The first classification of humour in the play is the satirical humour. Aristophanes adapts the use of this to portray the situation of Athens. It is from this form of humour, all the other classifications of humour are rooted. In other words, the satirical humour brings about all other forms of humour in the play, as it makes fun of the true situation of Athens. For example, in the Archanians, the ambassadors represent the ways in which Athens exploits other nations for their resources in the name of assistance. “You sent us, gentlemen, to the great king, with a salary of two drachmas a person per day, in the year when Euthymenes was archon. And may I say we had a very nard time of it”. This illustrates that Athens has located such representatives out of self-interest who have been away for eleven years, which means they have earned 8000 drachmas each, doing nothing but receiving presents and entertainment in various Kingdoms. This example portrays elements of the general themes of the play such as exploitation and greed. It is important that I note that a modern audience would have enjoyed such element of humour, as satirical humour is one of the great elements of comedy used in the world today.
Another form of humour is sexual humour, which also plays an important role in Aristophanes’ dramas. Sexual humour is classified into two aspects- Heterosexual humour, which means jokes rooted in sexual acts between a man and a woman, for instance, “Say one of the slave girls leaves the door on the latch- you can bend her over. I mean bind her over. That’s the usual procedure, isn’t it?” and homosexual humour, meaning jokes rooted in sexual acts involving two people of the same sex; in this case, mostly two men. “Another, another! From a boy with lots of lovers. He says he likes them friction-treated”. Aristophanes adopts sexual humour to create a stronger comic effect. He is also able to make evident by mockery, the individuals who are popularly known to be involved in such sexual acts. An example is the mockery of Ariphrades’ sexual propensities in “The Wasps and Peace” by Aristophanes. In “Peace”, though it may not have been the intention of Aristophanes in his play, he is able to make evident the repercussions of negative acts. My opinion can be exemplified by referring to the act of war and peace. War is represents a form of sterility and infertility in the play, as its end means is not beneficial and brings about no advantage for the people in the society. A valid quote to justify such an opinion is
“At last! As Datis said one fine day when he was fucking himself”. On the other hand, when Peace is achieved in the play, a sense of Fertility is brought back to life. This can be made evident by the personified characters, Peace and Harvest who eventually marries Trygaeus. Judging from my background and upbringing as a Nigerian, such humour would be found very inappropriate, offensive and degrading, especially by the older majority, but due to the fact that I have personally been influenced by the norms of other cultures, such jokes are found very funny.
Aristophanes also adapts the use of verbal humour in the course of the three plays we study. This means jokes that are rooted in vocabulary and speech. This presents him as a very contemporary playwright as it is the most popular form of humour used the world today. The verbal humour used in his plays are represented by puns, tragic parody, sarcasm, irony and his ability to create a few words of his own of a humorous nature. The puns in his plays make evident, his knowledge of many words and his understanding of their meaning, as he is skilfully able to put them together to give a comic effect. For example, “Very agreeable too it must be, especially if there’s also music”. This is a pun as in the Greek, the misunderstanding is based is based on the similar sound of the words peinames, ‘we go’ and pinomes, ‘we drink’. The ironies in Aristophanic comedy are also built in a structure that brings about comic effect. An example is when Trygaeus travels all the way to heaven on his dung beetle to secure peace for the Athenians to deliver his offerings rather than the normal procedure of sacrificing on earth and praying that it would be recognized. Tragic parody is another element of verbal humour that is very hilarious. This form of verbal humour mocks the true seriousness and skill of the language of tragedies. For example, “Thou’lt rob me of the whole damn tragedy! Take this, and go”. Aristophanes knowledge and skilful writing is also portrayed by his ability to create his own words, which always arouses a comic effect. For instance, “ He’s what they call a trialophile or litigious maniac”. I think this very form of humour would be appealing to people from different backgrounds regardless of the different cultures, as it is usually of a very neutral nature.
Futhermore, Aristophanes
