Epicharmus’ Comedy and Early Sicilian Scholarship

Abstract

Some fragments of Epicharmus are examined in the context of contemporary scholarly discourse, especially with regard to textual and literary criticism, grammar and stylistics as they developed in the Sicily of his time. The interaction of the comedy of Epicharmus with scholarship is complex and involves a reflection and revision of contemporary ideas, but also a process of literary differentiation. This new genre was created through a critical interaction with other genres as part of a process of reinterpretation and literary exegesis. Furthermore, the fragments discussed offer the possibility to speculate on the handling of linguistic norms and also literary standards in pre- and early classical Sicily. They illustrate the interaction between different genres and the way they were integrated into text, metatext and performance to create tension and comic effects.