This article provides an analysis of Eccl. 730-745, where a citizen loyal to the new women’s regime, in alienating his objects in favour of the community, personifies them and addresses them as if they were the personnel involved in the procession of the Panathenaea. The analysis is aimed at understanding the function of the objects’ personification in this scene against the backdrop of the employment of this device in ancient Greek comedy. I first show that the parody of public rites by means of daily objects is a typical feature of comic literature. I then distinguish the different types of object-personification within Greek comedy. This was probably a common comic device, employed in order to trigger hilarity in the audience. However, in Crates’ fragment 16 K.-A. it is used ›seriously‹, as moving objects can free men from the necessity of working. In Aristophanes, on the contrary, no serious message is to be found in personification. Finally, I examine the following scene in Eccl., where the loyal citizen is confronted by a sceptical one, who declares that he will not alienate his belongings. The sceptic does not personify objects, and the contrast between the two views on the objects expresses the different political positions of the two characters. In the conclusions, I explore the implications of this contrast between the two characters on the general issue of utopia in the Eccl.
"Automatos bios"? La personificazione degli oggetti nelle Ecclesiazuse di Aristofane
Duranti, Marco
2015-01-01
Abstract
This article provides an analysis of Eccl. 730-745, where a citizen loyal to the new women’s regime, in alienating his objects in favour of the community, personifies them and addresses them as if they were the personnel involved in the procession of the Panathenaea. The analysis is aimed at understanding the function of the objects’ personification in this scene against the backdrop of the employment of this device in ancient Greek comedy. I first show that the parody of public rites by means of daily objects is a typical feature of comic literature. I then distinguish the different types of object-personification within Greek comedy. This was probably a common comic device, employed in order to trigger hilarity in the audience. However, in Crates’ fragment 16 K.-A. it is used ›seriously‹, as moving objects can free men from the necessity of working. In Aristophanes, on the contrary, no serious message is to be found in personification. Finally, I examine the following scene in Eccl., where the loyal citizen is confronted by a sceptical one, who declares that he will not alienate his belongings. The sceptic does not personify objects, and the contrast between the two views on the objects expresses the different political positions of the two characters. In the conclusions, I explore the implications of this contrast between the two characters on the general issue of utopia in the Eccl.
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