What is comedy in ancient greece definition. Spring Festival of Dionysus

The term "comedy" comes from gr. "komos"- a merry procession, a noisy walk, a crowd, a swarm, etc. and "ode" - a song. Aristotle in "Poetics" gives the following definition: "Comedy ... is the reproduction [mimesis] of relatively bad (characters), however, not in the sense of absolute depravity, but since the funny is part of the ugly: funny is some mistake and ugliness, no one causing suffering and not harmful to anyone; so as not to go far for an example, the comic mask is something ugly and distorted, but without (expressing) suffering. In this definition (preliminary, since the second part of " Poetics”, dedicated to comedy, has not been preserved) Aristotle doesn't talk about the purpose of comedy. It can be assumed that with the help of laughter (rising back to the sacred laughter of ritual processions in honor of the god Dionysus), comic catharsis- purification without the mediation of fear and compassion. Collective laughter unites people in the same way as the joint experience of horror and grief.

The birth and evolution of comedy. The genre of comedy originated from forms of glorification of the god Dionysus. Aristotle associated its origins with the singing of phallic songs that glorified fertility and allowed making sharp attacks (invectives) against certain famous people. The first comedian, whose name and small fragments have come down to us, was Epicharmus (2nd half of the 6th - 1st half of the 5th century BC), the founder of the Dorian (or Sicilian) comedy. He gave it completeness, aphorism, everyday or parodic-mythological character, introduced image parasite (gr. - freeloader). Once in Attica, the genre was transformed, a chorus appeared in it, which was not in the Sicilian comedy. Gradually took shape ancient comedy, which consisted of a large, prologue, people - entrance of the choir of 24 people, episodial , shared by the songs of the choir, agona - dispute actors to an important hot topic, episodi after agon, where the results of the victory of one of the arguing were shown, exoda - the final part, the departure of the choir and actors off stage. Also included in the comedy parabasa - a direct appeal of the choir to the audience with a presentation (sometimes without connection with the plot) of the author's views on the problems of the life of the policy. During the performance of the parabasa, the choir took off their masks. Comedies were written mainly in trimeter (iambic 6-foot). These features of comedy are presented in the most developed form in Aristophanes.

The first Attic comedy was presented at the festival Great Dionysius in 486 BC e. The names and fragments of the works of about 60 comedians - representatives of ancient Atgic comedy (5th century BC), more than 50 comedians - representatives of Middle Attic comedy (404-323 BC, the period of the crisis of the genre), about 60 comedians are known - Representatives of the neo-Attic comedy (Hellenistic period). But only some of the comedies of Aristophanes and the representative of the neo-Attic comedy Menander have come down to us in full. Menander(342 - 291 BC) introduces a five-act articulation of comedy with losing important role choir parts between acts. He; widely applies the principle of using the comic mask as a limited role (a boastful warrior, a grump, lovers, etc.), which developed in the previous period, connects plots with the ups and downs of family, personal, and not civilian life. In the work of Menander, the writing of comedies in iambic 6-foot and 8-foot was established. trochee.

Aristophanes. Aristophanes (c. 446 - c. 385 BC) - ancient comedian, recognized as the "father" of comedy. Of about 40 of his comedies, 11 have survived. In them, Aristophanes raises topical public problems. Thus, in the comedy Lysistrata, the problem of war and peace finds an unexpected solution: women, having agreed among themselves, refuse to caress their husbands until they stop fighting and make peace. The comedy "Clouds" criticizes the sophists who teach citizens how to oratory and false philosophizing to deceive people; Socrates is deduced in a funny way (although in fact Socrates was an opponent of the sophists). In the comedy The Frogs, Euripides is ridiculed, who, according to Aristophanes, had a bad influence on the passions and deeds of his contemporaries with his tragedies.

The comedy takes place in underworld, where Euripides argues with Aeschylus about which of them is superior in the art of tragedy. The arguments of each of the disputing parties are weighed on the scales. Aeschylus is recognized as the winner, whom Dionysus returns to the world of the living so that he revives the tragedy that has fallen into decay, and Euripides, with his lightness, is put to shame.

Aristophanes played a decisive role in the development of the comedy genre in antiquity. His influence on the genre continues to be felt to this day.

Comedy is ancient a cult drama dedicated to Dionysus, performed by a choir and actors. All types of ancient comedy (folk and literary) had a poetic form and were performed accompanied by music; actors and chorevgs wore masks. There were two historically and typologically independent forms literary comedy : Sicilian and Attic. The nature of Attic comedy changed significantly over time, so already in antiquity there were three successive stages: ancient, middle and new Attic comedy. Folk South Italian comedy developed under the predominant influence of literary Attic. Roman comedy was created and developed on the model of an exclusively new Attic comedy. From different types Comedy in the strict sense should be distinguished from other dramatic genres that were "comic" in their spirit, but were not considered comedy in Greece, since they were not genetically associated with strictly defined forms of the cult of Dionysus. These include the satyr drama (a kind of tragedy) and diverse, devoid of genre unity, small dialogic forms, which were called mimes. Only in Rome, where Greek cult and theatrical formalities lost their meaning, did the Latin mime begin to be seen as a form of comedy.

Sicilian comedy

Sicilian comedy is already known in a developed form from the work of the poet Epicharmus(about 550-460 BC) from Syracuse. Fragments of 40 of his comedies have been preserved, which show that the original and main theme Sicilian comedy was a travesty depiction of myths (The Wedding of Hebe, Pyrrha and Prometheus, Philoctetes, etc.). However, as Aristotle (Poetics, V) points out, Epicharmus and (practically unknown to us) Formius began to use "fictitious", i.e. Not mythological subjects. Pure development example household topics gives an image of a parasite in a lengthy passage from the comedy "Hope, or Wealth", but here, judging by the name, personification deities could participate. Some passages touch upon philosophical questions. The comedies of Epicharmus are written in iambic Dorian.

Ancient Attic Comedy

From 487 BC in Athens, the official competitions of comic choirs begin. The first poet of comedy known by name was Chionides. Ancient comedy is known from the work of its latest representative, Aristophanes, from whom 11 comedies staged in 425-388 BC have survived. From other poets 5th century BC (Kratin, Cratet, Eupolis) fragments have come down. The ancient comedy opens with a prologue, which, as in the developed classical tragedy, develops into an extended dialogic scene; followed by parod, i.e. the song that accompanies the choir's entrance to the orchestra. Behind the parod begins the agon, the competition of the two main characters; the central part of the comedy is occupied by the parabaza, a lengthy performance by the choir (performing the parabaza, the choirs removed their masks). The parabaza is surrounded by a series of loosely connected small scenes performed by the actors, and the comedy ends with the exode, the song that accompanies the choir's departure from the orchestra. The parabasis is a complex melic composition built mainly on the antistrophic principle; it is not directly related to the plot of the comedy and contains the author's declarations devoted to various topical issues. A sequentially developing plot was not important for ancient comedy. According to Aristotle (Poetics, V), the coherent comic "myth" (i.e. plot) was first introduced by Crates (after 450 BC) following the example of the Sicilian comedy. The content of the comedy was largely determined by its cult origin: scenes of gluttony, fights, erotic jokes characteristic of rituals associated with the cult of fertility were mandatory along with abuse (invective) directed against specific individuals. Beginning with Aristotle's Poetics, this personal abuse was seen as a necessary element of ancient comedy. Often depicted gods or traditional, or deities-personifications. There are well-known comedies whose plot was purely mythological, for example: Dionysus-Alexander by Cratinus (after 430 BC), in which the myth of the judgment of Paris was presented; mythological (though outside of traditional mythology) are the comedies The World (421 BC) and The Birds (414 BC) by Aristophanes. Ancient comedy is characterized by an allegorical (mainly political) interpretation of myths, which indicates its important ideological role in a society whose consciousness was still based mainly on mythology. Comedies on "fictional" plots were political pamphlets, not everyday dramas, but not only politicians, but also philosophers ("Clouds" by Aristophanes, 423 BC), musicians and poets became victims of comedy writers: attacks on tragedians and rivals comedians are often found in Aristophanes. A favorite motif was a parody of a tragedy. Thus, comedy became one of the first forms of literary and artistic criticism. The characters of the ancient comedy are caricatured, if they are real persons, then their characters are narrowed and reduced to one line, chosen by the poet for ridicule; ethical issues in general are not of interest to comedians. As with other genres of Greek poetry, comedy developed its own metrical rules. The main dialogic dimensions of Greek drama - iambic trimeter and trocheic tetrameter - are interpreted in comedy in many ways differently than in tragedy, and the metrical development of choral parts is also peculiar; comedy language was close to colloquial. The comic choir consisted of 24 people, the number of actors could reach up to five. The masks of the ancient comedy were grotesque and ugly, the masks of real faces had a portrait resemblance.

Middle Attic Comedy

Middle Attic comedy is conventionally dated to 404-336 BC., represented by the names of Platocomic, Antiphanes, Aristophon, Alexis; the preservation of the texts is very poor, but an idea of this period can be drawn from the later dramas of Aristophanes - "The Frogs" (405), "Women in the National Assembly" (389), "Wealth" (388). There are no significant structural changes, but choral interludes appear, separating the comedy scenes; and then it becomes the norm. Political topics lose relevance and disappear; in their place comes a political utopia; everyday life is depicted more realistically. Myth interests Aristophanes either as an allegory or as a pretext for a parody of tragedy, but Plato and other poets have mythological names. A favorite topic is mockery of philosophers.

New Attic Comedy

In the 330s BC. Attic comedy was radically reformed, and already by 324 BC. refers to the first comedy of Menander, later recognized as the best representative of the new comedy. Thanks to the discovery already in the 20th century of ancient papyrus manuscripts, lengthy excerpts from the seven comedies of Menander became known, the text of "Bruzgi" (316 BC) was completely preserved. Other significant New Comedy poets active in the second half of the 4th century BC (Diphil, Philemon, Apollodorus), are known from fragments and from free imitations in the Roman palliata. There is very little information about later representatives of the genre. The new Attic comedy is neither in form nor in content a continuation of the ancient one and is an ethical "comedy of characters", for which the tragedies of Euripides were a model. The structure of the new comedy is also generally oriented towards the tragedy of the late 5th century BC. The comedy consists of a prologue and an exode, followed by several acts corresponding to the episodes of the tragedy and separated by parts of the choir. The choir does not take part in the action, in many cases the poet did not write the text for the choir, but only "left space" for it. Already Menander presents a division into five acts, Roman theorists, starting with Horace (“The Science of Poetry”), consider such a division as a necessary structural requirement of comedy. The plot should be complex, but carefully and consistently built, while in the well-known neo-Attic comedies (as in the Roman palliata) the principles of constructing the plot, formulated in Aristotle's Poetics, are quite accurately observed. As in late tragedy, summary comedy is presented in the prologue. Fantastic and mythological plots are not allowed in the new comedy, gods are possible only as prologue characters. Topics - from everyday life ordinary people; and the social status of the characters is also a paramount genre requirement. However the main task And artistic purpose The new comedy was not in a naturalistic depiction of everyday life, but in a poetic study of ethical types, which in the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle were called ethos (ethos- “nature”). The familiar meaning of the word "character" appeared precisely in the new comedy (Menander, fragment 72). Action was seen as an outward manifestation of ethos; each comic character was associated with a limited set of plot moves and situations; the appearance and speech of the characters had to be strictly consistent with their character. The artistic method of the new comedy in many respects becomes clear thanks to the collection of ethical essays "Characters", compiled by Aristotle's student Theophrastus. Rigid schematism and stereotyping were perceived in antiquity as a virtue, but the poet had to apply plot and ethical schemes with subtlety, without transgressing the boundaries of life's plausibility. An important (for the ancient theorists - the main) difference between the new comedy and the ancient one was the complete rejection of personal invective. Comedy should, while entertaining, teach the audience, therefore, maxims were a necessary element of comedy. The stage representation of the character was a mask with sharp, easily recognizable features. Descriptions of the masks of the new comedy have been preserved, which are given by the lexicographer of the 2nd century AD. Julius Pollux (Polydeuces).

South Italian comedy

In the Greek cities of southern Italy, performances by itinerant fliac actors, who were considered servants of Dionysus, were popular. Fliacs presented travesty mythological comedies or parodies of tragedies. The literary adaptation of the drama of the fliacs was made by Rinton of Tarentum (3rd century BC), who reworked the plots of the tragedy in the spirit of the neo-Attic comedy. Such a drama was called hilarotragedy (from hilaros - “cheerful”), Roman theorists singled out the genre of rinthonic drama (rinthonica). The only fully preserved text is the Latin comedy of Plautus (3rd-2nd century BC) Amphitryon, which the author himself defines as a tragicomedy. Participation in the action of the gods and kings, the necessary characters of the tragedy, was considered as an important genre-forming feature that distinguishes the rinton drama from the usual comedy, but otherwise "Amphitrion" is a typical neo-Attic comedy. From the indigenous peoples of Italy, the Osci created a comedy called atellana. In the 2nd century BC. atellana appeared on Latin.

Roman comedy

Performances in Rome of comedies in Latin began in the middle of the 3rd century BC. By the end of the 1st century, an extensive system of comic genres had been created, including the togata, palliata, literary atellana, and mime.

The word comedy comes from Greek komoidia - "comic song" from komos "Bacchic procession" and oide, which means "song" in translation

ancient greek comedy a dramatic genre that developed in Ancient Greece in the 5th - 4th centuries. The ancients themselves singled out 2 varieties in it: Dorian (or Sicilian) comedy, devoid of a choir and having a predominantly everyday and parodic-mythological character (Epicharm), and Attic, named after the region of Attica, where it arose and went a long way of development. IN modern literary criticism, partly following the ancient philologists, designate 3 periods of ancient Greek comedy, differing in content and formal features. Sufficiently conditional chronological boundaries between them are as follows: 1) from 486 (the first performance of the ancient Greek comedy at the Great Dionysia) to 404 (the comedy of the Peloponnesian War) - "ancient" Attic comedy; 2) from 404 to 323 (the year of the death of Alexander the Great) - "average" Attic comedy; 3) from 323 the stage of the “new” Attic comedy begins, which formally continues until the time of the Roman Empire.

Aristotle associated the origin of ancient Greek comedy with the singing of phallic songs, the performance of which as part of a fertility ritual made it possible to introduce an element of social invective into them. Thus, when making at the beginning of the 5th century. Ancient Greek comedy as a genre of chorus from the very beginning acquired a accusatory character, which was the main feature of ancient Attic comedy. Its other source - speech episodies with the participation of 2 - 3 actors - goes back to a folklore everyday scene with a squabble and blows that rain down on the defeated side (cf. Rus. Petrushki). As a result of the combination of accusatory choir with dialogical episodes, a peculiar structure of ancient Attic comedy arose: an extensive prologue was followed by a parody of a choir of 24 people, who immediately energetically intervened in the action. Then the episodies alternated with choral parts, until the struggle between the two opponents reached its climax in the fire - a dispute on some important social topic.

The string of episodies after the agon was intended to visualize the results of the victory or, more rarely, its illusory nature. A special place was occupied in ancient comedy by parabasa - its oldest choral core. For the times of ancient Attic comedy, about 60 names of authors and excerpts from their works are known, not counting Aristophanes, from whom 11 comedies have been preserved in their entirety. Along with him, in ancient times, Cratinus and Eupolis were highly regarded, which are currently represented only in fragments. As can be seen from the extant material, the ancient Attic comedy opposed the Peloponnesian War, from which the Attic peasantry suffered mainly, but had no objections to the very essence of the Athenian state structure. Its ideal is in the era of glorious marathon fighters (Aristophanes' Riders); from this point of view, the ancient Attic comedy ridiculed the new trends in the spiritual life of the Athenians, religious skepticism and the critical orientation of the teachings of the sophists, the dramaturgy of Euripides (Clouds, Frogs by Aristophanes). Vigilantly noticing the meaning of the conflict in public life, the ancient Attic comedy found its resolution only in the world of fairy tales and social utopia, without stopping to bring the dead great men of the past out of the world (Demes by Eupolis).

IN artistically the ancient Attic comedy was distinguished by a specific way of typification: ridiculed by it negative traits embodied in reality existing person(Cleon, Socrates), whose name gave concreteness to the mask of a demagogue or a learned charlatan. The materialization of metaphors is also characteristic of ancient comedy: the duration of a peace treaty corresponded to the taste of the contents in various bottles, the solidity of a poetic word is checked by weighing it on a scale, etc. With the fall of the potential of Athenian democracy, the ancient Attic comedy also exhausted itself. The middle Attic comedy that replaced it, leaving no ridicule of individuals, on the whole lost its socio-political tendentiousness. This immediately affected the significantly reduced role of the choir, and mythological parody and everyday themes began to prevail in the plots, and already within the framework of the Attic comedy, masks were outlined, which later became the property of the new Attic, and then the Roman comedy: a young man in love, a stern father, a boastful warrior, pimp, geter, cunning slave, cook, etc. In total, in the field of average comedy, St. 50 poets, the largest were Antiphanes and Alexis, currently represented only in fragments.

The loss of ancient texts was especially noticeable for the new Attic comedy. Among its approximately 60 authors, ancient criticism highlighted Menander, Diphilus and Philemon. The works of the last 2 are known by a few fragments or (sometimes) alterations by Roman authors. Only Menander, thanks to two waves of papyrus finds (at the beginning of the 20th century and in the 1950s and 1960s), became much better known. In the new Attic comedy, the stereotypical situations found in the middle comedy have been preserved; they were based on such motives as the involuntary connection of a girl with some unknown rapist, abandoned and eventually found children; in the end, all the threads unraveled, and the matter ended in a wedding. Menander introduced a deep psychol into the standard plots. motivation, aroused sympathy for the victims of violence and deceit, varied and individualized the constant comedy types. In his work, the 5-act comedy was firmly established; the intervals between actions were filled with the dance of the choir, which had lost all connection with the content

Antique comedy

1. Antique comedy: concept, history, features

The term "comedy" goes back to the ancient Greek word comoidia, literally meaning "song of komos", i.e. the song of the participants of the festive village procession dedicated to the glorification of the life-giving forces of nature.

Its other source was an elementary and equally ancient form of a folk booth - comic scene, in which a stupid rich man, a rogue, a thief tries to deceive, infringe on the interests of the main character, but always fails, and leaves the stage in disgrace, accompanied by blows of a stick and a friendly chorus of spectators.

One of the most remarkable features of the structure of ancient Attic comedy is the active role of the choir, the bearer of the main publicist idea of the play, although often dressed in bizarre costumes of birds, animals, clouds, etc. The participation of the choir created a special compositional structure ancient comedy, reflecting the main features and origins of the choral (accusatory) and dialogic (farce-farcical) elements.

Aristophanes is the only representative of ancient comedy whose plays have come down to us (namely, 11 plays, he wrote more than 40 plays). The heyday of his work coincides with the time of the Peloponnesian War. Her hardships laid the heaviest burden on the people of Attica, who were ruined. Therefore, the theme of the condemnation of the war sounded with force in the work of Aristophanes (the comedy "The World", "Aharnians", "Lysistrata") Kun N. Myths and legends of ancient Greece. Edited by E. Rodina. - M.: Olma-MediaGroup, 2011, p.52 .. Aristophanes played a significant role in the development of satire, laying its basic techniques, widely using the grotesque, caricature, fantasy.

The comedy of Aristophanes, this "pronounced tendentious poet" and now strikes with the fearlessness of his satire.

Menander wrote more than 199 comedies, but according to ancient authors, he won drama competitions only 8 times. Menander is practically the only representative of the new Attic comedy whose works have come down to us. He gained fame as a great playwright with his excellent mastery of the art of psychological characterization, which allows him to create individualized human characters betraying traditional masks truly human traits, to diversify and deepen the conditional types of Corneille Pierre's mask theater. Reasoning about utility and parts dramatic work. Translation by N. P. Kozlova // Pierre Corneille. Plays. - M.: BEK, 2010, p.41..

Menander was in great demand in Antiquity; collections of his sayings, known in Ancient Rus', were very widely distributed.

The comedy of Menander had a great influence on the subsequent development of world drama.

Terence (195-159 BC) created 6 comedies, and all of them have come down to us. We also got brief instructions to them, from which we learn about the time of staging comedies and their performers.

The first comedy of Terence - "Andrianka" was staged in 166, the second - "Mother-in-law" was staged for the first time in 165, but the performance was disrupted, because. the audience in the middle of the play ran off to watch fist fighters and tightrope walkers. The second time Terentius staged a comedy was in 160, but the audience, after the first act, rushed to the games of gladiators. In the same year 160, he still managed to stage the comedy "Mother-in-law" Ibid., p.43..

The third comedy of Terence - "The Self-Tormentor" was staged in 163, the fourth "Eunuch" - in 161, the fifth - "Formion" - also in 161 and the sixth comedy - "The Brothers" - in 160.

Terence puts in his plays questions of the family, life, education, promotes the ideas of humanity, respect for women. Characteristic conflicts in Terence's comedies are conflicts between fathers and children, between husband and wife.

Terence's heroes speak gracefully literary language. There are no rough colloquial expressions in their speech, there are almost no archaisms, but it also has that richness that is characteristic of the language of Plavtov's characters.

Terence was highly valued in the 18th century. Theorists of the so-called "tearful comedy", they considered him a kind of pioneer of this genre.

Plautus - the most prominent Roman comedian (mid-III century - 184 BC). There is no reliable information about his life. Plautus is credited with about 130 comedies, but in the 1st century. BC. the famous Roman scholar and connoisseur of literature Varro singled out 21 comedies from this number, considering them to be truly Plavtov's, and these comedies have come down to us. The most popular of them are “Treasure” (or “Pot”), “Curculion” (or “Tricks of the Parasite”), “Menechmas” (or “Gemini”), “Boastful Warrior”, “Pseudol” (or “Slave-Deceiver” ), "Prisoners" and "Amphitrion" by Corneille Pierre. Reasoning about the usefulness and parts of a dramatic work. Translation by N. P. Kozlova // Pierre Corneille. Plays. - M.: BEK, 2010, p.49..

Plautus liked to portray dexterous, smart, energetic slaves who usually help out their far from smart and passive masters. The comedies of Plautus were very popular among the plebeian masses, captivated by their wit, dynamism, and extraordinary richness of language.

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Introduction

Directors' interest in ancient drama has always existed. The longer the life of the theater passes, the more natural is the rethinking of its origins. Directors of different generations turn to ancient works and aesthetic views. This explains the relevance of the topic of the essay.

Greek comedy appears in the VI century. BC. of the following four elements: a) noisy and cheerful everyday scenes of a parody and caricature nature (especially common among the Dorians); b) dramatized songs of an accusatory nature among the villagers who went to the city on the holidays of Dionysus to ridicule the inhabitants there; c) orgiastic-sacrificial cult of Dionysus; d) songs in honor of the gods of fertility at Dionysian festivals.

As a result of the combination of these four elements, cheerful, violent festive processions and carnival-type scenes arise, filled with farce buffoonery, witticisms and even obscenities, with songs, dances, disguise in various animals (goats, horses, bears, birds, roosters), love adventures and a feast. The very word comedy comes from komos, that is, a festively cheerful crowd, a party (or, in another way, from sote - "village" and os1e ~ - "song").

These unbridled games of disguised free landowners acquired a very acute socio-political significance in the struggle against the wealthy urban entrepreneurs, who were pulling the country towards new conquests, towards sea expansion and ruining the small free producer. The ancient Attic comedy was the sharpest dramatic pamphlet against the rulers of democracy and the sophists and the preaching of ancient landowning and agricultural ideals.

Classical comedy developed under the strongest influence of the growing antagonism between free private small landowners (both the peasantry and the conservative aristocracy), on the one hand, and on the other, the urban commercial, industrial and militant democracy that rose in the middle of the 5th century, after the Greco-Persian wars.

To disclose the features of the topic in the abstract, it was decided to disclose the following aspects:

Consider the concept, history and features of ancient comedy;

Pay attention to a more detailed study of the ancient comedies of Aristophanes in modern times;

To reveal the features of the "ancient project" of E. Zhuravkin, who operates in the National Reserve "Tauric Chersonese".

Antique comedy: concept, history, features

Its other source was an elementary and equally ancient form of a folk booth - a comic scene in which a stupid rich man, a rogue, a thief tries to deceive, infringe on the interests of the main character, but always fails, and leaves the stage in disgrace, accompanied by blows of a stick and a friendly chorus of spectators .

One of the most remarkable features of the structure of ancient Attic comedy is the active role of the choir, the bearer of the main publicist idea of the play, although often dressed in bizarre costumes of birds, animals, clouds, etc. The participation of the choir created a special compositional structure of the ancient comedy, reflecting the main features and origins from the choral (accusatory) and dialogic (farce-farcical) elements.

The comedy of Aristophanes, this "pronounced tendentious poet" and now strikes with the fearlessness of his satire.

Menander wrote more than 199 comedies, but according to ancient authors, he won drama competitions only 8 times. Menander is practically the only representative of the new Attic comedy whose works have come down to us. He gained fame as a great playwright with his excellent mastery of the art of psychological characterization, which allows him to create individualized human characters, betraying truly human features to traditional masks, to diversify and deepen the conditional types of Corneille Pierre's mask theater. Reasoning about the usefulness and parts of a dramatic work. Translation by N. P. Kozlova // Pierre Corneille. Plays. - M.: BEK, 2010, p.41..

Menander was in great demand in Antiquity; collections of his sayings, known in Ancient Rus', were very widely distributed.

The comedy of Menander had a great influence on the subsequent development of world drama.

Terence (195-159 BC) created 6 comedies, and all of them have come down to us. We also got brief instructions to them, from which we learn about the time of staging comedies and their performers.

The third comedy of Terence - "The Self-Tormentor" was staged in 163, the fourth "Eunuch" - in 161, the fifth - "Formion" - also in 161 and the sixth comedy - "The Brothers" - in 160.

Terence's characters speak in an elegant literary language. There are no rough colloquial expressions in their speech, there are almost no archaisms, but it also has that richness that is characteristic of the language of Plavtov's characters.

Terence was highly valued in the 18th century. Theorists of the so-called "tearful comedy", they considered him a kind of pioneer of this genre.