{"product_id":"a-cultural-history-of-comedy-michael-ewans-9781350000711","title":"A Cultural History of Comedy in Antiquity","description":"\u003cp\u003eDrawing together contributions from scholars in a wide range of fields inside Classics and Drama, this volume traces the development of comedic performance and examines the different characteristics of Greek and Roman comedy. Although the origins of comedy are obscure, this study argues that comedic performances were at the heart of Graeco-Roman culture from around 486 BCE to the mid first century BCE. It explores the range of comedies during this period, which were fictional dramas that engaged with the political and social concerns of ancient society, and also at times with mythology and tragedy. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe volume centres largely around the surviving work of Aristophanes and Menander in Athens, and Plautus and Terence in Rome, but authors whose plays survive only in fragments are also discussed. Performances and plays drew on a range of forms, including satire and fantasy, and were designed to entertain and amuse their audiences while also asking them to question issues of morality, privilege and class. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eEach chapter takes a different theme as its focus: form, theory, praxis, identities, the body, politics and power, laughter and ethics. These eight different approaches to ancient comedy add up to an extensive, synoptic coverage of the subject.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Michael Ewans\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 135000071X\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781350000711\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Bloomsbury Academic\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/17\/2022\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 248\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.33lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.61h x 6.65w x 0.67d","brand":"Michael Ewans","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":44072924053759,"sku":"9781350000711","price":110.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_01fd410d-8518-4601-b719-eccc9a4a817f.jpg?v=1685444748","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/a-cultural-history-of-comedy-michael-ewans-9781350000711","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}