ABSTRACT
The origins of Comedy, the last of the great species of poetry given by Greece to the world, are fully as obscure as those of Tragedy. The ruin of Athens in the Peloponnesian War brought with it the ruin of Old Comedy, and the rest of Aristophanes work belongs to what it has been the fashion, since the time of Hadrian. Both literary and archaeological evidence show that it was a custom in early times at Athens and the smaller towns of Attica to engage in a performance known as a komos. The School for Slaves seems to have been satirical, perhaps dealing with the lack of discipline among Athenian servants. The culture of Athens had as a matter of fact grown tired, and political insignificance was bringing ethical degeneracy in its train. Of the Prospaltians, perhaps, as the people of Prospalta, one of the Attic demes, were said to be litigious, it was a satire on Athenian law-courts.
