Gods on the comic stage

Abstract

The gods of Aristophanes share many of the vices of mortals, while his comedies make fun of their worship. It is striking that the old comic poets could depict the gods in such a sacrilegious matter, because the Athenians, outside of the theatre of Dionysus, certainly prosecuted individuals who engaged in such sacrilege or otherwise promoted unconventional religious beliefs. This thesis carefully studies Aristophanes’ depiction of the gods as well as how it confirms or distorts conventional religious beliefs. While Bowie (1993) is a seminal study of the rituals that served as a background to old comedy, only a small amount of work has been done on this genre’s depiction of gods and humanity’s relationship with them. This thesis argues that the festival license that the old comic poets enjoyed extended to the divine realm. Their sacrilegious treatment of gods was thus part of the aischrologia that was usually directed at prominent citizens. While good work has certainly been done on festival license, the sacrilegious dimension of it has hardly been explored. This thesis also shows how, in depicting the gods, Aristophanes relied on the conventional religious beliefs of theatregoers. The result was, paradoxically, that old comedy consistently confirmed such popular beliefs rather than encouraging their abandonment. The impiety present on the comic stage was also moderated by the genre’s implicit acknowledgement of divine power. This argument will be established through a close-examination of Aristophanes’ Peace, Birds, Wealth and Frogs.