The Kōmos ( grc, κῶμος; pl. kōmoi) was a ritualistic drunken procession performed by revelers in ancient Greece, whose participants were known as komasts (κωμασταί, ''kōmastaí''). Its precise nature has been difficult to reconstruct from the diverse literary sources and evidence derived from vase painting. The earliest reference to the komos is in

Hesiod Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet i ...

's '' Shield of Herakles'', which indicates it took place as part of wedding festivities (line 281). And famously

Alcibiades Alcibiades ( ; grc-gre, Ἀλκιβιάδης; 450 – 404 BC) was a prominent Athenian statesman, orator, and general. He was the last of the Alcmaeonidae, which fell from prominence after the Peloponnesian War. He played a major role in th ...

gate-crashes the ''

Symposium In ancient Greece, the symposium ( grc-gre, συμπόσιον ''symposion'' or ''symposio'', from συμπίνειν ''sympinein'', "to drink together") was a part of a banquet that took place after the meal, when drinking for pleasure was acc ...

'' while carousing in a komos. However, no one kind of event is associated with the komos:

Pindar Pindar (; grc-gre, Πίνδαρος , ; la, Pindarus; ) was an Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes. Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar is ...

describes them taking place at the city festivals (Pythian 5.21, 8.20, Olympian 4.9), while Demosthenes mentions them taking place after the '' ''pompe'''' and '' choregoi'' on the first day of the

Greater Dionysia The Dionysia (, , ; Greek: Διονύσια) was a large festival in ancient Athens in honor of the god Dionysus, the central events of which were the theatrical performances of dramatic tragedies and, from 487 BC, comedies. It was the ...

(Speeches 21.10), which may indicate the komos might have been a competitive event. The komos must be distinguished from the '' pompe'', or ritual procession, and the chorus, both of which were scripted. The komos lacked a chorus leader, script, or rehearsal. In the performance of Greek victory odes ( ''epinikia'') at post-

Game A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (suc ...

celebrations for winning athletes, the choral singers often present themselves as komasts, or extend an invitation to join the komos, as if the formal song were a preliminary to spontaneous revelry. Nevertheless some komoi were expressly described as "''semnoí''" ("modest", "decent"), which implies that standard ''komoi'' were anything but. Demosthenes upbraids the brother-in-law of

Aeschines Aeschines (; Greek: , ''Aischínēs''; 389314 BC) was a Greek statesman and one of the ten Attic orators. Biography Although it is known he was born in Athens, the records regarding his parentage and early life are conflicting; but it seems ...

for not wearing a mask during the komos, as was the custom (On the Embassy 19.287), suggesting costume or disguise may have been involved. The playing of music during the komos is also mentioned by

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme Kydathenaion ( la, Cydathenaeum), was a comic playwright or comedy-writer of ancient Athens and a poet of Old Attic Comedy. Eleven of his ...

(''

Thesmophoriazusae ''Thesmophoriazusae'' ( grc-gre, Θεσμοφοριάζουσαι; ''Thesmophoriazousai'', meaning ''Women Celebrating the Festival of the Thesmophoria''), or ''Women at the Thesmophoria'' (sometimes also called ''The Poet and the Women''), is ...

'' 104, 988) and Pindar (Olympian 4.9, Pythian 5.22). There are also depictions of torch-lit processions in vase painting, yet it is not always clear from the evidence of vases if they depict

symposia ''Symposia'' is a genus of South American araneomorph spiders in the family Cybaeidae, and was first described by Eugène Simon in 1898. Species it contains six species in Venezuela and Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republ ...

, choruses or komoi. It is now widely thought that komos and ''κωμῳδία - komoidia'' "comedy" are etymologically related, the derivation being ''komos'' + ''ᾠδή - o(i)de'' "song" (from ''ἀείδω - aeido'' "sing"). However, in part III of the

Poetics Poetics is the theory of structure, form, and discourse within literature, and, in particular, within poetry. History The term ''poetics'' derives from the Ancient Greek ποιητικός ''poietikos'' "pertaining to poetry"; also "creative" an ...

, Aristotle records the tradition that the word ''komoedia'' derives from the

Megara Megara (; el, Μέγαρα, ) is a historic town and a municipality in West Attica, Greece. It lies in the northern section of the Isthmus of Corinth opposite the island of Salamis, which belonged to Megara in archaic times, before being taken ...

mime Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) is an Internet standard that extends the format of email messages to support text in character sets other than ASCII, as well as attachments of audio, video, images, and application programs. Message ...

that took place in the villages of

Sicily Sicily ( it, Sicilia , ) is the list of islands in the Mediterranean, largest island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. The Strait of Messina divides it from the region of Calabria in Southern Italy. I ...

, hence from ''κώμη - kome'' (the Dorian word for villageThe '' SOED'' cites both etymologies.). Nevertheless, it remains unclear exactly how the revel-song developed into the Greek Old comedy of the Dionysian festival in the 6th century BC.

Notes

References

*Kenneth S. Rothwell Jr. ‘’Nature, Culture and the Origins of Greek Comedy: A Study of Animal Choruses’’. CUP 2006. {{authority control Ancient Greek comedy Cult of Dionysus

See also

Notes

References