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Bearing Razors and Swords: Paracomedy in Euripides’ Orestes
Jendza, Craig
Jendza, Craig
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Abstract
In this article, I trace a nuanced interchange between Euripides’ Helen, Aristophanes’ Thesmophoriazusae, and Euripides’ Orestes that contains a previously overlooked example of Aristophanic paratragedy and Euripides’ paracomic response. I argue that the escape plot from Helen, in which Menelaus and Helen flee with “sword-bearing” men (ξιφηφόρος), was co-opted in Thesmophoriazusae, when Aristophanes staged Euripides escaping with a man described as “being a razor-bearer” (ξυροφορέω). Furthermore, I suggest that Euripides re-appropriates this parody by escalating the quantity of sword-bearing men in Orestes, suggesting a dynamic poetic rivalry between Aristophanes and Euripides. Additionally, I delineate a methodology for evaluating instances of paracomedy.
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2015
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Johns Hopkins University Press
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Jendza, C. "Bearing Razors and Swords: Paracomedy in Euripides’ Orestes." American Journal of Philology, vol. 136 no. 3, 2015, pp. 447-468. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/ajp.2015.0021.