Inhoudsopgave:
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The conventional view of Aristophanes bristles with problems. Important testimony for Alcibiadesâ paramount role in comedy is consistently disregarded, and the tradition that âmasks were made to look like the komodoumenoi, so that before an actor spoke a word, the audience would recognize who was being attackedâ is hardly ever invoked. If these testimonia are taken into account, a fascinating picture emerges, where the komodoumenoi are based on the Periclean household: older characters on Pericles himself, younger on Alcibiades. Aspasia, Periclesâ mistress, and Hipparete, Alcibiadesâ wife, lie behind many female characters, and Alcibiadesâ ambiguous sexuality also allows him to be shown on the stage as a woman, notably as Lysistrata. There is a substantial overlap between the anecdotal tradition relating to the historical figures and the plotting of Aristophanesâ plays. This extends to speech patterns, where Alcibiadesâ speech defect is lampooned. Aristophanes is consistently critical of Alcibiadesâ mercurial politics, and his works can also be seen to have served as an aide-mémoire for Thucydides and Xenophon. If the argument presented here is correct, then much current scholarship on Aristophanes can be set aside. |
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