HOW COULD METACOMEDY HAVE WORKED IN PRACTICE?

The preceding chapter argued on the basis of a positive evaluation of the dissonances between parabatic critique of certain motifs and their appearance in Aristophanic drama that Aristophanes used metacomedy to conduct a politically motivated comedic campaign against one particular rival, whom I identified as Eupolis, over a period of twenty years. The suggestion that at least Aristophanes systematically parodied his rivals' work instantly raises two major questions. First, what level of cross-reference are we talking about? Was it merely visual? Or did the poet attempt to parody language as well? And did he appropriate plots or elements of plot and character as well? Secondly, if the poet really did operate in this mode, how did he suppose the audience would understand what was going on and at what level of detail? Since these questions more or less mirror those asked in the familiar area of paratragedy, we might take our cue from that field in attempting answers.

Aristophanes' parody of tragedy operates at every level: plot elements (e.g. the use of Euripides' Telephus in Acharnians and Thesmophoriazusai), characters (e.g. Euripides as Helen and Echo in Thesmophoriazusai), visual motifs (e.g. Bellerophon's ascent on Pegasus in Peace), and language – from direct citation to close stylistic parody (see Frogs passim). It is usually argued that the close correlation between many passages of Aristophanes and the tragic texts must mean that copies were in circulation.