Old Comedy

American  

noun

1. Greek comedy of the 5th century b.c., which derived from fertility rites in honor of Dionysus and combined robust humor with biting personal and political satire.

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Etymology

Origin of Old Comedy

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Old Comedy

Embracing the spirit of Old Comedy, Matt Walker, who adapted and directed this madcap update set in Malibu, encourages his troupe to pull out all the vaudevillian stops.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2021

The longest and wildest of the surviving plays of Aristophanes, the great master of the Old Comedy style, “The Birds” is best known today for introducing “Cloud-cuckoo-land” into our cultural vocabulary.

From New York Times ● May 6, 2018

The Old Comedy proved to be completely a contrast to Tragedy—Parody— Ideality of Comedy the reverse of that of Tragedy—Mirthful Caprice— Allegoric and Political Signification—The Chorus and its Parabases.

From Lectures on Dramatic Art and Literature by Black, John

The Old Comedy, as we see it in the earlier plays of Aristophanes, was probably the most powerful engine of public criticism that has ever existed in any community.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 5 "Greek Law" to "Ground-Squirrel" by Various

Old Comedy, its antithesis, is often a succession of scenes in which the connection is loose without being impossible.

From Authors of Greece by Lumb, T. W.