[Authors and titles are listed at the end of the review]
The present volume, on the play of language in ancient Greek comedy (understood in this book as a variety of linguistic materials and stylistic artifices exploited by the Ancient Greek comedy writers), is academically significant primarily because the subject of ancient humour and how the linguistic as well as stylistic artifices are used to incite humour in ancient comedy can sometimes be mistakenly labelled as ‘been there, done that’. Jeffrey Henderson’s The Maculate Muse (1975), the works of Alan Sommerstein, or the extensive Oxford Handbook of Greek and Roman Comedy edited by Michael Fontaine and Adele C. Scafuro (2014) may seem to provide almost definitive answers about ancient comedy. Besides, comedy is sometimes considered as a minor genre of ancient Greek and Roman literature. But the growing interest and interdisciplinary approaches of contemporary research on laughter and humour show that this topic is experiencing something of an academic revival.
Ioannis M. Konstantakos sums up the importance and scope of this collective study: ‘Language for them is not (as in the case of other writers) a strong and challenging rival to fight with, but a cunning, resourceful, yet entirely obedient servant, who is ready to faithfully carry out every one of his master’s commands’ (p. 5).
The main aim of this volume of eleven studies is ‘to address a range of aspects of the linguistic material and stylistic artifices exploited by the Greek comic poets, from vocabulary, metaphors and imagery to parody and obscenity, from artifices of humour…to figures of style’ (p. 38). Indeed, as the title of the volume suggests, most of the chapters focus on Aristophanes as the prime example of verbal invective and comic techniques, but the book does not ignore other authors that survived only in fragments (Pherecrates, Cratinus etc.), as well as the examples of middle and new comedy, such as Antiphanes or Menander.
An extensive introduction by Ioannis M. Konstantakos provides a more than detailed research overview (pp. 9-37) of various aspects of comic language from the mid-20th century to the present day. This survey is a wonderful introduction to research on old and middle comedy, parody, idiolects, linguistic characterisation and other aspects related to the volume.
S. Douglas Olson’s chapter (pp. 125-60) on the nature of sexual humour in ancient Greek literature and the Athenian old comedy argues that Jeffrey Henderson’s work “The Maculate Muse” and its treatment of figurative obscenity are often inadequate, confused, or unclear. Olson’s analysis of various agricultural, nautical, and words and phrases denoting beating, piercing, and the like, used for the act of sexual intercourse and for the male genitals, and other words that could be interpreted as phallic implements, is based on philological argumentation and methodological principles. His main contention is that in order to claim that a lexical item is open for two interpretations, e.g. a sexual implication of the verbs that have the meaning of repetitive or forceful motion, there should be an obvious pattern. One clear example of such established double entendre or elaborate metaphors is nautical language in the known fragments of Epicrates (p. 158), e.g. when women are likened to the ship’s sails (p. 151). Otherwise, the lexical context must also be taken into account, for obscenity is a uniquely charged phenomenon (p. 159). Olson’s analysis is detailed, scrupulously methodological and invites further discussion.
Simone Beta’s linguistic analysis of comic compounds and the inventiveness of ancient Greek comic poets to achieve comic effect (pp. 195-217) is another chapter that uses linguistic analysis to demonstrate the play of language in ancient Greek comedy. Beta examines a large number of prepositions, prefixes, suffixes, patronymics and other comic compounds, demonstrating the richness of the linguistic devices of humour used by Aristophanes.
Andreas Willi’s chapter (pp. 219-53) on the treatment of humour in the Aristophanic scholia is particularly interesting because it examines how Aristophanic humour was perceived in later Greek culture. Research on these scholia is also important because it fills the interpretive gap between antiquity and modernity, providing a post-classical cultural and linguistic interpretation, even though they typically lack deeper analysis or a systematic approach to humour. As Willi points out in the chapter, the scholia are usually inconsistent in their labelling of Aristophanic humour and sometimes mislabel the humour retrospectively through the lens of their respective time, but they do demonstrate the cultural significance of the Aristophanic comedies.
Kostas E. Apostolakis’s chapter (pp. 311-45) focuses on proper names, nicknames, and epithets in middle comedy, examining the particular aspects of such wordplay, inventive metaphors, and other comic devices related to names. The fourth part of the chapter focuses on nicknames as a mechanism of comic language. Apostolakis reflects on how such nicknames were used or created for the stock characters of middle comedy, such as braggart soldiers, parasites, courtesans, and lovers, and shows the Aristophanic and Menandrian influences on naming strategies in middle comedy, which were later transferred to new comedy.
Another notable chapter is by Antonis K. Petrides (pp. 347-91). The chapter focuses on Menander’s techniques of verbal humour in his play ‘Dyskolos’ by analysing the natural conversational context of Menandrian comic language, its contribution to character construction and its thematic function in the play. Petrides’ approach is mainly based on the semantic and pragmatic approach offered by humour studies. The chapter provides a comprehensive analysis of how Menander deploys the mechanisms of verbal humour to enhance the naturalistic outlook of his play, construct the stock characters, and advance the plot.
Particularly commendable is the editorial decision to include a detailed Index locorum at the end of the volume (pp. 407-32), listing all the authors, plays and fragments referred to. This supplement demonstrates the scope of the volume and makes it possible to navigate among the hundreds of quotations and references in the individual chapters.
The volume is impeccably edited. A critical remark could be made about the extent of the introduction (I. M. Konstantakos, pp. 1-57), which takes up a little more than one-seventh of the entire volume. The presentation of the chapters of the volume (pp. 38-50), in which each chapter and its main arguments are explained in detail, seems rather superfluous, especially since each chapter begins with an abstract. An attentive reader will also notice that the introduction mentions a ‘series of chapters on the linguistic devices of humour’ (p. 43), but the table of contents does not indicate any subdivisions that might be useful for a person interested in specific aspects of comic discourse or linguistic devices of humour.
Finally, perhaps the most valuable part of this volume is that it manages to combine the emphasis on practical criticism, textual readings and ‘microphilological’ approaches with broader theoretical issues, thus providing a solid background for further academic discussion and research. It would be interesting, for example, to see whether Olson’s claim would be different if the performative aspect of ancient comedy, the metrical and rhythmic features of the language discussed by Dimitrios Kanellakis (pp. 255-72), or the dramaturgical relationality introduced by Kostas E. Apostolakis (pp. 311-45) were taken into account.
Authors and Titles
Introduction, Ioannis M. Konstantakos
Metaphors and Personifications Onstage, Bernhard Zimmermann
Imaginary Wor(l)ds: Comic Language and the Construction of Fantasy, Ioannis M. Konstantakos
A Less Maculate Muse, S. Douglas Olson
Like a Rabid Dog: Animal Metaphors and Similes in Aristophanes, Georgios Triantafyllou
The Shop of Aristophanes the Carpenter: How Comic Poets Assembled (and Disassembled) Words, Simone Beta
“When He Should Have Said…” The Treatment of Humour παρ’ ὑπόνοιαν in the Aristophanic Scholia, Andreas Willi
Rhyme in Greek Comedy, Dimitrios Kanellakis
Three Words in Aristophanes’ Wealth (999, 1037, 1083), Piero Totaro
Spoudaiogeloion Revisited: Homeric Text between a Scholar and a Cook, Anna A. Novokhatko
Proper Names, Nicknames, Epithets: Aspects of Comic Language in Middle Comedy, Kostas E. Apostolakis
Strategies of Verbal Humour in Menander’s Dyskolos: From Linguistics to Dramaturgy, Antonis K. Petrides