Parabasis

Parabasis

In Greek comedy, the parabasis (plural parabases) is a point in the play when all of the actors leave the stage and the chorus is left to address the audience directly. The chorus partially or completely abandons its dramatic role to talk to the audience on a topic completely irrelevant to the subject of the play.

For example, in the play "The Wasps" by Aristophanes the first parabasis is about Aristophanes' career as a playwright to date, while the second parabasis is shorter, and contains a string of in-jokes about local characters who would be well known to the ancient Athenian audience (e.g. the politician Cleon).

A parabasis usually consists of three songs (S) alternating with three speeches (s) in the order S-s-S-s-S-s. The first speech often ends with a passage which is to be rattled off very quickly (theoretically in one breath - called a 'pnigos').The parabasis is exclusively a feature of Old Comedy, and as the overall role of the chorus declined, the parabases were abandoned.

References

* Aristotle, "Poetics".
* Feder, Lillian, "The Handbook of Classical Literature", (uniform title: "Meridian Handbook of Classical Literature"), New York : Da Capo Press, 1998. ISBN 0306808803. Cf. especially the articles on "Comedy", "The Clouds", pp.100-105.
* Freund, Philip, "The Birth of Theatre", London : Peter Owen, 2003. ISBN 0720611709. Cf. Chapter 6, "Greek Laughter"
* Gassner, John, and Quinn, Edward, [editors] , "The Reader's Encyclopedia of World Drama", New York, Crowell, 1969. Cf. article on "Comedy", p.140
* Harsh, Philip Whaley, "A Handbook of Classical Drama", Stanford University, Calif., Stanford university press; London, H. Milford, Oxford University Press, 1944. Cf. Chapter V, "Introduction to Old Comedy".
* Harsh, Philip Whaley, [http://www.jstor.org/pss/283027 "The Position of the Parabasis in the Plays of Aristophanes"] , in "Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association", Vol. 65, (1934), pp. 178-197, The Johns Hopkins University Press

External links

* [http://www.usu.edu/markdamen/clasdram/chapters/081earlygkcom.htm Early Greek Comedy] - Mark Damen, Utah State University


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Parábasis — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda En la comedia griega, la parábasis es un momento en la obra en que todos los actores salen del escenario y se quedan solamente los miembros del coro para dirigirse directamente al público. Los miembros del coro… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Parabasis — Parabasis, griech., Parabase, in der alten Komödie ein Theil des Chors mitten im Stück, worin der Dichter sich unmittelbar an die Zuschauer wandte …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • parabasis — /peuh rab euh sis/, n., pl. parabases / seez /. (in ancient Greek drama) a choral ode addressed to the audience, esp. of comedy, and independent of the action of the play: usually following the agon and, in the earliest forms of comedy, serving… …   Universalium

  • parábasis — ► sustantivo femenino LITERATURA Parte de la comedia griega en que el coro se dirigía al público para hacer comentarios sobre política o negocios. IRREG. plural parábasis …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • parabasis — noun The part of an Ancient Greek comedy in which the actors leave the stage and the chorus addresses the audience directly …   Wiktionary

  • parabasis — [pə rabəsɪs] noun (plural parabases si:z) (in ancient Greek comedy) a direct address to the audience, sung or chanted by the chorus on behalf of the author. Origin C19: from Gk, from parabainein go aside …   English new terms dictionary

  • parabasis — pa·rab·a·sis …   English syllables

  • parabasis — …   Useful english dictionary

  • The Birds (play) — The Birds Rider and birds Laconian calyx ca. 540 B.C. The Dramatis Personae in ancient comedy depends on interpretation of textual evidence.[1] This list is developed from D.Barrett s translation.[2 …   Wikipedia

  • The Frogs — Infobox Play | name = The Frogs caption = Sketch of Aristophanes writer = Aristophanes chorus = Frogs, Initiates, citizens of Hades characters = Dionysus Xanthias, Dionysus slave Heracles corpse Charon Aeacus, janitor of Hades maid hostess… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”