Middle Comedy

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Middle Comedy was a transitional phase of ancient Athenian comic drama between Old and New Comedy, marked by reduced political satire and greater emphasis on mythological parody and social themes.

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Statements (46)

Predicate Object
instanceOf ancient Greek comedy genre
theatrical tradition
countryOfOrigin Greek Antiquity
surface form: Ancient Greece
developsInto New Comedy conventions
documentedIn ancient testimonia and fragments collections
flourishedIn 4th century BCE
late 5th century BCE
follows Old Comedy NERFINISHED
hasCharacteristic decline of chorus importance
focus on everyday life and manners
greater emphasis on mythological parody
greater emphasis on social themes
less direct political commentary than Old Comedy
literary and cultural satire
parody of tragic myths
reduced political satire
transitional phase between Old and New Comedy
use of stock characters
influenced Hellenistic comedy NERFINISHED
New Comedy NERFINISHED
later Roman comedy
language Ancient Greek
notablePlaywright Alexis NERFINISHED
Anaxandrides NERFINISHED
Antiphanes NERFINISHED
Aristophon NERFINISHED
Eubulus NERFINISHED
Strattis NERFINISHED
partOf ancient Athenian comic drama
placeOfOrigin Athens NERFINISHED
precedes New Comedy NERFINISHED
relatedTo New Comedy NERFINISHED
Old Comedy NERFINISHED
styleComparedToNewComedy more mythological and less domestic
styleComparedToOldComedy less obscene and less choral
subjectMatter courtesans and hetairai
intellectual fashions
mythological burlesque
social customs
symposia and dining
survivalStatus few complete plays preserved
known mainly from fragments
timePeriod between Peloponnesian War and rise of Macedon
usesMedium song and music
spoken dialogue
stage performance

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Old Comedy followedBy Middle Comedy
Attic New Comedy relatedTo Middle Comedy