Description

Cratinus, one of the lost great poets of fifth-century Athenian comedy, had a formative influence on the comic genre, including Aristophanes himself. Using a methodologically innovative approach, Emmanuela Bakola studies the surviving fragments of Cratinus' plays and offers a thorough analysis of the multifaceted art of this poet and his place in the history of comedy. Issues which she addresses include the creation of a poetic personality within a performative tradition of fierce interpoetic rivalry; the play at the boundaries of the comic genre and the interaction with satyr drama and tragedy, especially Aeschylus; stagecraft and dramaturgy; comic plot-construction and characterization; the author's reflection on his immediate political, social and intellectual context. As well as providing insight into Cratinus, her book enriches our understanding of fifth-century Athenian comedy in a dynamic evolving environment.

Features

• Presents a comprehensive analysis of one of the lost great poets of fifth-century Athenian comedy and a canonical author of the classical world
• Employs a sophisticated methodology, drawing on a range of hermeneutic frameworks, from literary theory to theatre studies
• Offers an integrated literary, theatrical, and philological approach, grounded in rigorous textual analysis, philology, and papyrology

Product Details

400 pages; 3 in-text illus., 3 color plates; ISBN13: 978-0-19-956935-9ISBN10: 0-19-956935-5

About the Author(s)