Colloquium, Department of Classical Studies
Thursday, September 30
4:45 - 6:15 pm
Cohen Hall 402 or on Zoom, registration details below
Aristophanes’ Frogs was first performed at the Lenaea festival of 405 BCE in competition with Plato’s 'Cleophon' and Phrynichus comicus’ 'Muses'. This paper argues that 'Frogs' contains a series of subtle agonistic digs against Phrynichus comicus. Most of Aristophanes’ jokes at Phrynichus’ expense have gone unnoticed because he shares his name with a tragic poet and a politician. Here it is argued that Aristophanes purposefully plays with the ambiguity of the name Phrynichus to mock his Lenaean rival. Aristophanes ultimately associates Phrynichus comicus with Euripides. Euripides’ defeat in Frogs’ agon can be understood as a comic enactment of Phrynichus comicus’ defeat at the Lenaea.
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