Introduction to Ancient Comedy: Where and How

Ancient comedy can be divided into four periods:

• Old Comedy, in the late 5th century BC, in Athens
• Middle Comedy, roughly in the first half of the 4th century BC, spreading out from Athens throughout the Greek world
• New Comedy, from the middle of the 4th century BC, all over the Mediterranean
• Roman Comedy, from the 3rd century BC, at Rome

As you can see, Roman Comedy overlaps with New Comedy, and indeed most of the Roman plays are translations of Greek New Comedies.

The typical ancient theater was outdoors, with a proscenium stage. In early Greek theaters there was a dancing space or orchestra between the stage and the audience; Roman drama did not use a chorus, so did not require an orchestra.

The major theater in Athens is the Theater of Dionysus, visible at lower left in the picture.

This scene from Aristophanes's Birds shows the aulos-player (aulete) and members of the chorus. Old Comedy, like Greek tragedy, has a singing, dancing chorus who are characters in the play. In Middle Comedy, the chorus becomes more separate, and often sings entr'actes that have nothing to do with the play; later, the chorus is dropped altogether.

Performers wore masks. This mosaic comes from a house on the Greek island Delos, built around the end of the second century BC, called the House of the Masks because of its decorations. The building may have been a hotel for actors.

Although this sculpture is not a theatrical mask, it gives a rough idea of their appearance.

This ring, in the Boston MFA, shows an actor from a comedy, in the role of an old man.

Dionysus, as god of the theater, is often shown as an actor, as on this vase. Another vase, in Boston, shows actors getting into costume: . And in this painting, from Ostia in Italy, you can just see a comic mask in Thalia's raised hand; she is the muse of comedy.

Complete works survive by the following playwrights:

• Aristophanes, ca. 447-382 BC, Athens; 11 plays survive out of dozens. The last two, Assemblywomen and Wealth, are arguably early examples of Middle Comedy; the other 9 are Old Comedy.
• Menander, 342-292 BC, Athens; 1 complete play and substantial portions of about 10 more survive from over 100; one of the most important and popular authors of New Comedy.
• Titus Maccius Plautus, fl. ca. 195-185 BC, Rome; 20 complete plays and one sizeable fragment survive, though he may have written more.
• Publius Terentius Afer (Terence), ca. 190-159 BC, Rome; wrote only 6 plays, which have all survived.

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