Classics RHD Seminar: Gods on the Comic Stage - presented by Rachel Dowe, MPhil Confirmation

Event Details

Date:

Friday, 25 September 2015

Time:

3:30 pm - 5:00 pm

Room:

Room E303 Forgan Smith Building

UQ Location:

Forgan Smith Building (St Lucia)

Event category(s):

Full Description:: The gods of Aristophanes’ comedies share many of the vices of mortals, and his plays make fun of aspects of Greek religion in an almost sacrilegious manner. However, such disregard is not reflected in Athenian popular culture, as evidenced by the continuing adherence to divinities in public speeches and religious practice. I therefore propose to examine closely how deities are portrayed in Aristophanes’ comedies, and how this treatment differs from wider Athenian popular culture. In particular, I wish to determine what these differences reveal about the nature of ’old comedy’ its license to approach religion in a manner that may not be tolerated elsewhere. In this paper I will demonstrate that such an approach fills a current absence in scholarship. I will then present a preliminary case study on Birds, examining how this play serves to both confirm and distort popular religious beliefs about the gods.