Summary
In Acharnians, we found that interpretation of the play involved consideration of the strong political and social element through mythological and ritual references to Telephus, Rural Dionysia and Anthesteria, which were explicitly drawn to our attention on the stage. In Knights, myths and rituals will play an equally important role but as elements which form the structure of the plot, without being introduced in so overt a manner as in Acharnians.
Rites of passage
Knights, and the two plays that follow, all make use of the myths and rituals concerned with passage from one status in life to another, the so-called ‘rites of passage’. Such rituals ease the movement from, for instance, birth to acceptance by the father, from immaturity to puberty, from adolescence to maturity, from single to married estate and from life to death. Our particular concern will be with the passage from youth to maturity, citizenship and political rights, and I shall devote the first section of this chapter to a general discussion of the institutions involved in this process in ancient Greece. In addition, a number of other types of myth will also be encountered, which, though they deal with different ideas such as succession to power, the New Year and city-foundation, are none the less complementary to the myths of youth in their concern with the change from chaos to cosmos.
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- AristophanesMyth, Ritual and Comedy, pp. 45 - 77Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1993