The Joke in Aristophanes’ Assemblywomen (v. 21–23)

Abstract

The article deals with the history of interpretation of the joke in v. 21–23 of Aristophanes’ Assemblywomen. There is no consensus among researchers about the meaning of the passage under consideration, what order of verses is preferable, and what role these verses play in the opening scene of the comedy. The textual and contextual analysis allows the author to interpret the obscure passage so that the proposed interpretation suits the poetics of Aristophanes’ comedies best. The author of the article argues against the change in the manuscripts’ order of the verses. The passage in question should be understood as follows: Aristophanes quotes a certain Phyromachus, who in public space made a speech mistake and instead of ἑτέρας ἕδρας ʽother places’ said ἑταίρας ἕδρας, which approximately means ‘hetairas’ seats.’ Since the context implies that the female characters ought to ʽtake their places,’ the quotation of Phyromachus’ mistake turns out to be suitable. In addition, the reduction of the paratragic pathos of the opening scene of the comedy with the help of a joke based on physiological humor is characteristic for the poetic toolkit of Aristophanes and allows him to gain the favor of viewers of different cultural levels.