Abstract: The contributions to this book illustrate how linguistic study of Greek comedy can deepen our knowledge of the intricate connections between the dramatic texts and their literary and socio-cultural environment. Topics discussed include the relationship of comedy and iambus, the world of Doric comedy in Sicily, figures of speech and obscene vocabulary in Aristophanes, comic elements in tragedy, language and cultural identity in 5th-century Athens, linguistic characterization in Middle Comedy, the textual transmission of New Comedy, and the interaction of language and dramatic technique in Menander. Research in these topics and in related areas is reviewed in a bibliographical essay. While the main focus is on comedy, the book adopts a diversity of approaches (including narratology, pragmatics, lexicology, dialectology, sociolinguistics, and textual criticism).

Keywords: iambus, Doric comedy, tragedy, cultural identity, Athens, New Comedy, Middle Comedy, narratology, pragmatics, lexicology