El derecho ateniense y su tratamiento en las fuentes cómicas (siglos V y IV A.C.) : dispositivos normativos y dinámicas literarias

Tema: Derecho Griego Antiguo / Coordinador Emiliano J. Buis. -- Este texto se basa en el capítulo original "Law and Greek Comedy", publicado como Capítulo XIII en el volumen de Fontaine, M. y Scafuro, A. C. (eds.) Oxford Handbook of Greek and Roman Comedy, Oxford, OUP, 2014, pp. 321-339. Esta traducción adaptada y expandida cuenta con el permiso de Oxford University Press. Cualquier reproducción posterior del presente material deberá ser autorizado por academic.permissions

This paper discusses the value and function of law and legal references in Old and New Greek Comedy. After an introduction on the terminology of Athenian law that is widespread in comic plays -showing that comedy can become a useful source for our understanding of the Attic legal system-, the paper deals with Aristophanes' criticism of the courts and with a consideration of the legal apparatus of Aristophanes' dramatic rivals. The second part focuses on Menander: the hypothesis is that, whereas Aristophanes' deployment of legal scenarios may be viewed as a kind of political overlay to his comic plots, Menander's deployment of the law (through the staging of arbitrations) is more fully embedded in the household-related themes of his plays.