif. Press, 2009. xxiv, 221 p.
  15. Gasparov M.L. Commentaries. In: Plutarch. Sravnitel’nye zhizneopisaniya v dvukh tomakh [The Parallel Lives in Two Volumes]. Vol. 1. Moscow, Nauka, 1994, pp. 655–697. (In Russian)
  16. Surikov I.E. Antichnaya Gretsiya: politiki v kontekste epokhi: vremya rastsveta demokratii [Ancient Greece: Politicians in the Context of the Epoch: The Heyday of Democracy]. Moscow, Nauka, 2008. 384 p. (In Russian)
  17. Samons L.J. Pericles and the Conquest of History: A Political Biography. New York, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2016. 394 p.
  18. Oxford Classical Dictionary. Hornblower S., Spawforth A. (Eds.). Oxford, Oxford Univ. Press, 2012. lvi, 1593 p.
  19. Broken Laughter. Select Fragments of Greek Comedy. Olson S.D. (Ed.). Oxford, Oxford Univ. Press, 2007. xviii, 476 p.
  20. Halliwell St. Comic Satire and freedom of speech in classical Athens. Journal of Hellenic Studies, 1991, vol. 111, pp. 48–70.
  21. McGlew J. The comic Pericles. In: Lewis S. (Ed.) Ancient Tyranny. Edinburg, Edinburgh Univ. Press, 2006, pp. 164–177.
  22. Braund D. The goddess Bendis in fifth century Athenian culture. Vestnik Drevnei Istorii, 2017, vol. 77, no. 3, pp. 574–598.
  23. Revermann M. Comic Business: Theatricality, Dramatic Technique, and Performance Contexts of Aristophanic Comedy. Oxford, Oxford Univ. Press, 2006. xiv, 396 p.
  24. Braun Th. The choice of dead politicians in Eupolis’ Demoi: Themistocles’ exile, hero-cult and delayed rehabilitation, Pericles and the origins of the Peloponnesian War. In: Harvey D., Wilkins J. (Eds.) The Rivals of Aristophanes: Studies in Athenian Old Comedy. London, Duckworth Classical Press of Wales, 2000, pp. 191–232.
  25. Zaitsev A.I. Grecheskaya religiya i mifologiya [Greek Religion and Mythology]. St. Petersburg, Filol. Fak. SPbGU; Moscow, Akademiya, 2005. 208 p. (In Russian)
  26. McNellen B. Herodotean symbolism: Pericles as lion cub. Illinois Classical Studies, 1997, vol. 22, pp. 11–23.
  27. Bakola E. Cratinus and the Art of Comedy. Oxford, Oxford Univ. Press, 2010. xvi, 380 p.
  28. Jones Gr.S. Perikles and the sexual politics of Hermippos’ Moirai: A new interpretation of Fr. 47. The Classical Journal, 2011, vol. 106, no. 3, pp. 273–293. doi: 10.5184/classicalj.106.3.0273.
  29. Bowie A.M. The parabasis in Aristophanes: Prolegomena, Acharnians. The Classical Quarterly, 1982, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 27–40.
  30. Carey Ch. The purpose of Acharnians. Rheinisches Museum für Philologie, 1993, Bd. 136, H. 3/4, pp. 245–263.
  31. Forrest W.G. Aristophanes’ “Acharnians”. Phoenix, 1963, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 1–12.
  32. Dover K.J. Aristophanic Comedy. Berkeley, Los Angeles, Univ. of Calif. Press, 1972. xvi, 253 p.
  33. Olson S.D. Comedy, politics, and society. In: Brill’s Companion to the Study of Greek Comedy. Leiden, Boston, Brill, 2010, pp. 35–70.
  34. Tumans Kh. Pericles forever. Vestnik RGGU. Seriya: Istoriya. Filologiya. Kul’turologiya. Vostokovedenie, 2010, no. 10, pp. 117–154. (In Russian)
  35. Storey I.C. Eupolis, Poet of Old Comedy. Oxford, Oxford Univ. Press, 2003. xii, 445 p.
  36. Torello-Hill G. The resurrection of Aristeides, Miltiades, Solon and Perikles in Eupolis’ Demes. Antichthon, 2008, vol. 42, pp. 40–55. doi: 10.1017/S0066477400001830.
  37. Henry M.M. Prisoner of History: Aspasia of Miletus and Her Biographical Tradition. New York, Oxford, Oxford Univ. Press, 1995. vi, 201 p.
  38. McGlew J.F. Citizens on Stage: Comedy and Political Culture in the Athenian Democracy. Ann Arbor, Univ. of Mich. Press, 2002. vi, 239 p.

 

 

The content is available under the license Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.