ABSTRACT
Ancient Greek history is not the first place one would think to look for comedy, but that is where Western theater began. In fact, it was the merry-makers who came first. Centuries before Aeschylus, “The father of tragedy,” began writing his plays, traveling troupes of minstrels, jugglers, acrobats, and mimes were putting on shows. The Greeks held celebrations for Dionysus, the god of winemaking, and of ritual madness and ecstasy. The festivals, called Dionysia, began in the rural areas and were held in the months around the winter solstice. It was certainly a time for drinking and the performances were historically lustful, with earthy characters sporting cartoonishly large phalli, as well as hugely padded buttocks and bellies. Distorting the human image for humorous effect has origins long pre-dating comic strips and print media.
