In Greek comedy, the parabasis (plural parabases; , plural: ) is a point in the play when all of the actors leave the stage and the chorus is left to address the audience directly. The chorus partially or completely abandons its dramatic role, to step forward (parabasis)J E Sandys ed., A Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (London 1891) p. 458 and talk to the audience on a topic completely irrelevant to the subject of the play.S Halliwell ed., Birds and Other Plays (Oxford 1998) p. xxxvi
Structure A parabasis usually consists of three songs (S) alternating with three speeches (s) (or recitatives) in the order S-s-S-s-S-s. The first speech, or parabasis proper - generally in anapaestS Halliwell ed., Birds and Other Plays (Oxford 1998) p. xxxvi-vii - often ends with a passage which is to be rattled off very quickly (theoretically in one breath - called a πνῖγος – pnigos).
Examples In The Knights, we find Aristophanes offers a survey of the Athenian comic tradition,S Halliwell ed., Birds and Other Plays (Oxford 1998) p. xi thereby enhancing his own role: “if one of the old comic poets had tried to force us Knights to address the public in the parabasis he wouldn’t have got away with so lightly. But this time the poet is worthy...”.Aristophanes, quoted in C Russo, Aristophanes (London 1994) p. 125
In the play The Wasps by the same author, the first parabasis is about Aristophanes' career as a playwright to date; while the second parabasis is shorter, and contains a string of in-jokes about local characters who would be well known to the ancient Athenian audience (e.g. the politician Cleon).
Authorial voice The chorus in the parabasis sometimes uses its own voice, sometimes that of the play's author, to address the audience.J Boardman ed., The Oxford History of the Classical World (Oxford 1986) p. 174 How far the latter is to be taken as ‘authentic’ is a matter for debate. The old view was that Aristophanes is speaking directly to his fellow-Athenians in the parabasis; and that as a result, as Northrop Frye put it, “his opinions on every subject are written all over his plays”.N Frye, Anatomy of Criticism (Princeton 1971) p. 177 by contrast, a postmodern interpretation would take the authorial voice as metatheatrical, offering a parody of rhetorical debating points, rather than unmediated criticism.S Halliwell ed., Birds and Other Plays (Oxford 1998) p. xliv
Decline The parabasis is exclusively a feature of Old Comedy, and its decline can be charted in the plays of Aristophanes. The second parabasis is gradually abandoned, the chorus ceases to speak out of character in the parabasis itself, and finally the latter is abandoned altogether.S Halliwell ed., Birds and Other Plays (Oxford 1998) p. xxxvii-ix
Where the diminishment in the role of the chorus was traditionally linked to the financial pressures of wartime,J E Sandys ed., A Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (London 1891) p. 152 more recently Stephen Halliwell has preferred to see the decline in terms of theatrical evolution.S Halliwell ed., Birds and Other Plays (Oxford 1998) p. xxxix
See also
References
Further reading Aristotle, Poetics. Feder, Lillian, The Handbook of Classical Literature, (uniform title: Meridian Handbook of Classical Literature), New York : Da Capo Press, 1998. . Cf. especially the articles on "Comedy", "The Clouds", pp.100-105. Freund, Philip, The Birth of Theatre, London : Peter Owen, 2003. . Cf. Chapter 6, Greek Laughter Gassner, John, and Quinn, Edward, [editors], The Reader's Encyclopedia of World Drama, New York, Crowell, 1969. Cf. article on "Comedy", p.140 Harsh, Philip Whaley, A Handbook of Classical Drama, Stanford University, Calif., Stanford university press; London, H. Milford, Oxford University Press, 1944. Cf. Chapter V, Introduction to Old Comedy. Harsh, Philip Whaley, The Position of the Parabasis in the Plays of Aristophanes, in Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, Vol. 65, (1934), pp. 178–197, The Johns Hopkins University Press
External links Early Greek Comedy - Mark Damen, Utah State University