The origin of Attic comedy
By: by Francis Macdonald Cornford ; edited with foreword and additional notes by Theodor H. Gaster ; introduction by Jeffrey Hendersen.
Edition: 1st ed. as an Ann Arbor pbk.
Series: Ann Arbor paperbacks
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
Published: 1993
Place of publication: Ann Arbor, MI
Language: eng
Number of pages: 289
Subjects: Greek drama (Comedy) -- History and criticism -- Theory, etc.; Theater -- History -- To 500.; Theater -- Greece.
Description: The Origin of Attic Comedy was originally published in 1934. Its author, Francis Macdonald Cornford (1874-1943), was Laurence Professor of Ancient Philosophy and a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. Beginning with Aristotle's observation that from the earliest stage Attic Comedy had 'certain definite forms', Cornford shows that these forms are clearly observable in the plays of Aristophanes and that they derived from a ritual drama common to both tragedy and comedy. Cornford was surprised by his own conclusions and his enquiries led him far from his original view that Aristophanic Comedy was composed of loosely connected and foreign sources. Combining a close examination of the eleven extant plays of Aristophanes and a broad treatment of the relationship between tragedy and comedy, this book will continue to merit review as a robust study of the origins of ancient Greek comedy.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Originally published: Garden City, N.Y. : Anchor Books, 1961.