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The Costume of the Actors in Aristophanic Comedy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2009

W. Beare
W. Beare
Affiliation:
University of Bristol
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Extract

It is generally believed that the actors of Aristophanic comedy wore phallic dress. For example Mr. James Laver (Oxford Companion to the Theatre, p. 158) tells us that ‘in Old Comedy the actors all wore clothes grotesquely padded, and each was provided with an enormous phallus of red leather. The female characters too were padded, and over the padding wore the long chiton if they belonged to the upper classes, and the short one if they belonged to the lower.‘ Similarly Haigh (Attic Theatre, 3rd edition by A. W. Pickard-Cambridge, pp. 258-g) says that ‘the Old Comedy was the direct descendant of the boisterous phallic performances at the festival of Dionysus. … The actors therefore regularly wore the phallus.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Classical Quarterly , Volume 4 , Issue 1-2 , May 1954 , pp. 64 - 75
Copyright
Copyright © The Classical Association 1954

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References

page 66 note 1 So Bethe, Proleg, 53; ‘nicht an seienm Leibe hat er das Symbol des Gottes’.

page 67 note 1 Roos, Ervin, Die tragische Orchestik im Zerrbild der altattishen Komödie (Lund, 1951)Google Scholar argues that Philokleon is dancing hetaira dances—not the kordax.

page 69 note 1 Bethe, , Prolegomena, p.9Google Scholar: ‘die unteritalishen Phlyakenvasen des dritten Jahrhunderts Zur attischen Komödie gar keine Beziehung haben’.

page 70 note 1 P.-C. (Dramatic Festivals, p. 234, n. 2) adds Ach. 592, Eupolis fr. 244 (K.). It may be noted that Ach. 592, 1216, refer to the person of Dicaeopolis, whom P.-C. describes as ‘obviously non-phallic’ at 11. 241 ff. (see above).

page 70 note 2 Cf. Thiele, Ioc. cit., p. 421 n.: ‘erklärt sich bei den Odomanten etwa das sichtbare Tragen oder Sichtbarwerden aus der beson deren thrakischen Kleidung?’.

page 71 note 1 Cf. Thiele (loc. cit.): ‘Hymenaien von solchen Dingen auch reden können, wenn sie nicht sichtbar sind.’

page 75 note 1 P.-C. (Dramatic Festivals, p. 237) refers to the Attic oinochoe of about 425 B.C. as eridence for the mime.