Broken Laughter: Select Fragments of Greek Comedy » (New Edition)

S. Douglas Olson is Distinguished McKnight Professor at the University of Minnesota.

A collection of over 200 of the most interesting and important fragments of Greek comedy, accompanied by a commentary; an extensive introduction discussing the history of comic genre; a series of appendixes on the individual poets, the inscriptional evidence, and the like; and a complete translation of the fragments. Individual sections illustrate the earliest Greek comedy from Syracuse; the characteristic features of Athenian 'Old', 'Middle', and 'New Comedy'; the comic presentation of politicians, philosophers, and women; the comic reception of other poetry; and many aspects of daily life, including dining and symposia.

Abbreviations and Bibliography     xii
Metrical Notes     xvii
Introduction     1
Doric Comedy     33
Attic 'Old Comedy'     69
'Middle' and 'New Comedy'     116
The Reception of Other Poetry     151
Politics and Politicians     187
Philosophy and Philosophers     227
Food and Dining     256
Wine and Symposia     292
Women     321
Aspects of Daily Life     352
Epigraphic Evidence for the Chronology of Attic Comedy     379
Conspectus Numerorum     392
The Poets     402
Translations of the Fragments     419
Greek index     467
General index     469