Aristophanes’ Komödien als Lesetexte

Abstract

Abstract In current research, strongly marked by ‘performance studies’, it is often forgotten that there are at least two approaches in literary research that must concentrate on the reading of Aristophanes’ comedies: As his plays were read for centuries and still are, it is legitimate to pose research questions on the aesthetics of reception and of influence which address the reading of his text. The present paper will argue, further, that Aristophanes’ comedies were conceived right from the start as reading texts. Investigations of their reading are therefore all the more desirable as a complement to ‘performance studies’. In the argument presented here, first the conditions of reading in Aristophanes’ time are sketched out (1). Then it is shown how the poet of comedy was himself a reader, who may have expected a read reception of his own poetic compositions (2). The final part of the paper describes Aristophanes’ environment and asks who may have been among his readership.