Socrate nella commedia antica

Several comedies rehearsed from 430 to 410 BCE deal with ‘education’ (paideia). It has been rightly observed that these plays form a subgenre of Old Comedy. At least seven plays by six comedians (Cratinus, Teleclides, Callias, Eupolis, Amipsias, Plato Comicus, and Aristophanes) target ‘wisdom’ (sophia) and those who teach or acquire it, the ‘sophists’ or ‘thinkers’ (sophistai or phrontistai). Such intellectuals, or followers of them, form the choirs of five 5th century comedies that center around the matter of teaching and acquiring a new kind of wisdom. Such wisdom is ridiculed by the comedians as unheard of and weird. It consists of four distinct subjects that were not encompassed in traditional paideia, namely: (a) the study of nature; (b) non-official religiosity; (c) fraudulent lyrical and rhetorical skills; (d) asceticism and poverty. All of these four subjects are core features of Aristophanes’ portrayal of Socrates. The other 5th century playwrights discuss (a) without any reference to Socrates and his pupils. Callias is the only comedian who indirectly relates (b) to Socrates; (c) and (d), on the contrary, appear to be unique features of Socrates according to all comedians who deal with Socrates. In my paper, I tackle these four subjects, showing how they are related to the Socrates, and the Socratic features, portrayed by Old Comedy.