Greek comedy from antiquity to the present day. The development of the comedy genre

Periodization of ancient Greek comedy: 1. Old Attic (ancient) comedy - 2nd half of the 5th century. BC. 2. Middle Attic comedy - the middle of the 4th century. BC. 3. Neo-Attic comedy - the end of the 4th century. BC. - 3rd and 2nd c. BC. Features of ancient Greek comedy (in terms of content): was of a socio-political nature; the introduction of specific historical characters in caricature; All comedies are fantastic.

Forms of primitive folk theater develop, and Sicilian comedy - everyday scenes - becomes popular. Author: Epicharm. Excerpts from his "Odyssey" and "Briseis" have been preserved. The comedy is close to the satyr drama, but it did not have a choir. The Sicilian mime is also spreading. Based on imitation, mostly had 2 actors each. The scheme is as follows: one actor reads the text, the other illustrates it. Friahs - everyday scenes, parodies on the theme of betrayal and theft. Source - vase painting. Another author is Kratin, who became famous for his topical ridicule against politicians, fragments have come down to us. History has preserved the name of Efpolides, an Athenian poet. Competitions of "comedy choirs" were established at the "Great Dionysius" only around 488 - 486 years. Prior to this, comedy was part of the Dionysian festivities only as a folk ritual game, and the state did not take over its organization. The "ancient" Attic comedy is something exceptionally peculiar. The archaic and crude games of fertility festivities are intricately intertwined in it with the formulation of the most complex social and cultural problems that faced Greek society. Building on ridicule. Characterized by sharp criticism of contemporary events, a pronounced political character, the faces of contemporaries (real) in a farcical form, but the plot is most often fantastic. Its object is not the mythological past, but living modernity, current, sometimes even topical, issues of political and cultural life. Begins with a prologue; parod (the opening song of the choir, denoting the action in a comedy in the role of birds, animals); agon (struggle, dispute, competition, conflict between the main character and his rival, ending with the moral victory of the hero, because this is the ideological basis); episodia (defending the truth with the help of a fight); exodus (the final song of the choir). Parabasa - the song of the choir, which had no meaning. Monologue from the author! The first comic poets: the Sicilian mimes of Sophron and Xenarchus (5th century BC); Epicharmus (520-500 BC) introduced the plot into comedy; Aristophanes (450-390 BC).

26. Aristophanes is a representative of ancient comedy. Stages of creativity of Aristophanes. Socio-political views of Aristophanes. The language and style of his comedies. Stages of creativity of Aristophanes: 1. 425-421 BC - "Clouds", "World". Coincides with the first war between Athens and Sparta, hence the glorification of Athens, the hopes for an alliance. 2. 414-405 BC - Victory of Sparta. "Birds", "Frogs", "Lysistrata". Personal attacks on politicians and military men almost disappear, but ridicule of philosophers and playwrights is numerous; problems of the world, literature; a large number of parodies of the tragedy and Euripides. 3. 390-388 BC - "Women in the People's Assembly". The transition from politics to everyday topics. Fantastic aspect. The main theme is utopia, a prosperous state. "Plutas" is a transitional comedy to a medium comedy. The comedies of Aristophanes are connected with the problems of real life, but have phantasmagoric situations. The story line is comic-fictional. That is why they seem ghostly and incredible. Ancient Greek comedy is associated with folk theatre. Caricature and buffoonery are obligatory - they are transmitted through costumes. There is a frequent appeal to the audience. It contains elements of parody, in this it is more similar to tragedy than to lyrics. According to Aristophanes, three types of parody are distinguished: 1. A phrase in the mouth of a tragic poet; 2. The hero of the comedy is displayed in a situation that is familiar to everyone from the tragedy; 3.? The task of tragic poets and playwrights, according to Aristophanes, is to teach and guide the Athenian youth on the true path. Ancient comedy is primarily about the views and opinions of the author himself. Aristophanes has a clear popularization of the city and the countryside. Bad characters are most often related to the city, good farmers-workers - to the countryside. Often Aristophanes refers to the era of marathon heroes, to the epic of the Greco-Persian wars. The old and the new were also associated with problems of sophistry. The comedies of Aristophanes are not aimed at forgiving Athenian democracy! His criticism is purely personal. The idea of ​​patriotism invariably sounds. Many of the comedies of Aristophanes are devoted to the problems of the world ("Lysistrata", "Peace"). He often ridicules fashionable lyric poets. His comedy reflects the most diverse strata of society, men and women, statesmen and generals, poets and philosophers, peasants, city dwellers and slaves; typical caricature masks acquire the character of clear, generalizing images. For the first time, the question of the meaning of creativity is raised. Aristophanes called himself a purifier and a critic. Means of influence: a mixture of seriousness and jokes, telling the truth. Idealization is the era of marathon heroes. Positive ideals are in the villages. He called all new schools a bunch of charlatans; negative attitude towards urban culture. Language and style: A lot of jokes and puns, some of them obscene. Numerous parodies. The emergence of new words, terms and distortion of old ones. The speech of the characters: many foreigners (Persians, Scythians, oriental deities). The speech of foreigners is a corruption of Greek speech, various dialects. Reproduction of the styles of tragedy, lyrics, parody of lyrics (on praises in particular), on oracles and legal terminology, recitations of sophists, public speeches and debates. Mangling speech + inventing new words or tongue twisters. The language is an example of Attic speech. In the choir - imitation of animals. 27. Aesthetic laws of creativity of Aristophanes. The ideal image of a tragic poet (the comedy "The Frogs"). Euripides and Aristophanes. The literary and aesthetic views of Aristophanes are expressed mainly in the comedies "The Frogs" and "Women at the Thesmophoria", where he compares the style of Euripides, which seems to him subjectivist and declamatory, with the ancient solemn style of Aeschylus, and prefers the latter. In religious views, he is very principled, but this did not prevent him from deducing the gods in a funny, even buffoonish form, from giving a caricature of prayer and prophecy.

In The Frogs, Euripides is depicted as a sentimental, pampered, anti-patriotic poet. Aeschylus is a poet of high and heroic morality, a serious, deep and staunch patriot. The poems of the tragedians are weighed on the scales, the poems of Aeschylus turn out to be solid, weighty, and the light verses of Euripides jump up. Euripides - personal, domestic, Aeschylus - eternal. And the goal of tragic art is to make it immortal + moral education. The struggle of the tragedians is political in nature: here the former strong political system is justified and the modern, rich, but very miserable democracy is condemned. 28. Philosophical prose: Aristotle. Aristotle's literary theory

Aristotle was from the city of Stagira (384-322 BC), the educator of Alexander the Great, a student of Plato. The author of about 1000 works, 47 of them have come down to us in full, many have been preserved in fragments. According to Aristotle, art is a way of knowing the world. Aristotle divides the arts according to imitation: Imitation through sound (music, singing); Imitation of colors and form (painting, culture); Imitation of rhythm (dance); Imitation of words and size (literature). The task of the poet according to Aristotle: to talk about what could happen. In poetry, the main poet recognized the content. Introduced several concepts: Proportionality. The internal unity of the work, the unity of time, place, action ("Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles as an ideal illustration of this); Expediency. The size of the plot should correspond to the essence of the case. An epic is not a story with a chronology! (An ideal example is Homer, The Iliad). Everything is connected by internal unity. Tragedy must consist, according to Aristotle, of six elements: 1. Storyline; 2. Characters; 3. Stage environment; 4. Thoughts; 5. Text; 6. Musical composition. The drama should not contain anything that interferes with its integrity and harmony. The unity of time is invariably subordinated to the unity of action. He spoke out against the basic principles of the idealistic philosophy of his teacher: first of all, he denied the existence of two worlds, the world of ideas and the world of things, believing that there is only one world - the material one. Along with materialistic principles, idealistic views are not alien to him: he recognizes a pure form without content. In his treatise "Poetics" raises the question of the essence of beauty. Starts from the ethical understanding of beauty, and sees beauty in the very form of things and their arrangement. He considered art to be a creative imitation of nature, that art helps people to know life. In his opinion, the task of the poet is “to speak not about what really happened, but about what could happen, therefore, about the possible – according to probability or necessity.” He believed that poetry is more philosophical and more serious than history. Poetry comes to the fore of all the arts, and of the forms of poetry, tragedy is placed above all. An example of a tragic character is the image of Oedipus Sophocles. Aristotle insisted on the unity of action, demanded only the image of people noble in their way of thinking, in behavior, and not in origin. The problem of catharsis: 1. ethical - the cleansing of a person from vices. 2. aesthetic - the combination of musical rhythm, harmony is achieved in a person a sense of fear or compassion, the concept of justice. 3. catharsis - the highest emotional point, as a result of compassion for what is happening. 4. religious.

29. Aesthetic views of Plato. Plato (427 - 347 BC) was from Athens. He came from an old aristocratic family. In his youth he was a playwright, musician, painter, and athlete. However, all these studies ceased after the meeting with Socrates. And his death had such an effect on Plato that Socrates became a constant hero in almost all of his writings. He led the anti-democratic party. He was a student of Socrates. After the death of the latter, he moved to Megara, from there to Syracuse. He founded a school in Athens, the "Academy". Plato is assigned about 43 works. Most of them are written in the form of a dialogue. Both the number of characters and the volume of compositions are different. In chronological order, the connection with the political trends of that time is taken into account. Groups: The earliest group, tentatively named "Socratic Dialogues". Small volume, vague philosophical doctrine, presentation of the teachings of Socrates and the definition of various ethical concepts. Examples: the dialogue "Fox", the dialogue "Small Guinius" (categories of truth and falsehood) + the dialogue "Crito", the essay "Apology of Socrates" (refer to the trial on Socrates and his death). General: the dialogue takes place in a domestic setting, the types of characters are realistically written out, a lot of jokes and puns, the same thought goes through the refrain; The second group is devoted to the aristocratic ideal of the state and ideas. It includes the dialogues "Feast", "Phaedrus", "Phaedo" and the first half of the books "State". General: dialogues about cognition and about the idea of ​​an ideal state system, dialogues between pundits about the soul (philosophical knowledge as the growth of the wings of the soul (the image of Eros)), about Eros: connection with philosophers, this is an absolute innovation of the author! A new form of dialogue: clearer thoughts and ideas, clearer concepts, more abstract style of dialogue. Substantiation of Plato's doctrine of ideas (philosophical and ethical categories). This group includes the dialogues "Sophist", "Faetet", "Politician". General: lack of everyday background, all attention is focused on philosophical concepts. New presentation of Plato's ideas. The penetration of the ideas of Pythagoras, Plato refuses some of his own. Dialogues Timaeus, Critias + Laws. General: this is nothing but long spatial monologues. The language is dry and abstract. The doctrine of ideas and the state is also connected with literary theory. Plato divided people into three groups: 1. Lower (peasants, artisans); 2. Medium (warriors, guards); 3. Higher (wise men, philosophers). Plato coined the concept of "beautiful". According to him, it does not exist in the real, visible world, but it does exist in the world of ideas. Only he who rises to him will see him. The beautiful exists forever, it is unchanging. Beautiful in itself and one with itself. To see it, you need knowledge and contemplation. The above categories are polarized with creative inspiration! The latter, according to Plato, is unreasonable. The poet's peru belong to an extremely negative judgment and creative activity. According to Plato, there is a world of eternal, unchanging ideas. The material world can never be perfect. This is where aesthetics come from. If the material world is only a reflection of the ideal world, and the artist and poet in their works strive to imitate the surrounding world, his skill is false, it is only a pale copy of higher ideas. This kind of art cannot exist in an ideal society, and therefore even Homer must be expelled from the walls of a city ruled by philosophers. For Plato, the highest embodiment of beauty is a proportionate, harmonious cosmos. Plato's dialogues are peculiar dramatic scenes. The drama of human thought, because the search for truth is no less dramatic than the events of life. 30. Greek historiography. "History" of Herodotus - theme, composition, style features. Novella of Herodotus. Historiography has two meanings: The history of the study of a certain problem; History of the description of a certain problem. The history of the archaic ancient cities of Greece influenced the development of historiography. Asia Minor was predominantly under the influence of the Ionians and Dorians. There, in their cities, the development of thought arises. In connection with travel, writing was needed. Periplus - descriptions of voyages. Logoi - (“word”, story, Greek) more detailed descriptions. Logographers are those who wrote logos. The first Greek author who dared to write something like a historical chronicle was Herodotus. A native of a noble family, a non-poor person, connected with relations with the nobility. He spent a significant part of his life in Athens, traveled around the cities, collecting materials, at the end of his days he settled in Thurii. Communicated with many Athenians, knew many family traditions. Herodotus was a political immigrant. He was looking for the reasons for the war with Persia. That is why I started writing my work. Herodotus had to explain a huge number of things, to prove various facts. For the first time he turned to the logos and began to combine them. The Lygian, Egyptian, Babylonian logoi include stories in their narrative - all of the above are connected in one way or another with the Persians. Logos allow the use of sources. Herodotus sometimes uses the stories of travelers, then he himself visits the places described, talking with the locals. Herodotus believed in the gods. The ancients called Herodotus of Halicarnassus (484-426 BC) the "Father of History". Life and creativity took place in the years after the great victories of the Greeks over the Persians, in the years of brilliant achievements of Athenian culture. Herodotus is an ardent patriot of Athens; traveled a lot in the Mediterranean, deeply studied Egypt, Scythia. The works of Herodotus are divided into nine books, named after the Muses. The composition of the "History" resembles an epic poem in prose. As the main theme, the heroic struggle of the Greeks with the Persians is taken; the progressive thought of the superiority of the Greeks - patriotic warriors, well trained in gymnastics and military affairs - over the hordes of Persians driven by scourges sounds especially strong in this topic. Along with scientific observations and geographical descriptions, there are many legendary and mythological tales coming from ancient historians. Many folk tales-short stories give the story a literary and artistic specificity. Drama is introduced if the story is about famous people of antiquity (Solon, Polycrates). At the same time, Herodotus pursues the main idea - fate and the gods severely punish a “proud” person, there is a harsh law about the vicissitudes of life. The second book of the "History" is devoted to describing what he saw and heard during his travels in Egypt. He is struck by the power and beauty of the Nile. The richest material about the buildings of the Egyptians, about laws, customs, plants and animals, about papyri, even about mores. The life of tribes and heroes, semi-mythical tales. In the work of Herodotus there were rationalistic features characteristic of the era. Material about the life of the Scythians is given by the chapters of the third book.

31. Greek historiography. "History" Thucydides - theme, features of composition and style. speech functions. Thucydides (460-396 BC) - a historian after Herodotus, writes about the contemporary war with Sparta. Born in Attica, he belonged to a noble and wealthy family. He took part in the Peloponnesian War. He was elected a strategist, but did not provide assistance to the city of Amphipolis in time, was accused of treason and spent about twenty years in exile. He is a Dorian by origin, lived in Athens, but tried to write in the Ionian dialect! Athens at that time was the center of culture, philosophers gathered there, construction was underway there. Thucydides is a rationalist scientist. Refuses to express personal opinion. He wrote until his deathbed. A sincere patriot of Athenian democracy, highly appreciated Pericles, glorified the culture of Athens. In political views and in his concept of the historical process, the era of Pericles with its high level of science, art, and philosophy, the era of rationalistic criticism of myths and the development of sophistic schools, is reflected. Thucydides strove for a systematic critical examination of sources and clarification of the causality, patterns of events. His interests lay in the present. His review of previous periods serves the purpose of analyzing and showing the features of contemporary events of the Peloponnesian War. He was aware of the importance of observing chronology. He condemned the ancient chronicle chronological system, when at the head of each described year they placed the name of the official who gave the name to the year, and puts summer and winter, the main parts of the solar year, at the basis of his history. Thucydides himself described his creative method of artistically constructed oratorical speeches of famous figures of the Peloponnesian War: “I have composed my speeches in the way that, in my opinion, each speaker, always in accordance with the circumstances of the moment, most likely could talk about the present state of affairs.” 32. Historical writings of Xenophon. Peculiarities of language and style.

Xenophon.

a) Biographical information.

Xenophon (about 430-350 BC) is a historian and philosopher who lived in the era of the decline of Athens. Athenian by birth, laconophile by political convictions, Xenophon is widely known for his "Anabasis" - the story of the return to their homeland from Persia of 10,000 Greeks, mercenaries of Cyrus the Younger.

The life of Xenophon is stormy, full of adventures. In his youth, he was a student of the Athenian philosopher Socrates, to whom he dedicated several of his best writings. In 401, Xenophon went to the service of the satrap of Asia Minor, Cyrus the Younger, who planned to overthrow his older brother, Artaxerxes, from the Persian throne. But this complex and boldly built political adventure ended tragically for the conspirators: Cyrus the Younger himself was killed, the commanders of the Greek mercenaries were treacherously destroyed.

With terrible difficulties, most of the Greek mercenaries returned to the shores of Pontus Euxinus. Xenophon later sided with Sparta against Athens; he was condemned for treason to his native city, and for many years he lived in Sparta, in the estate presented to him by the Spartans in Skillunt. When the Athenians united with Sparta to fight against Thebes, Xenophon was able to return to his homeland, but soon died, outliving his son, who died for Athens.

b) The hero in the writings of Xenophon is also ideal.

The work of Xenophon is extremely diverse. He is the author of notes about Socrates ("Memorabilia"), the first adventure-historical novel ("Anabasis"), the first romanized biography "Education of Cyrus" ("Kyropedia"), "History of Greece" of the beginning of the 4th century. BC. (after the catastrophes of the Peloponnesian War), many philosophical and political treatises. It is precisely the breadth of interests of Xenophon, who combined the observation of a historian, the philosophical sharpness of thought and the skill of an artist, that makes it possible to consider his ideal of beauty and the means by which this person is drawn by him.

Xenophon develops the classical understanding of the beautiful, identifying it with the useful and vital. Hence his assertion of the unity of physical and spiritual beauty, that is, ka-lokagatiya.

The image of an ideal hero, a noble, courageous, wise, generous person, is often depicted by Xenophon in his books. These are Cyrus the Elder ("Kyropedia"), Cyrus the Younger ("Anabasis"), the Spartan king Agesilaus ("Agesilaus"). Xenophon himself acts as such an ideal hero, having comprehensively described his activities as the strategist of mercenary troops, Cyrus the Younger ("Anabasis"). The author's third-person narrative, as if gradually and completely disinterested, with a complete impression of objectivity, depicts Xenophon the Athenian, who arrived at Cyrus in Sardis at the invitation of his friend Proxenus and after questioning the Delphic oracle on the advice of Socrates.

Xenophon is here a model of modesty, so that until the third book we hardly meet his name. Even when he takes command of the army, he always remembers that he is younger than Hirisophus, and yields leadership to him (III, 2, 37). He unquestioningly goes to the most dangerous business (III, 4, 42), never mentions the superiority of Athens, deeply revering the Spartan warriors. He is deprived of greed and refuses the rich gifts of the Thracian Sevf (VII, 6, 12). A sense of duty for him - above all. Therefore, he does not leave for Athens until he himself hands over the army to the Spartan Fibron (VII, 7, 57). Always kind, he takes on the guilt of his friend (VI, 4, 14), comes to the aid of soldiers dying from cold and snow (IV, 5, 7).

Piety never betrays him, and he makes sacrifices to Zeus, Apollo, Artemis, Hercules, the Sun, the god of the river (IV, 3, 17) and even the wind (IV, 5); believes in omens, dreams and oracles (IV, 3, 8; III, 1, 11; III, 1, 5). This is an experienced strategist, who with great skill crossed mountains and rivers with an army among hostile foreigners (Book IV). At the same time, this is also a strict commander, for whom the most important thing is order (III, 1, 38) and the inspired unity of the army (VI, 3, 23).

Xenophon also acts as a skillful speaker, who owns all kinds of speeches. He either calls and inspires the soldiers (III, 1, 15-26), then exhorts allies (VII, 7, 8-48), then defends himself from the accusation of enemies (V, 7, 6-34), and always acts with impeccable logic proof. As a result of one such speech, the Thracian Sevf, who tried to deprive the soldiers of the agreed payment, gave them 1 talent of money, 600 bulls, 400 sheep, 120 slaves and hostages.

It can be said on the basis of "Anabasis" that Xenophon is in it the hero whom he himself loved both in Cyrus the Elder, and in Cyrus the Younger, and in King Agesilaus. If in the "Cyropaedia" Xenophon created the ideal of a sovereign, then in "Anabasis" he fashioned the type of an ideal leader. The portrait of a military kalokagatiya is drawn in "Anabasis" with classical clarity and certainty.

c) "Beautiful" and "good" in the aesthetics of Xenophon.

The harmonious combination of physical and inner perfection permeates all Xenophon's attitudes towards the beautiful, which is full of the reality surrounding a person.

Xenophon is attracted by beautiful things made by human hands, that is, those on which his taste, skill, artistic abilities are manifested. Xenophon admires golden cups, bowls, weapons, jewelry, clothes ("Anabasis", VI, 4, 1-9; "Cyropaedia", V, 2, 7). In "Anabasis", depicting his estate, the temple near it, the surrounding landscape (meadows, wooded mountains, orchards), Xenophon acts both as an artist and as a skilled owner. He loves everything alive, agile, flexible, beautiful and perfectly fulfilling its role, its purpose. Remarkable, for example, are descriptions of dogs, "strong in appearance", "proportionate", "light", with a "cheerful look", "cheerful disposition", "attractive for contemplation" ("Kinegetik"), and horses ("On horseback riding "). Xenophon enthusiastically draws colorful processions, festivities in the radiance of gold weapons and purple clothes ("Cyropaedia", VIII, 3, 9-16).

Thus, sensually visual and contemplatively expedient beauty comes to the fore here.

For Xenophon, the idea of ​​life order is also important. "There is nothing in the world so useful, so beautiful as order," he writes (Ekonomik, VIII, 3). Order is not only something useful and pleasant, not only a joyful spectacle. He is a subject of admiration. Ischomachus, the hero of The Economy, tells Socrates about the "excellent and most exemplary order" on the ship (VIII, 11-16). With admiration, he draws order in a home environment, where everything has its place and a beautiful view: raincoats, bedspreads, copper utensils, tablecloths, kitchen pots. "All objects are already, perhaps, because they seem more beautiful that they are put in order" (VIII, 19-20). Here, as we see, the cosmic mind and the harmony of nature of the pre-Socratic ideal are replaced by a purely human order of life. It can be said that in the aesthetics of the pre-Socratic period "order" and "system" are the natural structure of things, while in the classical Xenophon they are established by man and consciously put into practice by him.

It is also important that everything "good", "kind", "good" in Xenophon often does not have a moral meaning at all, but the one in which the beauty of a person is most manifested, in his "virtue" there are often more aesthetic motives than ethical ones. .

According to Xenophon, "those people are beautiful, by whose labors the ugly and boorish are expelled from the soul and from the body, and the craving for virtue grows" ("Kinegetik", XII, 9). Even hunting "teaches systematic work and gives rise to excellent knowledge," which means a great virtue (ibid., XII, 18). People do evil because they do not see the "body of virtue" (ibid., XII, 19-22). Better than Xenophon, it is difficult to express the classical attitude to beauty. Beauty is the body of virtue, that is, physical virtue realized. Hence the idea of ​​the usefulness of beauty and love developed by Xenophon (Feast, VIII, 37-39), since citizens see that a person in love strives for virtue, and this virtue acquires an "increasing brilliance of glory" (ibid., VIII, 43).

Beauty and the love corresponding to it are of great objective significance. Beauty is the beginning of friendship, human unity and universal virtue (ibid., VIII, 26-27). Therefore, for Xenophon, the main value is "love for the soul, for friendship, for noble deeds" (ibid., VIII, 9-10).

Thus, we see that Xenophon, this warrior, philosopher, historian and writer, was one of the exponents of the understanding of the ideal and beautiful in objective reality, characteristic of classical Greece, in all spheres of the most seemingly ordinary life, full of order, harmony, harmony and benefit.

The appearance of drama in Greece was preceded by a long period, during which the epic, and then the lyric, occupied the dominant place first. We all know the rich heroic epic-poems "Iliad" and "Odyssey", the didactic (instructive) epic-poem of Hesiod (VII century BC); These are the works of lyric poets of the 6th century. BC.

The birth of Greek drama and theater is associated with ritual games that were dedicated to the patron gods of agriculture: Demeter, her daughter Kore, Dionysus. Such rituals sometimes turned into a cult drama. For example, in the city of Eleusis, during the mysteries (mysteries attended only by the initiates), games were arranged during which the marriage of Zeus and Demeter, the abduction of the Kore by Pluto, the wanderings of Demeter in search of her daughter and the return of the Kore to earth were depicted.

Dionysus (or Bacchus) was considered the god of the creative forces of nature; later he became the god of winemaking, and then the god of poetry and theater. The symbols of Dionysus were plants, especially the vine. He was often depicted as a bull or a goat.

At the holidays dedicated to Dionysus, not only solemn, but also cheerful carnival songs were sung. Noisy fun was organized by the mummers who made up the retinue of Dionysus. The participants of the festive procession smeared their faces with wine grounds, put on masks and goat skins.

Three genres of ancient Greek drama grew out of ritual games and songs in honor of Dionysus: tragedy, comedy and satyr comedy (named after the choir, which consisted of satyrs). Tragedy reflected the serious side of the Dionysian cult, comedy - carnival-satirical. Satir drama was presented as an average genre. A cheerful playful character and a happy ending determined its place at the holidays in honor of Dionysus: the satyr drama was staged as a conclusion to the presentation of tragedies.

Tragedy, according to Aristotle, originated from singing dithyrambs, comedy - from singing phallic songs, i.e. songs that glorified the fruitful forces of nature. Elements of acting were added to the dialogue that these singers had with the choir, and the myth seemed to come to life before the participants of the holiday.

Much can be said about the origin of Greek drama by the very words tragedy and comedy. The word tragedy comes from two Greek words: tragos - "goat" and ode - "song", i.e. “Song of the goats”. This name again leads us to the satyrs-companions of Dionysus, goat-footed creatures who glorified the exploits and sufferings of God. The word comedy comes from the words komos and ode. ridicule, at village feasts in honor of Dionysus, hence the word comedy means "song of komos."

Greek tragedy, as a rule, took subjects from mythology, which was well known to every Greek. The audience's interest was not focused on the plot, but on the interpretation of the myth by the author, on the social and moral issues that unfolded around the well-known episodes of the myth. Using the mythological shell, the playwright reflected in the tragedy the social and political life of his day, expressed his ethical, philosophical, and religious views. Therefore, the role of tragic ideas in the socio-political and ethical education of citizens was enormous.

Already in the second half of the VI century. BC e. the tragedy has reached a significant development. Ancient history reports that Thespis (VI century BC) was the first Athenian tragic poet. The first production of his tragedy (its name is unknown) took place in the spring of 534 BC. e. at the Feast of the Great Dionysius. This year is considered to be the year of birth of the world theater.

Thespis is credited with perfecting masks and theatrical costumes. But the main innovation of Thespides was the selection of one performer from the choir, an actor. This actor, or, as he was called in Greece, the hypokrite (“answer”), could address the chorus with questions, answer questions from the chorus, portray various characters in the course of the action, leave the stage and return to it.

Thus, the early Greek tragedy was a kind of dialogue between the actors and the choir, and in form it was more like a cantana. At the same time, although the number of actors in the original drama was small and the main role was played by the choir, it was the actor from his very appearance who became the bearer of an effective, energetic beginning.

In comedy, much more than in tragedy, worldly motives were mixed with mythological motifs, which gradually became predominant or even the only one, although in general comedy was still considered dedicated to Dionysus. So, during the komos, small scenes of everyday and parodic-satiric content began to play out. These impromptu scenes were an elementary form of folk farce theater and were called mimes (translated as “imitation”, “reproduction”; the performers of these scenes were also called mimes). The heroes of mimes were the traditional masks of the folk theater: a would-be warrior, a market thief, a charlatan scientist, a simpleton who fools everyone, etc. Komos songs and mimes are the main sources of ancient Attic comedy.

A comedy of the 5th century BC that arose from the Attic komos. BC e. was political in content. She constantly touched upon the issues of the political system, the foreign policy of the Athenian state, the education of youth, the literary struggle, etc.

The topicality of the ancient Attic comedy was aggravated by the fact that it allowed complete freedom in the caricature depiction of individual citizens, also displayed under their original names (the poets Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Agathon, the leader of the Athenian democracy Cleon, the philosopher Socrates and others - from Aristophanes) . At the same time, ancient Attic comedy usually creates an image that is not individual, but generalized, close to the mask of a folk comedy theater. For example, Socrates in Aristophanes' Clouds is endowed not with the features of a real face, but with all the properties of a charlatan scientist, one of the favorite masks of folk carnivals. Such a comedy could only exist under the conditions of the Athenian slave-owning democracy.

Greek comedy 5th c. BC e. called the ancient Attyme comedian. It combined the cheerful liberty of folk ritual games with the formulation of important issues of state and public life. The education of young people, the literary struggle, questions of war and peace, the organization of state institutions - all these problems were constantly raised in comedies. A sharp caricature, bold attacks on real people, a flight of fancy - these are the main features of this comedy. The theater was truly the school of Athenian citizens!

Such a tragedy, and even more so a comedy, could exist only under the conditions of the rise of Athenian slave-owning democracy, which gave the right to participate in government, to influence public life, including the theater, to all free citizens. But a democracy based on slave labor provided rich and powerful people with greater opportunities to use this right compared to poor working people - artisans, peasants, fishermen, etc. In addition, foreigners, women and, of course, slaves were absolutely deprived of rights. . Theatrical art in Athens reached its peak in the 5th century. BC e.

Antique comedy

1. Antique comedy: concept, history, features

The term "comedy" goes back to the ancient Greek word comoidia, literally meaning "song of komos", i.e. the song of the participants of the festive village procession dedicated to the glorification of the life-giving forces of nature.

Its other source was an elementary and equally ancient form of a folk booth - a comic scene in which a stupid rich man, a rogue, a thief tries to deceive, infringe on the interests of the main character, but always fails, and leaves the stage in disgrace, accompanied by blows of a stick and a friendly chorus of spectators .

One of the most remarkable features of the structure of ancient Attic comedy is the active role of the choir, the bearer of the main publicist idea of ​​the play, although often dressed in bizarre costumes of birds, animals, clouds, etc. The participation of the choir created a special compositional structure of the ancient comedy, reflecting the main features and origins from the choral (accusatory) and dialogic (farce-farcical) elements.

Aristophanes is the only representative of ancient comedy whose plays have come down to us (namely, 11 plays, he wrote more than 40 plays). The heyday of his work coincides with the time of the Peloponnesian War. Her hardships laid the heaviest burden on the people of Attica, who were ruined. Therefore, the theme of the condemnation of the war sounded with force in the work of Aristophanes (the comedy "The World", "Aharnians", "Lysistrata") Kun N. Myths and legends of ancient Greece. Edited by E. Rodina. - M.: Olma-MediaGroup, 2011, p.52 .. Aristophanes played a significant role in the development of satire, laying its basic techniques, widely using the grotesque, caricature, fantasy.

The comedy of Aristophanes, this "pronounced tendentious poet" and now strikes with the fearlessness of his satire.

Menander wrote more than 199 comedies, but according to ancient authors, he won drama competitions only 8 times. Menander is practically the only representative of the new Attic comedy whose works have come down to us. He gained fame as a great playwright with his excellent mastery of the art of psychological characterization, which allows him to create individualized human characters, betraying truly human features to traditional masks, to diversify and deepen the conditional types of Corneille Pierre's mask theater. Reasoning about the usefulness and parts of a dramatic work. Translation by N. P. Kozlova // Pierre Corneille. Plays. - M.: BEK, 2010, p.41..

Menander was in great demand in Antiquity; collections of his sayings, known in Ancient Rus', were very widely distributed.

The comedy of Menander had a great influence on the subsequent development of world drama.

Terence (195-159 BC) created 6 comedies, and all of them have come down to us. We also got brief instructions to them, from which we learn about the time of staging comedies and their performers.

The first comedy of Terence - "Andrianka" was staged in 166, the second - "Mother-in-law" was staged for the first time in 165, but the performance was disrupted, because. the audience in the middle of the play ran off to watch fist fighters and tightrope walkers. The second time Terentius staged a comedy was in 160, but the audience, after the first act, rushed to the games of gladiators. In the same year 160, he still managed to stage the comedy "Mother-in-law" Ibid., p.43..

The third comedy of Terence - "The Self-Tormentor" was staged in 163, the fourth "Eunuch" - in 161, the fifth - "Formion" - also in 161 and the sixth comedy - "The Brothers" - in 160.

Terence puts in his plays questions of the family, life, education, promotes the ideas of humanity, respect for women. Characteristic conflicts in Terence's comedies are conflicts between fathers and children, between husband and wife.

Terence's characters speak in an elegant literary language. There are no rough colloquial expressions in their speech, there are almost no archaisms, but it also has that richness that is characteristic of the language of Plavtov's characters.

Terence was highly valued in the 18th century. Theorists of the so-called "tearful comedy", they considered him a kind of pioneer of this genre.

Plautus - the most prominent Roman comedian (mid-III century - 184 BC). There is no reliable information about his life. Plautus is credited with about 130 comedies, but in the 1st century. BC. the famous Roman scholar and connoisseur of literature Varro singled out 21 comedies from this number, considering them to be truly Plavtov's, and these comedies have come down to us. The most popular of them are “Treasure” (or “Pot”), “Curculion” (or “Tricks of the Parasite”), “Menechmas” (or “Gemini”), “Boastful Warrior”, “Pseudol” (or “Slave-Deceiver” ), "Prisoners" and "Amphitrion" by Corneille Pierre. Reasoning about the usefulness and parts of a dramatic work. Translation by N. P. Kozlova // Pierre Corneille. Plays. - M.: BEK, 2010, p.49..

Plautus liked to portray dexterous, smart, energetic slaves who usually help out their far from smart and passive masters. The comedies of Plautus were very popular among the plebeian masses, captivated by their wit, dynamism, and extraordinary richness of language.

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Ancient Greek comedy was a popular and influential form of theater performed across ancient Greece from the 6th century BC. The most famous playwrights of the genre were Aristophanes and Menander, their works and those of their contemporaries evoke appeasement among politicians, philosophers and other artists. In addition to maintaining their comic touch, the plays also provide an indirect but invaluable insight into Greek society as a whole and provide detailed information about the workings of political institutions, legal systems, religious practices, education, and warfare in the Hellenistic world. Uniquely, the plays also show us something of the personality of the audience and show what tickled the sense of humor of the Greeks. Finally, Greek comedy and its immediate predecessor, Greek tragedy, together form the foundation on which all modern theater is based.

ORIGINS OF COMEDY GAMES
The exact origins of Greek comedy plays are lost in the mists of prehistory, but the activities of people dressing up and imitating others must necessarily go a long way before written records. The first signs of such activity in the Greek world come from pottery, where decoration in the 6th century BC often represented actors dressed as horses, satyrs and dancers in exaggerated costumes. Another early source of comedy are the poems of Archilochus (7th century BC) and Hipponax (6th century BC), which contain crude and explicit sexual humor. The third origin, cited as such by Aristotle, is in the phallic songs that were sung during the Dionysian festivals.

COMEDY PLAY
Despite the innovations, the comedy play followed a traditional structure. The first movement is a paradox which included a choir of 24 performers and performed a number of songs and dances. Dressed to impress, their outlandish costumes could represent anything from giant bees with huge stingers to knights riding another person in imitation of a horse or even assorted kitchen utensils. In many cases, the piece was actually named after the choir, such as the "Axis" of Aristophanes.

The second phase of the show is the agony, which was often a witty oral contest or debate between the main actors with elements of fantasy plot and fast-paced scenes that could include some improvisation (if references to specific audience members are perceived as persons actually present in the theatre) . The third part of the play was parabasis, when the choir spoke directly to the audience and even the poet spoke directly. The finale of the comedy play's final transmission was exophos, with the Chorus delivering another rousing song and dance routine.

The performers were all male professional actors, singers and dancers, and were assisted in their quest to represent the vast array of human and non-human characters with wonderful costumes and highly decorated face masks. The main characters - one protagonist (who took the lion's share in the spotlight) and two other actors, performed all the acting parts. Sometimes a fourth actor was allowed, but only if he was not a tool for the plot. These restrictions were to ensure equality in competition and withholding costs to the state, which financed professional participants. The choir, costumes, musicians and rehearsal time were funded by an appointed private citizen, khorēgos, whose role carried great prestige.

Due to the limited number of participants then, each performer had to take on multiple roles, which included quick costume changes and the use of recognizable personal masks such as those for slaves or gods such as Hercules and Hermes. In addition, some of the masks may have been decorated to caricature some of the contemporary figures the poet wished to ridicule. The masks, however, deprived the actor of the use of facial expressions, and so the use of voice and gesture became extremely important. Costumes were another important visual part of the performance, and the most common were complemented by tights and a short tunic in which a false and exaggerated phallus (associated with the ritual of Dionysus) was found - a detail that is clearly visible in many comic scenes presented on Greek ceramics.

Plays were performed in an open-air theater (theatron) such as Dionysos in Athens and seemingly open to the entire male population (the presence of women is disputed). The presence of theaters in cities throughout the Greek world and finds of terracotta theater masks also suggest that comedies (and, of course, tragedies) were widely performed. The semi-circle of seats created a central area known as the orchestra, and it was here that the choir performed. The main artists performed on a raised stage with a backdrop provided by the skne, a two-story structure that also provided various entry points for the actors and provided a means to change costume without the audience noticing. There was some movement between these areas, as the Choir could sometimes ascend the stage and the actors could also enter the orchestra through the public entrances or steamers on either side of the theatre.

COMEDY IN COMPETITION
In the 5th century BC, at major religious festivals such as City Dionysia and Lenae, comedies were held in competition for three days. The first five and later three comedies were entered for competition, the comic play was performed at the end of the day after the tragedy and satire. The plays were judged by a panel of ten judges chosen by lot, and they voted by placing a pebble in an urn. Five urns were chosen at random to decide the final winner.

OLD COMEDY

Oh my god with a sudden blow
Transform me into a puff of smoke!
Like the words of politicians, I got up
In gaseous vapor to the sky.
(50, first act, first scene, wasps by Aristophanes)

Old Comedy refers to plays written in the 5th century BC. The earliest surviving complete play is the Arachnists of Aristophanes, first performed in 425 BC, and quotations from surviving fragments of early plays can be dated no earlier than c. 450 BC

The plot of comedies usually stretches reality in terms of time and place, jumping from incredible geographical distances and rapidly changing scenes. Fantasy elements such as giant creatures and improbable disguises are mixed with references to an audience that provides roller skating of satire, parody, puns, exaggeration, colorful language and crude jokes. Indeed, since the plays were popular entertainment, they show some of the popular languages ​​used by the Greeks, a language not commonly found in more serious written material. Any public figure was fair game, and even mythology and religion could be ridiculed. However, despite this high degree of free speech, certain aspects of religion, such as the Mysteries and higher gods such as Zeus and Athena, seem to have been out of reach for the comic poet.

NEW COMEDY
Sometime in the late 4th century BC, a new style of Greek comedy emerged, although the transition from old comedy may have been more gradual than the intended plays, and some scholars suggest an intermediate stage called "Middle Comedy". Of course, Aristophanes' last two plays differ in style from his other plays and provide a transition to a newer style of presentation. This new comedy focused more on the plot of the play and often featured recurring characters such as cooks, soldiers, pimps, and a cunning slave. The chorus becomes less important to the plot (only the musical interludes between acts) and the pieces seem to settle into an established five-act structure. Another difference is that there seem to be fewer personal attacks (or is it just an impression from having too few sources to compare?) that could be brought about by legislation specifically designed to crack down on this practice. The New Comedy theme was also different, and was more about fictional ordinary people and their relationships with family, other classes, and foreigners.

COMEDY WRITERS

[About contemporary poets]
I assure you, little boys and shrebers, how many swallows. Shame on their art. If ever they are given a choir, what is their offer in the sanctuary of Tragedy? One hind leg cock and they got mad. You never hear about them again.
(159, first act, first scene, frogs of Aristophanes)

The giant of Greek comedy - Aristophanes. Little is known for certain about him, but from the dates of his plays we can assume that he lived from 460 to 380 BC. E. And was from Athens. Eleven of his plays have survived to the full, and these are the only surviving examples of the old comedy genre. Some of them (Aristotle in particular) are rather crude, the plays nevertheless show the sharp wit of Aristophanes, and they often comment on the inconsistencies and ridiculous aspects of society and public figures. The politician Cleon, the philosopher Socrates, and the tragedy playwright Euripides were the three figures most frequently seen in Aristophanes' comics.

Other important old comedy playwrights include Cratinus (whose works include Cheimazomenae 426 BCE, Satyrs 424 BCE and Pytine 423 BCE) and Eupolis (Numeniae 425 BCE, Maricas 421 BCE, Flatterers 421 BCE and Autolycus 420 BCE), both of whom were numerous winners in the most prestigious festivals.

We know much more about New Comedy writers, many of whom were prolific and sometimes wrote more than 300 plays. The most important poets include Philemon (c. 368/60 - 267/3 BC), author of 97 comedies, Diphilus, who wrote about 100 plays, and the Philippides. However, the writer of this genre whose work has survived the longest is Menander (c. 342-291 BCE). Philemon actually won more festival victories than Menander, but it was the latter who came to be considered the great poet of the New Comedy. He wrote about 100 plays, and many survived until the 7th century AD, when, unfortunately, they were lost to posterity. Dyskolos (originally performed in 316 BC) is the most complete surviving game, and a significant proportion of the other six plays also survive.

Menander's popularity is attested by over 900 quotations surviving in secondary sources, and his work was often adapted by later Latin dramatists. Known for its imaginative situations, quick dialogue, suspense, and focus on private domestic dramas, it often included a romantic lead, usually of a young single male (unlike Aristophanes' heroes, who are usually middle-aged and married). In addition, Menand's comedy often alluded to the importance the author gave to tolerance and understanding in our social relationships.

FIXING THE COMEDY
Greek comedy would continue to be popular through Hellenistic and Roman times, with many classic plays being repeated over and over again. Latin comedies were written most famously by Plautus & Terence, and the genre has diversified into various other forms of comic theater such as pantomime and togata.

Comedy is ancient a cult drama dedicated to Dionysus, performed by a choir and actors. All types of ancient comedy (folk and literary) had a poetic form and were performed accompanied by music; actors and chorevgs wore masks. There were two historically and typologically independent forms of literary comedy: Sicilian and Attic. The nature of Attic comedy changed significantly over time, so already in antiquity there were three successive stages: ancient, middle and new Attic comedy. Folk South Italian comedy developed under the predominant influence of literary Attic. Roman comedy was created and developed on the model of an exclusively new Attic comedy. From different types of comedy in the strict sense, one should distinguish other dramatic genres that were “comic” in their spirit, but were not considered comedy in Greece, since they were not genetically associated with strictly defined forms of the cult of Dionysus. These include the satyr drama (a kind of tragedy) and various, devoid of genre unity, small dialogic forms, which were called mimes. Only in Rome, where Greek cult and theatrical formalities lost their meaning, did the Latin mime begin to be seen as a form of comedy.

Sicilian comedy

Sicilian comedy is already known in a developed form from the work of the poet Epicharmus(about 550-460 BC) from Syracuse. Fragments of 40 of his comedies have been preserved, which show that the original and main theme of the Sicilian comedy was the travesty depiction of myths (“The Wedding of Hebe”, “Pyrrha and Prometheus”, “Philoctetes”, etc.). However, as Aristotle (Poetics, V) points out, Epicharmus and (practically unknown to us) Formius began to use "fictitious", i.e. not mythological stories. An example of the development of a purely everyday theme is given by the image of a parasite in a lengthy passage from the comedy "Hope, or Wealth", but here, judging by the name, personification deities could participate. Some passages touch upon philosophical questions. The comedies of Epicharmus are written in iambic Dorian.

Ancient Attic Comedy

From 487 BC in Athens, the official competitions of comic choirs begin. The first poet of comedy known by name was Chionides. Ancient comedy is known from the work of its latest representative, Aristophanes, from whom 11 comedies staged in 425-388 BC have survived. From other poets 5th century BC (Kratin, Cratet, Eupolis) fragments have come down. The ancient comedy opens with a prologue, which, as in the developed classical tragedy, develops into an extended dialogic scene; followed by parod, i.e. the song that accompanies the choir's entrance to the orchestra. Behind the parod begins the agon, the competition of the two main characters; the central part of the comedy is occupied by the parabaza, a lengthy performance by the choir (performing the parabaza, the choirs removed their masks). The parabaza is surrounded by a series of loosely connected small scenes performed by the actors, and the comedy ends with the exode, the song that accompanies the choir's departure from the orchestra. The parabasis is a complex melic composition built mainly on the antistrophic principle; it is not directly related to the plot of the comedy and contains the author's declarations devoted to various topical issues. A sequentially developing plot was not important for ancient comedy. According to Aristotle (Poetics, V), the coherent comic "myth" (i.e. plot) was first introduced by Crates (after 450 BC) following the example of the Sicilian comedy. The content of the comedy was largely determined by its cult origin: scenes of gluttony, fights, erotic jokes characteristic of rituals associated with the cult of fertility were mandatory along with abuse (invective) directed against specific individuals. Beginning with Aristotle's Poetics, this personal abuse was seen as a necessary element of ancient comedy. Often depicted gods or traditional, or deities-personifications. There are well-known comedies whose plot was purely mythological, for example: Dionysus-Alexander by Cratinus (after 430 BC), in which the myth of the judgment of Paris was presented; mythological (though outside of traditional mythology) are the comedies The World (421 BC) and The Birds (414 BC) by Aristophanes. Ancient comedy is characterized by an allegorical (mainly political) interpretation of myths, which indicates its important ideological role in a society whose consciousness was still based mainly on mythology. Comedies on "fictional" plots were political pamphlets, not everyday dramas, but not only politicians, but also philosophers ("Clouds" by Aristophanes, 423 BC), musicians and poets became victims of comedy writers: attacks on tragedians and rivals comedians are often found in Aristophanes. A favorite motif was a parody of a tragedy. Thus, comedy became one of the first forms of literary and artistic criticism. The characters of the ancient comedy are caricatured, if they are real persons, then their characters are narrowed and reduced to one line, chosen by the poet for ridicule; ethical issues in general are not of interest to comedians. As with other genres of Greek poetry, comedy developed its own metrical rules. The main dialogic dimensions of Greek drama - iambic trimeter and trocheic tetrameter - are interpreted in comedy in many ways differently than in tragedy, and the metrical development of choral parts is also peculiar; comedy language was close to colloquial. The comic choir consisted of 24 people, the number of actors could reach up to five. The masks of the ancient comedy were grotesque and ugly, the masks of real faces had a portrait resemblance.

Middle Attic Comedy

Middle Attic comedy is conventionally dated to 404-336 BC., represented by the names of Platocomic, Antiphanes, Aristophon, Alexis; the preservation of the texts is very poor, but an idea of ​​this period can be drawn from the later dramas of Aristophanes - "The Frogs" (405), "Women in the National Assembly" (389), "Wealth" (388). There are no significant structural changes, but choral interludes appear, separating the comedy scenes; and then it becomes the norm. Political themes lose relevance and disappear; in their place comes a political utopia; everyday life is depicted more realistically. Myth interests Aristophanes either as an allegory or as a pretext for a parody of tragedy, but Plato and other poets have mythological names. A favorite topic is mockery of philosophers.

New Attic Comedy

In the 330s BC. Attic comedy was radically reformed , and already by 324 BC. refers to the first comedy of Menander, later recognized as the best representative of the new comedy. Thanks to the discovery already in the 20th century of ancient papyrus manuscripts, lengthy excerpts from the seven comedies of Menander became known, the text of "Bruzgi" (316 BC) was completely preserved. Other significant New Comedy poets active in the second half of the 4th century BC (Diphil, Philemon, Apollodorus), are known from fragments and from free imitations in the Roman palliata. There is very little information about later representatives of the genre. The new Attic comedy is neither in form nor in content a continuation of the ancient one and is an ethical "comedy of characters", for which the tragedies of Euripides were a model. The structure of the new comedy is also generally oriented towards the tragedy of the late 5th century BC. The comedy consists of a prologue and an exode, followed by several acts corresponding to the episodes of the tragedy and separated by parts of the choir. The choir does not take part in the action, in many cases the poet did not write the text for the choir, but only "left space" for it. Already Menander presents a division into five acts, Roman theorists, starting with Horace (“The Science of Poetry”), consider such a division as a necessary structural requirement of comedy. The plot should be complex, but carefully and consistently built, while in the well-known neo-Attic comedies (as in the Roman palliata) the principles of constructing the plot, formulated in Aristotle's Poetics, are quite accurately observed. As in late tragedy, the comedy is summarized in the prologue. Fantastic and mythological plots are not allowed in the new comedy, gods are possible only as prologue characters. Topics - from the everyday life of ordinary people; and the social status of the characters is also a paramount genre requirement. However, the main task and artistic goal of the new comedy was not in a naturalistic depiction of everyday life, but in a poetic study of ethical types, which in the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle were called ethos (ethos- “nature”). The familiar meaning of the word "character" appeared precisely in the new comedy (Menander, fragment 72). Action was seen as an outward manifestation of ethos; each comic character was associated with a limited set of plot moves and situations; the appearance and speech of the characters had to be strictly consistent with their character. The artistic method of the new comedy in many respects becomes clear thanks to the collection of ethical essays "Characters", compiled by Aristotle's student Theophrastus. Rigid schematism and stereotyping were perceived in antiquity as a virtue, but the poet had to apply plot and ethical schemes with subtlety, without transgressing the boundaries of life's plausibility. An important (for the ancient theorists - the main) difference between the new comedy and the ancient one was the complete rejection of personal invective. Comedy should, while entertaining, teach the audience, therefore, maxims were a necessary element of comedy. The stage representation of the character was a mask with sharp, easily recognizable features. Descriptions of the masks of the new comedy have been preserved, which are given by the lexicographer of the 2nd century AD. Julius Pollux (Polydeuces).

South Italian comedy

In the Greek cities of southern Italy, performances by itinerant fliac actors, who were considered servants of Dionysus, were popular. Fliacs presented travesty mythological comedies or parodies of tragedies. The literary adaptation of the drama of the fliacs was made by Rinton of Tarentum (3rd century BC), who reworked the plots of the tragedy in the spirit of the neo-Attic comedy. Such a drama was called hilarotragedy (from hilaros - “cheerful”), Roman theorists singled out the genre of rinthonic drama (rinthonica). The only fully preserved text is the Latin comedy of Plautus (3rd-2nd century BC) Amphitryon, which the author himself defines as a tragicomedy. Participation in the action of the gods and kings, the necessary characters of the tragedy, was considered as an important genre-forming feature that distinguishes the rinton drama from the usual comedy, but otherwise "Amphitrion" is a typical neo-Attic comedy. From the indigenous peoples of Italy, the Osci created a comedy called Atellana. In the 2nd century BC. appeared atellana in Latin.

Roman comedy

Performances in Rome of comedies in Latin began in the middle of the 3rd century BC. By the end of the 1st century, an extensive system of comic genres had been created, including the togata, palliata, literary atellana, and mime.

The word comedy comes from Greek komoidia - "comic song" from komos "Bacchic procession" and oide, which means "song" in translation