Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T08:31:16.241Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

3 - Aristophanes' poetic tropaion: competitive didaskalia and contest records in Knights

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2011

Zachary P. Biles
Affiliation:
Franklin and Marshall College, Pennsylvania
Get access

Summary

To later readers of Old Comedy, the Lenaia of 425, at which Acharnians was produced, must have seemed a remarkable occasion. Competing were the three poets who eventually became the undisputed triumvirate of fifth-century comedy: Cratinus, Eupolis, and Aristophanes (Ach. Hyp. I. 32–4). Cratinus, whose career was now most likely entering its fourth decade, was undoubtedly the preeminent comic poet of his generation, with eight of his nine career victories probably behind him at this point. His preeminent position would soon be claimed, however, by two younger rivals. Eupolis debuted in 429 and within a few years was victorious at the Lenaia, possibly in 426, the year before Acharnians was performed. Aristophanes produced his first play in 427 and almost certainly won his first contest one year later, at the City Dionysia in 426 with Babylonians. In short, the comic agon at the Lenaia of 425 brought together the finest talent of the period, and we can only imagine the mixed feelings of excitement and trepidation with which Aristophanes awaited the competition, and his sense of accomplishment when Acharnians was awarded the prize.

The importance of Aristophanes' victory with Acharnians for his identity as a competitive poet can be measured by an examination of Knights, the play with which he returned to the Lenaia in 424. In both a thematic and formal sense, Knights is the most agonistic of the surviving Aristophanic comedies.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×