Myth-Making in Aristophanes Innovation and Evolution in Attic Comedy

This book focuses on the development of Attic comedy as it is evinced in four fragmentary plays by Aristophanes: Polyidus, Daedalus, Aeolosicon, and Cocalus. The significance of these plays lies in the fact that they present characteristics which are not prominent in the extant plays. They are mythological comedies that Aristophanes might have composed as parodies of tragedies. The four dramas exhibit elements largely present in Middle and New Comedy, such as the use and re-use of myths, the production of large-scale burlesque, domestic plots, unfolded outside Attica. This is a book directed to the wider audience, to all enthusiasts of Classics. It facilitates the understanding of an aspect of Aristophanes’ work, discernible only within his fragmentary dramas. This study thus revisits Old Comedy and enriches the scholarship with new insights and new discoveries regarding Aristophanes, his literary interactions, as well as his innovating and influential work.