(What's so funny 'bout) peace, love and understanding? Imagining peace in Greek comedy

Ruffell, I. (2017) (What's so funny 'bout) peace, love and understanding? Imagining peace in Greek comedy. In: Moloney, E.P. and Williams, M. S. (eds.) Peace and Reconciliation in the Classical World. Routledge. ISBN 9781472466358

Abstract

Peace dominates three of Aristophanes’ surviving plays, Akharnians, Peace and Lysistrata. This paper does not seek to re-evaluate the goals and succeses of the central characters of those plays, but to explore the specific characteristics of peace and reconciliation as represented in Greek Comedy, particularly of the late fifth century. It argues that these characteristics were driven by a tension within the genre between two major engines of humour: utopianism and blame.1 Both can be said to reflect broader aspects of political culture within fifth-century Athens. Yet the handling of peace also reflects specific aspects of peace-making in the period after the Persian Wars and the place of reconciliation within it. For all these reasons, it falls much more easily to Greek Comedy to find the humour in peace and love than it does to promote international understanding.

• Item Type: Book Sections
• Status: Published
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Ruffell, Professor Isabel
• Authors: Ruffell, I.
• Subjects: P Language and Literature > PA Classical philology; P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN2000 Dramatic representation. The Theater
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Humanities > Classics
• Publisher: Routledge
• ISBN: 9781472466358