With its ribald chorus of ithyphallic, half-man / half-horse creatures, satyr drama was a peculia... more With its ribald chorus of ithyphallic, half-man / half-horse creatures, satyr drama was a peculiar part of the Athenian theatrical experience. Performed three times each year after a trilogy of tragedies, it was an integral part of the 5th- and 4th-century City Dionysia, a large festival in honour of the god Dionysus. Euripides: Cyclops is the first book-length study of this fascinating genre's only complete, extant play, a theatrical version of Odysseus' encounter with the monster Polyphemus.
Shaw begins with a look at the history of the genre, following its development from early 6th-century religious processions up to the Hellenistic era. He then offers a comprehensive analysis of the Cyclops' plot and performance, using the text (alongside ancient literary fragments and visual evidence) to determine the original viewing experience: the stage, masks, costumes, actions and emotions. A detailed examination of the text reveals that Euripides associates and distinguishes his version of the story from previous iterations of the myth, especially book nine of Homer's Odyssey. Euripides handles many of the same themes as his predecessors, but he updates the Cyclops for the Athenian stage, adapting his work to reflect and comment upon contemporary religious, philosophical and literary-musical trends.
Athenaeus (10.413f.), in fact, suggests that this passage is inspired by the pre-Socratic philoso... more Athenaeus (10.413f.), in fact, suggests that this passage is inspired by the pre-Socratic philosopher Xenophanes (fr. B 2 West 2). For more on satyr drama and athletes, see Voelke (2001) 264-272.
Satyrs and dolphins have a surprisingly long and interconnected history in ancient Greek poetry, ... more Satyrs and dolphins have a surprisingly long and interconnected history in ancient Greek poetry, art, and religion. Visual evidence from the archaic period indicates that both groups had substantial associations with Dionysos in myth and in cultic choral performance, particularly dithyrambic performance. And Arion, who was believed to have been the first man 'to compose and name the dithyramb' (Herodotus 1.23), was saved at sea by a dolphin and was the first to give satyrs a speaking role in performance. Satyrs and dolphins appear together on vases, and both are equally at home at the symposium and in funerary imagery. They are also described in the same language, from their leaping 'feet' to their 'snub-nosed whelps'. Later, the famous choragic Monument of Lysicrates depicted satyrs attacking dolphin-men in what is believed to be a tribute to a victorious dithyramb. In this chapter, I will explore these connections in their various contexts, suggesting that the dolphin-satyr-dithyramb nexus may help us understand the original function of satyr drama, and perhaps even understand its eventual decline in the fourth century BC.
Todos los derechos reservados. Ninguna parte de esta revista puede ser reproducida por cualquier ... more Todos los derechos reservados. Ninguna parte de esta revista puede ser reproducida por cualquier proceso o técnica ni traducida sin el expreso consentimiento de los editores (All rights reserved. No portion of this journal may be reproduced by any process or technique nor translated without the formal consent of the editors). Los índices y abstracts de ORDIA PRIMA están catalogados en l'Année Philologique.
Fish play a sizable role in the remains of ancient Greek comedy. Although scholars have proposed ... more Fish play a sizable role in the remains of ancient Greek comedy. Although scholars have proposed various cultural, economic, and generic explanations for comedy's interest in sea creatures, they have not adequately considered the importance of seafood's relationship to obscenity and sexuality. Greek comic poets correlate a range of sea creatures with sex and sexuality in imaginative and humorous ways, making obscene jokes about courtesans and aphrodisiacs, as well as creating double entendres for male and female genitalia. This study provides a lexical resource for Greek comedy's numerous seafood fragments, uncovering many neglected ancient sexual jokes and offering fresh insight on comedy's interest in sea creatures. The fragments of ancient Greek comedy are awash with fish and other sea animals. Hot slices of perch are gobbled down, and sea urchins are licked clean. Lobsters, crayfish, and shrimp scuttle to an elaborate feast of the gods. Conches, oysters, and clams gape open for the eager epicure, and eels are treated as goddesses. Fishwives clean their cuttlefish alongside gastronomes seeking the tastiest tuna, and parodic cookbooks delight in a
The remains of Archestratus of Gela's fourth-century B.C.E. poem, the Hedypatheia, exhibit formal... more The remains of Archestratus of Gela's fourth-century B.C.E. poem, the Hedypatheia, exhibit formal connections to a range of genres, but the overall tenor of the poem is, as both recent commentaries indicate, 'parody'. 1 Composed in dactylic hexameter, the 'Life of Luxury' has the style of didactic epos but provides a humorous catalogue of food and drink, advising where and when to purchase it, as well as how best to prepare and enjoy it. 2 The poet passionately extols the sweet life and all its gastronomic pleasures, celebrating a hedonism that stands in sharp contrast to traditional, didactic themes. In his extant fragments, Archestratus never abandons the conceit that his poem is a serious cooking treatise, which inherently complicates interpretation of the work's comic tone. The didactic form conceals multiple layers of comic content, and although scholars have uncovered much of Archestratus' nuanced humour, his subtlety has obscured a particularly obscene stratum of the poem's comic layering. I will show through a close reading of fr. 30 that Archestratus employed metaphorical language and puns to express an amusing and surprisingly graphic sexual joke.
Phoen. 45 should be cited as similar. Sch. 479: προενεκτέον is a necessary correction (Vater): cf... more Phoen. 45 should be cited as similar. Sch. 479: προενεκτέον is a necessary correction (Vater): cf. sch. Andr. 79, Med. 1129, sch. Soph. Ant. 7, sch. Hom. Od. 5.23, etc. Sch. 480 (line 1): read ἐκφαυλίζομεν (typo). Sch. 509: Wilamowitz's διαπλεῖν is closer palaeographically (in some mannered ligatures) to V's odd ἐξπλεῖν than Vater's ἐκπλεῖν. EWANS (M.) (trans.) Aristophanes: Lysistrata, The Women's Festival and
With its ribald chorus of ithyphallic, half-man / half-horse creatures, satyr drama was a peculia... more With its ribald chorus of ithyphallic, half-man / half-horse creatures, satyr drama was a peculiar part of the Athenian theatrical experience. Performed three times each year after a trilogy of tragedies, it was an integral part of the 5th- and 4th-century City Dionysia, a large festival in honour of the god Dionysus. Euripides: Cyclops is the first book-length study of this fascinating genre's only complete, extant play, a theatrical version of Odysseus' encounter with the monster Polyphemus.
Shaw begins with a look at the history of the genre, following its development from early 6th-century religious processions up to the Hellenistic era. He then offers a comprehensive analysis of the Cyclops' plot and performance, using the text (alongside ancient literary fragments and visual evidence) to determine the original viewing experience: the stage, masks, costumes, actions and emotions. A detailed examination of the text reveals that Euripides associates and distinguishes his version of the story from previous iterations of the myth, especially book nine of Homer's Odyssey. Euripides handles many of the same themes as his predecessors, but he updates the Cyclops for the Athenian stage, adapting his work to reflect and comment upon contemporary religious, philosophical and literary-musical trends.
Athenaeus (10.413f.), in fact, suggests that this passage is inspired by the pre-Socratic philoso... more Athenaeus (10.413f.), in fact, suggests that this passage is inspired by the pre-Socratic philosopher Xenophanes (fr. B 2 West 2). For more on satyr drama and athletes, see Voelke (2001) 264-272.
Satyrs and dolphins have a surprisingly long and interconnected history in ancient Greek poetry, ... more Satyrs and dolphins have a surprisingly long and interconnected history in ancient Greek poetry, art, and religion. Visual evidence from the archaic period indicates that both groups had substantial associations with Dionysos in myth and in cultic choral performance, particularly dithyrambic performance. And Arion, who was believed to have been the first man 'to compose and name the dithyramb' (Herodotus 1.23), was saved at sea by a dolphin and was the first to give satyrs a speaking role in performance. Satyrs and dolphins appear together on vases, and both are equally at home at the symposium and in funerary imagery. They are also described in the same language, from their leaping 'feet' to their 'snub-nosed whelps'. Later, the famous choragic Monument of Lysicrates depicted satyrs attacking dolphin-men in what is believed to be a tribute to a victorious dithyramb. In this chapter, I will explore these connections in their various contexts, suggesting that the dolphin-satyr-dithyramb nexus may help us understand the original function of satyr drama, and perhaps even understand its eventual decline in the fourth century BC.
Todos los derechos reservados. Ninguna parte de esta revista puede ser reproducida por cualquier ... more Todos los derechos reservados. Ninguna parte de esta revista puede ser reproducida por cualquier proceso o técnica ni traducida sin el expreso consentimiento de los editores (All rights reserved. No portion of this journal may be reproduced by any process or technique nor translated without the formal consent of the editors). Los índices y abstracts de ORDIA PRIMA están catalogados en l'Année Philologique.
Fish play a sizable role in the remains of ancient Greek comedy. Although scholars have proposed ... more Fish play a sizable role in the remains of ancient Greek comedy. Although scholars have proposed various cultural, economic, and generic explanations for comedy's interest in sea creatures, they have not adequately considered the importance of seafood's relationship to obscenity and sexuality. Greek comic poets correlate a range of sea creatures with sex and sexuality in imaginative and humorous ways, making obscene jokes about courtesans and aphrodisiacs, as well as creating double entendres for male and female genitalia. This study provides a lexical resource for Greek comedy's numerous seafood fragments, uncovering many neglected ancient sexual jokes and offering fresh insight on comedy's interest in sea creatures. The fragments of ancient Greek comedy are awash with fish and other sea animals. Hot slices of perch are gobbled down, and sea urchins are licked clean. Lobsters, crayfish, and shrimp scuttle to an elaborate feast of the gods. Conches, oysters, and clams gape open for the eager epicure, and eels are treated as goddesses. Fishwives clean their cuttlefish alongside gastronomes seeking the tastiest tuna, and parodic cookbooks delight in a
The remains of Archestratus of Gela's fourth-century B.C.E. poem, the Hedypatheia, exhibit formal... more The remains of Archestratus of Gela's fourth-century B.C.E. poem, the Hedypatheia, exhibit formal connections to a range of genres, but the overall tenor of the poem is, as both recent commentaries indicate, 'parody'. 1 Composed in dactylic hexameter, the 'Life of Luxury' has the style of didactic epos but provides a humorous catalogue of food and drink, advising where and when to purchase it, as well as how best to prepare and enjoy it. 2 The poet passionately extols the sweet life and all its gastronomic pleasures, celebrating a hedonism that stands in sharp contrast to traditional, didactic themes. In his extant fragments, Archestratus never abandons the conceit that his poem is a serious cooking treatise, which inherently complicates interpretation of the work's comic tone. The didactic form conceals multiple layers of comic content, and although scholars have uncovered much of Archestratus' nuanced humour, his subtlety has obscured a particularly obscene stratum of the poem's comic layering. I will show through a close reading of fr. 30 that Archestratus employed metaphorical language and puns to express an amusing and surprisingly graphic sexual joke.
Phoen. 45 should be cited as similar. Sch. 479: προενεκτέον is a necessary correction (Vater): cf... more Phoen. 45 should be cited as similar. Sch. 479: προενεκτέον is a necessary correction (Vater): cf. sch. Andr. 79, Med. 1129, sch. Soph. Ant. 7, sch. Hom. Od. 5.23, etc. Sch. 480 (line 1): read ἐκφαυλίζομεν (typo). Sch. 509: Wilamowitz's διαπλεῖν is closer palaeographically (in some mannered ligatures) to V's odd ἐξπλεῖν than Vater's ἐκπλεῖν. EWANS (M.) (trans.) Aristophanes: Lysistrata, The Women's Festival and
Uploads
Books by Carl Shaw
Shaw begins with a look at the history of the genre, following its development from early 6th-century religious processions up to the Hellenistic era. He then offers a comprehensive analysis of the Cyclops' plot and performance, using the text (alongside ancient literary fragments and visual evidence) to determine the original viewing experience: the stage, masks, costumes, actions and emotions. A detailed examination of the text reveals that Euripides associates and distinguishes his version of the story from previous iterations of the myth, especially book nine of Homer's Odyssey. Euripides handles many of the same themes as his predecessors, but he updates the Cyclops for the Athenian stage, adapting his work to reflect and comment upon contemporary religious, philosophical and literary-musical trends.
Papers by Carl Shaw
Shaw begins with a look at the history of the genre, following its development from early 6th-century religious processions up to the Hellenistic era. He then offers a comprehensive analysis of the Cyclops' plot and performance, using the text (alongside ancient literary fragments and visual evidence) to determine the original viewing experience: the stage, masks, costumes, actions and emotions. A detailed examination of the text reveals that Euripides associates and distinguishes his version of the story from previous iterations of the myth, especially book nine of Homer's Odyssey. Euripides handles many of the same themes as his predecessors, but he updates the Cyclops for the Athenian stage, adapting his work to reflect and comment upon contemporary religious, philosophical and literary-musical trends.