Book contents
- Frontmatter
- PREFACE
- ERRATA
- Contents
- PART I THE HISTORY AND EXHIBITION OF THE GREEK DRAMA
- CHAPTER I On the origin of Dramatic Exhibitions in general
- CHAPTER II On the Origin of the Greek Drama
- CHAPTER III Union of the two Elements. Thespi
- CHAPTER IV On the proper Classification of Greek Plays. Origin of Comedy
- CHAPTER V On the Greek Tragedians
- CHAPTER VI On the Greek Comedians
- CHAPTER VII On the Representation of Greek Plays
- PART II ARISTOTLE
- PART III EXCERPTA CRITICA
- INDEX
CHAPTER VI - On the Greek Comedians
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 December 2010
- Frontmatter
- PREFACE
- ERRATA
- Contents
- PART I THE HISTORY AND EXHIBITION OF THE GREEK DRAMA
- CHAPTER I On the origin of Dramatic Exhibitions in general
- CHAPTER II On the Origin of the Greek Drama
- CHAPTER III Union of the two Elements. Thespi
- CHAPTER IV On the proper Classification of Greek Plays. Origin of Comedy
- CHAPTER V On the Greek Tragedians
- CHAPTER VI On the Greek Comedians
- CHAPTER VII On the Representation of Greek Plays
- PART II ARISTOTLE
- PART III EXCERPTA CRITICA
- INDEX
Summary
SECTION I.
THE COMEDIANS WHO PRECEDED ARISTOPHANES.
Quorum Comœdia prisca virorum est.
Horatius.It has been already remarked that though Greek Comedy underwent three successive variations in form, we cannot arrange the Comedians according to this classification; we shall be content, therefore, with stating, as far as our authorities permit, the general character of the Dramas of those poets whom we may deem it necessary to mention.
From the first exhibition of Epicharmus to the last of Posidippus, the first and last of the Greek Comedians, is a period of about 250 years; and between these two poets, one hundred and four authors are enumerated, who are all said to have written comedy. The claims of some of these, however, to the rank of Comedians are very doubtful, and two who are contained in the list, Sophron and his son Xenarchus, were mimographers, and as such, were not only not Comedians, but hardly Dramatists at all, in the Greek sense of the word.
Epichaumus, the son of Helothales, whom Theocritus calls the inventor of Comedy, and who, according to Plato, bore the same relation to Comedy that Homer did to Tragedy, was a native of Cos, and went to Sicily with Cadmus, the son of Scythes, about the year 485 B.C. after residing a short time at Megara.
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- Theatre of the GreeksA Series of Papers Relating to the History and Criticism of the Greek Drama, pp. 96 - 130Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010