The Controversial Plays of Aristophanes: How the Ancient Greek Father of Comedy Created a Legacy

In the theater of Ancient Greece, one of the three main dramatic forms was comedy (the other two being tragedy and satyr plays). Greek comedy has been divided by the Alexandrian grammarians into three periods – Old Comedy, Middle Comedy, and New Comedy. Old Comedy may be dated back to around 450 BC, when democracy was established in Athens by Pericles. Whilst it is certain that there were numerous playwrights who wrote comedy, the best-known of these is Aristophanes, a man sometimes referred to as the ‘Father of Comedy.’

The Mysterious Figure Behind the Plays

Much less is known about Aristophanes as a person as compared to the plays he wrote. Moreover, much of the information we have about this playwright only comes from references to his life inserted within his plays. For example, implicit references in later plays suggest that Aristophanes was born around 446 or 448 BC, and that he was possibly the son of a man named Philippos, who lived on the island of Aegina. It has been pointed out, however, that the comedic writer was almost certainly educated in Athens, and was perhaps even a disciple of the sophist Prodicus of Ceos.