''Prolegomena de comoedia'' () is a modern collective name for several short

ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

and

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

writings in

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

that are mostly found in the manuscripts of Aristophanes'

comedies Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Gr ...

or taken as excerpts from other texts. These writings are important for deepening the knowledge about the development of

Greek comedy Ancient Greek comedy () was one of the final three principal dramatic forms in the theatre of classical Greece; the others being tragedy and the satyr play. Greek comedy was distinguished from tragedy by its happy endings and use of comically ex ...

. In Dindorf's edition, the texts are given in the usual order: # Platonius, ''On the feature of comedy'' (). # Platonius, ''On the feature of styles'' () # Anonymous, ''On comedy'' (). This short essay is often cited because it gives a historical view of the origins of Greek comedy, thus supplementing the scanty information given by

Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...

in his ''

Poetics Poetics is the study or theory of poetry, specifically the study or theory of device, structure, form, type, and effect with regards to poetry, though usage of the term can also refer to literature broadly. Poetics is distinguished from hermeneu ...

'', as well as a concise overview of the historical development of comedy from

Epicharmus Epicharmus of Kos or Epicharmus Comicus or Epicharmus Comicus Syracusanus (), thought to have lived between c. 550 and c. 460 BC, was a Greek dramatist and philosopher who is often credited with being one of the first comedic writers, ...

and Magnetes to

Diphilus Diphilus (Greek: Δίφιλος), of Sinope, was a poet of the new Attic comedy and a contemporary of Menander (342–291 BC). He is frequently listed together with Menander and Philemon, considered the three greatest poets of New Comedy. He was ...

. This is the most frequently quoted work from the ''Prolegomena de comoedia'' and, unless otherwise stated, this is the essay referred to when the work ''On Comedy'' () is cited in the literature. # Anonymous, ''On comedy'' () ― the author of this essay is different from the previous one. # Anonymous, ''On comedy'' () ― the author of this essay is different from the previous ones. # Anonymous, ''On comedy'' () ― the author of this essay, which consists of only a few sentences, is different from the previous ones. # A short essay of a few sentences, by an unknown author, about the

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song), the part of a song that is repeated several times, usually after each verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in whic ...

in comic plays. # List of names of seven poets of the

Old Attic Comedy Ancient Greek comedy () was one of the final three principal dramatic forms in the theatre of classical Greece; the others being tragedy and the satyr play. Greek comedy was distinguished from tragedy by its happy endings and use of comically exa ...

and the number of plays each of them wrote. # Anonymous, ''On comedy'' () ― from a ''

scholium Scholia (: scholium or scholion, from , "comment", "interpretation") are grammar, grammatical, critical, or explanatory comments – original or copied from prior commentaries – which are inserted in the margin of the manuscript of a ...

'' in Dyonisius Thrax's ''Grammar''. # Andronicus, ''On the order of poets'' (). # Anonymous, ''Life of Aristophanes'' () ― an ancient biography of

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Ancient Greek comedy, comic playwright from Classical Athens, Athens. He wrote in total forty plays, of which eleven survive virtually complete today. The majority of his surviving play ...

. # A biography of Aristophanes by another author. # A biography of Aristophanes by yet another author. # Entry on Aristophanes in ''

Suda The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; ; ) is a large 10th-century Byzantine Empire, Byzantine encyclopedia of the History of the Mediterranean region, ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas () or Souidas (). It is an ...

''. #

Thomas Magister Thomas, surnamed Magister or Magistros (), also known by the monastic name Theodoulos Monachos, was a native of Thessalonica, a Byzantine scholar and grammarian and confidential adviser of Andronikos II Palaiologos (ruled 1282–1328). His chi ...

, a short biography of Aristophanes. #

Antipater of Thessalonica Antipater of Thessalonica (; c. 10 BC - c. AD 38) was a Greek epigrammatist of the Roman period. Biography Antipater lived during the latter part of the reign of Augustus, and perhaps into the reign of Caligula. He enjoyed the patronage of Lu ...

, verses about Aristophanes and Diodorus' epitaph on the grave of Aristophanes (from the ''

Palatine Anthology The ''Palatine Anthology'' (or ''Anthologia Palatina''), sometimes abbreviated ''AP'', is the collection of Greek poems and epigrams discovered in 1606 in the Palatine Library in Heidelberg. It is based on the lost collection of Constantine Keph ...

''). # Demetrius Triclinius, an essay on

metres The metre (or meter in US spelling; symbol: m) is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Since 2019, the metre has been defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of of ...

. A work by Dionysiades entitled ''Styles or Lovers of Comedy'' (), "in which he describes () the styles of omicpoets", may have served as a foundation and starting point for at least some of these writings. This work seems to be the first attempt to make a distinction between different literary styles of Attic comedians.Rudolf Pfeiffer, ''History of Classical Scholarship: from the Beginnings to the End of the Hellenistic Age'', Oxford, 1968, p. 160.

References

{{reflist

External links

''Prolegomena de comoedia'' in: Wilhelm Dindorf (ed.), ''Aristophanis Comoediae'', pp. 19–44.

Greek comedy