Sull’esorcizzazione della morte nel teatro di Aristofane

Abstract

Exorcising death in Aristophanes’ theatreThe purpose of this paper is to examine the representation of death inAristophanes’ comedies, as a form of self-assertion of the comic hero,who discloses his aspiration for immortality by shifting the anguish ofthe death to inconsistent entities: the coal basket in the Acharnians, thegods in the Birds, or – as the protagonist of the Wasps imagines – hisson’s death, against the law of nature. A notable exception is the characterof Strepsiades in the Clouds, marked by self-destructive traits.