"The play of characters in the fragments of Middle Comedy”, in M. De Poli - G. E. Rallo - B. Zimmermann (eds.), Sub palliolo sordido. Studi sulla commedia frammentaria greca e latina, Göttingen 2021, 143-190. (original) (raw)

In the period of Middle Comedy a rich repertoire of stereotypical characters was developed in Greek comic theatre. These characters recurred in play after play, retaining a permanent dramatic identity, and performed a standard range of roles in the action. Most of them were connected with the love plot, which was also established as a core ingredient of comic plays. The evidence from the textual fragments of Middle Comedy is complemented by archaeological finds, such as the widespread terracotta figurines that portray stock comic types. Another related dramaturgical tendency of the same period was the exploration of peculiar character idiosyncrasies and moral flaws. A personage dominated by an overriding obsession (e.g. misanthropy, miserliness, or superstition) was placed at the centre of the plot and generated the dramatic action and the comic effect. Antiphanes in particular took a keen interest in this kind of figure. Antiphanes, Eubulus, and other playwrights of Middle Comedy evolved several techniques for the portrayal of obsessive characters, which were then taken up by Menander. One of the most interesting specimens was the misanthrope in Antiphanes’ Misoponeros. In fr. 157 from this play comic language is artfully employed in order to intensify the misanthrope’s ludicrous portrait and bring out the compulsive elements of his behaviour.