This book interprets the handling of costume in the plays of the ancient Greek comic playwright Aristophanes, using as evidence the surviving plays as well as vase-paintings and terracotta figurines. This book fills a gap in the study of ancient Greek drama, focusing on performance, gender, and the body.

A comprehensive survey of Roman theatrical production, this book examines all aspects of Roman performance practice, and provides fresh insights on the comedies of Plautus and Terence. Following an introductory chapter on the experience of Roman comedy from the perspective of Roman actors and the Roman audience, addressing among other things the economic concerns of putting on a play in the Roman republic, subsequent chapters provide detailed studies of troupe size and the implications for role assignment, masks, stage action, music, and improvisation in the plays of Plautus and Terence. Marshall argues that Roman comedy was raw comedy, much more rough-and-ready than its Hellenistic precursors, but still fully conscious of its literary past. The consequences of this lead to fresh conclusions concerning the dramatic structure of Roman comedy, and a clearer understanding of the relationship between the plays-as-text and the role of improvisation during performance.

Provides a comprehensive critical engagement with Roman comedy and its reception presented by leading international scholars in accessible and up-to-date chapters.

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1909 edition. Excerpt: ...husband calls her a mulier odiosa (Haut. 1006) and asks her (1006-1008): ullam ego rem umquam in vita mea volui, quin tu in ea re mihi advorsatrix fueris, Sostrata? Of their son he says (1020-1021): nam tui similis est probe, nam illi nil vitist relictum, quin idem itidem sit tibi. Pollux, writing of the costume of women in Comedy, says (Onom. IV, 120): "H Si rSv vcW, Xivkt rj fivcrcrivr. 'EirucAipwy St, Xivkyj, upoaaarrij. TESTIMONY OF THE MINIATURES I have had access to twenty miniatures of Matronae and Mulieres--two from C, three from P, one from O, and the remaining fourteen from F. The one from O (of Nausistrata Mulier, Ph. 784) shows a long undergarment with long, flowing sleeves ornamented with a border.1 There are traces, too, of a border on the skirt. There is no mantle. In the remaining MSS. the representations of these three types of women show a long undergarment, sometimes the two sets of sleeves already so often described, less often the one set of sleeves, short and flowing.1 There is a mantle which follows the general lines of a pallium and not infrequently is so arranged as to pass over the head in folds.2 When the hair shows, it is commonly arranged with considerable care. 1 It will be remembered that this border is a characteristic feature of the miniatures in O. See p. 60, n. 2. These observations serve to confirm what Wieseler8 wrote more than half a century ago of the miniatures which he had examined: "In Betreff der Tracht der weiblichen Personen findet man im Allgemeinen eine Confusion, wie sie sich bei den mannlichen nicht in dem Grade zeigt." The only invariable distinction which I have been able to make between the costumes of Ancilla, Anus, Matrona, Mulier, and Uxor is that the Anus never has...

This book offers an interpretation of the handling of costume in the plays of the fifth-century comic poet Aristophanes. Drawing on both textual and material evidence from the fourth- and fifth-century Greek world, it examines three layers of costume: the bodysuit worn by the actors, the characters' clothes, and the additional layering of disguise. A chapter is also devoted to the inventive costumes of the comic chorus. Going beyond describing what costumes looked like, the book focuses instead on the dynamics of costume as it is manipulated by characters in the performance of plays. The book argues that costume is used competitively, as characters handle each other's costumes and poets vie for status using costume. This argument is informed by performance studies and by analyses of gender and the body.