Ancient Greek Comedy: History, Structure, Aristophanes and Menander

The origin of Ancient Greek comedy has been lost to time, however, we know from pottery depicting men as actors dressing up in wild costumes that it was a firmly established genre by the 6th century BCE. Ancient Greek comedy can be split into three distinct categories, Old Comedy, Middle Comedy (which has been mostly lost to us), and New Comedy, and would poke fun at contemporary issues, politicians, philosophers, and fellow poets and artists. Old comedy refers to comedy written in the 5th century BCE, and the earliest comedy that has survived to us today is Aristophanes’ Acharnians which was originally performed in 425 BCE. Old Comedy was deeply engaged in the political situation of the time they were composed, but it incorporated fantastical elements like giant creatures and actors jumping across huge geographical distances. In the late fourth century and into the early third century BCE, a new style of comedy arrived, which has been called New Comedy. Some scholars suggest an intermediary category