This volume, originating in a conference at King’s College London in 2017, explores Aristophanic humour in the context of Classical Athens and in receptions of the comedian. The contributions draw on a range of theoretical frameworks, from traditional theories of humour (Play, Superiority, Relief) to work that, as several essays show, could inspire scholarship on antiquity. In spite of the theoretical eclecticism, because the 17 essays focus on a single author, the volume is remarkably cohesive, and contributions complement others well. I will trace a few threads that I found compelling.
Peter Swallow’s introduction (Chapter 1) situates the volume within a few major scholarly debates (Can humour be analysed? How does humour intersect with laughter? Does seriousness accompany humour?), and he surveys the three traditional theories of humour in a way that will put non-experts on a solid footing. The remaining essays are divided equally between ‘Theory’ and ‘Practice’, though readers will find practice in ‘Theory’ and theory in ‘Practice’. Indeed, Nick Lowe’s contribution (Chapter 2) evocatively synthesizes the two, reading the prologue of the Acharnians not as building to any punchline but as a series of ‘comic beats’. This chapter, engaging with recent approaches to humour in and outside of Classics, extends Swallow’s traditional framing.
Edith Hall (Chapter 3) explores paidia (‘play’) in comedy, vase painting and Platonic philosophy. She shows how Aristophanic paidia differs from its Platonic counterpart. Though the latter has been far more influential in the Western tradition, Hall concludes that engagement with Aristophanes would enrich notions of play. I would then recommend jumping to Chapter 15 as a kind of instantiation of Hall’s conclusion. Adam Lecznar’s study of the figure of Aristophanes in Nietzsche and Freud is one of my favourite chapters as it unmasks comic epistemologies that contend with tragic ones in Western thought. One could also pair Lecznar’s chapter with Mario Telò’s (Chapter 5), via Georges Bataille, who appears in both. Bataille’s articulation of laughter as an encounter with death serves as Telò’s starting point, and he offers an adventurous analysis of Aristophanic language alongside discussions of Presocratic philosophy, Stephen Sondheim’s The Frogs (1974) and Yue Minjun’s Expression in Eyes. In another compelling piece, research in neuroscience inspires Pavlos Sfyroeras (Chapter 6), who explores laughter’s analgesic properties after collective trauma, primarily in this case the Peloponnesian War. Cogent historical contextualization enriches the close readings. Sfyroeras continues Telò’s encouragement to understand how the plays theorize their own jokes.
Several essays show the flexibility of incongruity theory to analyse Aristophanic humour. Craig Jendza (Chapter 4) explores several incongruities (human-animal, gender-genre, clothing-costume) and discusses how they differ from those in satyr play and tragedy. In her second contribution, Hall (Chapter 8) argues that comedy bestows some male protagonists with supernatural powers, typically reserved for elites in other genres, as aesthetic projections of the prerogatives of male citizens in democratic Athens. This chapter enriches work thinking about classical literature in the context of science fiction and fantasy. Pierre Destrée (Chapter 9) argues that some of Aristotle’s jokes are Aristophanic, and he concludes that Aristotle appreciated Aristophanes more than is sometimes assumed. Athina Papachrysostomou (Chapter 10) applies the concepts of ‘surface’ and ‘deep parody’ to public figures in Aristophanic comedy. She suggests that personal satire should be understood within the umbrella of parody, a phenomenon typically discussed in literary terms. Dimitrios Kanellakis (Chapter 11) analyses some statistical data concerning the Aristophanic paraprosdokian, an unexpected twist typically at the end of a phrase or a clause, and finds intriguing patterns, which could generate even more robust analysis. Maria Gerolemou (Chapter 12) takes off from Henri Bergson’s Le rire (1900) to study theatrical movement. The analysis seems to glide between the semantic ranges of the cognates machine and μηχανή; a fuller explication of these terms would sharpen the analysis. Chapter 14, Swallow’s second, interprets scenes with sexual violence, disturbing moments that are played for laughs.
Ralph M. Rosen (Chapter 7) considers ancient satire vis-à-vis the phenomenon of the ‘troll’, that bogey plaguing our democracies from the internet’s shadows. By showing how trolls stoke indignation from those not in on the joke, Rosen shifts the focus from Aristophanes’ intentions to his audience’s reaction. There is much potential in Natalia Tsoumpra’s (Chapter 13) argument for madness’s inherent comedic nature, and she makes good use of ancient testimonia on acting and verisimilitude.
Two essays on adaptations of Aristophanes end the volume. Magdalena Zira (Chapter 16) argues that modern Greek producers infuse their adaptations with melancholia, and David Bullen (Chapter 17) reflects on his own adaptation of Clouds to protest proposed cuts at Royal Holloway. Both chapters consider the power of Aristophanic drama to respond to crises of our own age.
Readers of the volume will come away with new ideas about the dynamics of humour, what it could mean and how it operates in Aristophanes’ plays. If we are to move beyond the standard lament that, as Hall’s preface remarks, too little attention has been paid to Aristophanic humour, this volume will play a key role in that progress.
