Evolution of Cook Characters in Ancient Comedy from Greek Old Comedy to Plautus
Explore the transformation of cook characters in ancient comedy from Greek Old Comedy to Plautus' works, tracing their roles, presence, and significance throughout different comedic eras. The study delves into the shift in portrayal from Mageiros in Greek Old Comedy to culinary figures in Plautus' plays, highlighting their evolving traits, interactions, and humor, while also examining the broader cultural reflections embedded in these comedic depictions.
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Presentation Transcript
The Comedic Cook From Greek Old Comedy to Plautus s Pseudolus by Josephine Hancox
Who is the cook? A stock character -the Boastful Chef The Parasite The Clever Slave The Greek mageiros A butcher A meat seller A private chef His role in comedy Changes overtime Old Comedy Middle/New Comedy Plautus
Greek Old Comedy The relevance of cooking and feast Mageiros-protagonists Organizing and giving the feast Not in the kitchen Set up for mythological jokes Participation in the communal meal
Greek Middle/New Comedy The magerios gets demoted No longer a participant in the feast Brings the kitchen scene on stage Boasting gets introduced Descended from mythic references Attempts to distinguish himself Culinary education Special powers Cook-philosopher Thievish
Greek New Comedy and Plautus Plautus expands this stock role Bacchidesv. Dis Exapaton Plautus heightens the language Puns, neologisms Changes bland food words Adds more jokes Jokes at the expense of Roman cuisine Not included in the Greek source Cuisine of Plautinopolis
The Cook of Pseudolus The pinnacle of Plautus s cook scenes The last and the longest The Cook and Pseudolus himself Both metapoeticreferences to the playwright Tricking Ballio Jokes at the Romans expense Roman anxiety regarding foreign cuisine qui mihi condita prata in patinisproferunt boves qui conuiuas faciuntherbasque oggerunt . . . (Ps. 811-12)
Examples in the cooks scene: Boasting: nemo illum quaerit qui optumus, [et] carissumust: illum conducunt potius qui uilissumust. (Ps. 805-6) nam uel ducenos annos poterunt uiuere meas qui essitabunt escas quas condiuero. (Ps. 829-30) Mythic references: item ut Medea Peliam concoxit senem, quem medicamento et suis uenenis dicitur fecisse rursus ex sene adulescentulum, item ego te faciam.(Ps. 870-72)
Bibliography Christenson, D. 2020. NouoModo NouomAliquidInuentum: Plautine Priorities. In A Companion to Plautus, ed. D. Dutsch and G.F. Franko, 77-91. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Gowers, E. 1993. The Loaded Table: Representations of Food in Roman Literature. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Gowers, E. 2021. Ancient Rome as Melting Pot: Cooking Goes Global. Ex-Position45: 103-16. Lowe, J.C.B. 1985. Cooks in Plautus. Classical Antiquity 4: 72-102. Lowe, J.C.B. 1985. The Cook Scene of Plautus Pseudolus. Classical Quarterly 35: 411-16. Wilkins, J. 2000. The Boastful Chef: The Discourse of Food in Ancient Greek Comedy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
