Costume in the Comedies of Aristophanes

Gwendolyn Compton-Engle

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9781107083790
• eBook ISBN: 9781316028636
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Ancient History
• Index: History

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.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title
• Title page
• Copyright information
• Dedication
• Table of contents
• List of figures and table
• List of abbreviations
• Acknowledgments
• 1 Introduction: Comic Costume in Action
• 2 The Comic Body as Costume
• 3 Cloaks, Shoes, and Societal Redress
• 4 Disguise, Gender, and the Poet
• 5 Animal Costumes and Choral Spectacle
• 6 Conclusion
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index