THE ORIGINS OF COMEDY

The origins of comedy, like those of tragedy, are very uncertain.  All that is possible is to point out probable connections with comedy as we know it and the meager evidence that predates the beginning of comedy.

The Phallic Procession

Aristotle has his theory about the origin of comedy, but he is most likely doing no more than giving an educated guess. His evidence probably was not much more reliable than what is available to us today.  Aristotle claims that the origin of comedy can be traced to “those who lead off the phallic songs (phallika).”1   The phallic procession to a cult center, followed by a sacrifice, was a common feature of Dionysiac celebrations in the Greek countryside. These processions were characterized by obscenities and verbal abuse.  This theory would certainly help explain the obscene nature of the first form of comedy, Old Comedy, in which actors usually wore a red leather phallus and often engaged in obscene dialogue.  Another ancient author, Semos of Deos, writes of phallus-carriers who made fun of their audience.  It might be possible to see the seeds of the parabasis2 of Old Comedy, in which the comic chorus of 24 addressed the audience directly, but the criticism of the audience is not the only function of the chorus in this part of the play.
 

The Phallic Procession and the Komos

Left is a procession of phallos carriers.  Six men are carrying a phallus pole, while a larger figure above them is riding a thicker phallus pole.  The riding figure has a protruding stomach and rear end, which are probably the result of wearing a padded costume.  This physical characteristic identifies the larger man as a komast, i.e., one who participates in the kômos, a procession of drunken partygoers behaving in a festive manner.  Perhaps the closest modern equivalent of the kômos is Mardi Gras in New Orleans.  The connections between the kômos and Greek Old Comedy as we know it are persuasive.  The word kômos seems to supply the most likely etymology of the word ‘com-edy’, i.e., song of the kômos (kômos + ôidê = ‘song’). The festive spirit of the kômos is also apparent in Old Comedy. The padded costume of the komast has its parallel in the similar costume of the comic actor. Perhaps, the distortion of the human figure by fat struck the Greeks as a good symbol of festivity, during which overindulgence in food and drink was natural.  The Greeks, who admired the lean and muscular male figure, no doubt found the fat paunch and backside of the komast and the comic actor laughable.  The Greeks were not alone in this attitude.  America has had a long tradition of fat comedians such as Fatty Arbuckle, Oliver Hardy, Lou Costello, Buddy Hackett, Jackie Gleason, Zero Mostel, John Belushi, John Candy, Louis Anderson, and most recently, Roseanne, Chris Farley, and Drew Carey.

1.  Phallus means ‘penis’ or a symbolic represention of a penis carried in a ritual procession.  It should, however, be noted that all manuscripts except one read “those who lead off the trivial business (phaulika),” but modern editors unanimously give phallika.

2.  The parabasis was a long choral passage in Old Comedy, both recited and sung, directly addressed to the audience.

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