In the theatre of ancient Greece, the eirōn (, “dissembler”) was one of various stock characters in comedy.[Carlson (1993, 23) and Janko (1987, 45, 170).] The usually succeeded by bringing down his braggart opponent (the "boaster") by understating his own abilities.[Frye (1957, 172).] The eiron lends his name to the related concept of irony.
History
The developed in
Classical Greece Old Comedy and can be found in many of
Aristophanes' plays. For example, in
The Frogs, after the God
Dionysus claims to have sunk 12 or 13 enemy ships with Cleisthenes (son of Sibyrtius), his slave
Xanthias says "Then I woke up."
The Greek philosophy Aristotle mentions the in his Nicomachean Ethics, where he says: "in the form of understatement, self-deprecation, and its possessor the self-deprecator" (1108a12).['ἡ δ' ἐπὶ τὸ ἔλαττον εἰρωνεία καὶ εἴρων (1108a12, emphasis added); Perseus Digital Library (2006). Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics.] In this passage, Aristotle establishes the eirōn as one of the main characters of comedy, along with the .
Irony
The modern term
irony is derived from the of the classical Greek theatre. Irony entails opposition (not mere difference) between the actual meaning and the apparent meaning of something.
[Dictionary.com (2006). Irony]
See also
Sources
-
Abrams, M. H., ed. 1993. A Glossary of Literary Terms. 6th ed. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace College.
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Carlson, Marvin. 1993. Theories of the Theatre: A Historical and Critical Survey from the Greeks to the Present. Expanded ed. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press. .
-
Frye, Northrop. 1957. Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays. London: Penguin, 1990. .
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Janko, Richard, trans. 1987. Poetics with Tractatus Coislinianus, Reconstruction of Poetics II and the Fragments of the On Poets. By Aristotle. Cambridge: Hackett. .
External links
