57Diphilus and the Comic Tradition

This chapter sets out to explore the evidence for Diphilus’ comedy, with the purpose of raising questions concerning his thematology and humour techniques that could contribute to mapping the dramatist’s place onto the comic tradition. It looks backwards as well as forwards at the development of the comic genre, drawing comparisons with features of Middle Comedy bequeathed to New Comedy, whilst assessing Diphilus’ predilections as against those of the other two main representatives of the triad of New Comedy, Menander and Philemon. It is argued that Diphilus’ verbal and performative techniques could place him at the crossroads between Middle and New Comedy, in that he seems to adhere to the trends of Middle and — sometimes — even Old Comedy (mythological comedies; verbal humour including obscenity, double entendre, parody, and παρὰ προσδοκίαν jokes; nonverbal communication, such as slapstick humour, farce, and playful acting) more closely than Menander and Philemon. The assessment of the available material could thus showcase a degree of variation in the overall image of the production of New Comedy, yielding insight into the distinctiveness of Diphilus’ art.