CONTENTS Articles
Roisman, Hanna. Helen in the Iliad; Causa Belli and Victim of War: From Silent Weaver tPublic Speaker
Abstract: Homer creates Helen as a complex and suffering figure with a good mind, whstrives for autonomy, expression, and belonging, within and despite the many constraints twhich she is subject. The first part of the paper focuses on the constraints within which Helen operates: she is a captive and possession, she is subject tthe wishes of the gods, and she is an abhorred foreigner viewed as the cause of suffering and strife. The second part examines her six encounters in the epic tshow how she maneuvers within those constraints while retaining and increasingly asserting her own personhood.
Rusten, Jeffrey S. Wh"Invented" Comedy? The Ancient Candidates for the Origins of Comedy and the Visual Evidence
Abstract: The formal beginning of comedy is firmly dated tthe Dionysia of 486 B.C.E.1 For what preceded it there were at least three ancient candidates: phallic processions, Doric comedy and Susarion. Each is supported by visual evidence of the sixth century B.C.E., each explains certain features of Old Comedy, but all have some anomalies as well. Striking is how many forms of performance attested in the sixth century contained comic elements. All these other forms ceased with the introduction of comedies tthe Dionysia in 486 B.C.E., which coincides with the ascendancy of the demos; yet it was not until forty years later that comedy becomes unabashedly political.
Schenker, David J. The Strangeness of the Phaedrus
Abstract: My focus is on the polemical and argumentative force of Plato"s characterization of Socrates in the Phaedrus. His Socrates celebrates the irrational in this dialogue, in a wide variety of forms and manifestations, in direct response tthe intellectual sterility sattractive tthe interlocutor Phaedrus. Only in the particular context of, e.g., the written speech of Lysias and Phaedrus" enthusiasm for it can we make sense of what Plato"s Socrates says here and of the structure of the dialogue as a whole.
Lape, Susan, 1965- The Poetics of the Ko-mos-Chorus in Menander's Comedy
Abstract: This article investigates the functions of the ko-mos-chorus in Menander"s comedies. It first reviews the evidence for the diminished role of the comic chorus in the fourth century and then considers Menander"s practice of deploying a ko-mos instead of a chorus. It argues that the performance contexts of the ko-mos allowed it tserve multiple functions. The association of the ko-mos with symposia and aristocratic violence rendered it a realistic device for clearing the stage after the first act. In addition, the conclusion of the romantic plot with a wedding or pre-wedding celebration created the occasion for receiving a wedding ko-mos, suggesting that the ko-mos may have finally been greeted or received at the end of the fifth act.
Krebs, Christopher B. "Imaginary Geography" in Caesar's Bellum Gallicum
Abstract: Caesar"s "imaginary geography" of Germania as an infinite extension without any patterns but simply endless forests contrasts with his presentation of Gallia as an overviewed space. Within these geographies different concepts of space prevail, all of which serve texplain why his celeritas ceases in Germania. Having crossed the Rhine and thereby entered terra incognita like Alexander and Pompey, he refrains from campaigning because of the geographical conditions. By alluding tScythia"s similar space and Darius" failure, he shows himself tact prudently. It is alsa characteristic of the imperator optimus tknow when a venture is torisky.
Book Reviews
Higbie, Carolyn. Master of the Game: Competition and Performance in Greek Poetry (review)
Scharffenberger, Elizabeth W. Aristophanes: Thesmophoriazusae (review)
Corbeill, Anthony, 1960- Cicerthe Advocate, and: The Roman World of Cicero's De Oratore (review)
Leigh, Matthew. Roman Tragedy: Theatre tTheatricality (review)
Books Received