1. South Italian “Phlyax” Plays
Sean McGrath

2. Tarentum
Paestum
Magna Graecia
Syracuse

3. The Phlyakes Plays: hilarotragoedia:
“exhibition of the subjects of tragedy, in the spirit and style of comedy”
tradition among the Greeks of Southern Italy
also known as φλυακογραφία, (Smith)
5th-3rd centuries, especially B.C. (Taplin 1)
φλύαξ, ακος, ο. = jester; tragic burlesque. “φλυακές τραγικοί” (φλυαρέω = to talk nonsense, play the fool) (LSJ)

4. Aspects and Themes
comic effect, parody of tragedy, traditional myths, & daily life
gods and heroes (e.g. Hercules), tragic characters (e.g. Aegisthus, Antigones) the Trojan cycle, thieves, boxers, lovers, stock characters: greedy old miser, mischievous slaves, etc.

5. Issues of Interpretation
Were these simply improvisations containing themes and characters from history and mythology, or actual scenes from specific Attic comedies? Or a mixture of both?
The Phlyakes Vases:
several hundred found in Southern Italy depicting memorable theatrical scenes with absurdly grotesque costumes on simple wooden stages
A.D. Trendall, Margarete Bieber, and other scholars traditionally interpreted these as a totally native Italian tradition; recently, Oliver Taplin has connected them with Greek Old Comedy; in turn, H.A. Shapiro and Dwora Gilula have challenged Taplin’s analyses

6. Choregos Vase, Apulian Bell Krater, 400-380 B.C.

7. Hercules angers Apollo, 400-325 B.C.

8. Hercules abducts a woman from a shrine

9. Zeus visits Alcmene

10. Servants helping Cheiron up steps

11. Priam and Neoptolemus

12. Rape of Cassandra (not a phlyax vase)

13. Rape by Cassandra

14. Old miser Charinus with thieves and slave

15. Father and son fight over a woman
-theme of old father competing with young son for a woman—precursor to Plautus
Father and son fight over a woman

16. Dionysus and phlyakes watching a female tumbler
Dionysus and phlyakes watching a female tumbler. Paestan vase attributed to Assteas

17. Slave Xanthias stealing pastries
-Xanthias is the typical slave name
Slave Xanthias stealing pastries

18. Taras/Tarentum

19. Phlyax vase with farmer, clerk, and learned lady

20. Phlyax vase with farmer, clerk, and learned lady, c. 400-325 B.C.
“Sappho” fresco, Pompeii, c. 50 A.D.

21. Caricature of two boxers
Costumes
Caricature of two boxers

22. Masks Cup in the shape of a comic mask
Terracotta representing an actor seated on an altar

23. Temporary stage buildings
Digital Visualization of Phlyax stage,
King’s Visualization Lab, Kings College, London

24. Digital Visualization of Phlyax stage, King’s Visualization Lab, Kings College, London

25. Influence on the Development of Roman Drama:
Rhinthon of Syracuse (c B.C.):
first to put phlyax plays/hilarotragoedia into written form
followed by Sopater, Sciras, Blaesus (Smith)
As the phlyakes died out in the late 4th century, the Oscans developed a form of satire and parody that came to be known as Atellan farce. This was brought to Rome, and played a part in the beginning of Roman comedy (i.e. Plautus)

26. Influence on the Development of Roman Drama (cont.):
According to Richard Beacham, the “early Roman entertainments were characterized by satirical abuse, expressed in uninhibited jesting and crude verse… The performances were essentially plotless, comic ‘turns,’ which probably took shape in response to a good deal of audience comment and encouragement.” (Beacham 13)
No evidence suggests that the phlyakes had a direct impact on the early Roman entertainments, but considering the shared themes and comic elements (slave beatings, shrewish old women, father and son fighting over a woman, greedy slaves, greedy old men, etc.) a connection is entirely plausible (Beacham 9)

27. Bibliography
Beacham, Richard. The Roman Theatre and its Audience. London: Routledge, 1991.
Bieber, Margarete. The History of the Greek and Roman Theater. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1961.
Liddell, Henry George, Robert Scott, Henry Stuart Jones, and Roderick McKenzie, eds. A Greek-English Lexicon. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996.
McDonald, Marianne and J. Michael Walton, eds. The Cambridge Companion to Greek and Roman Theatre. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
Smith, William. A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. London: John Murray, 1873.
Taplin, Oliver. Comic Angels and Other Approaches to Greek Drama through Vase-Paintings. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993.
Trendall, A.D. Phlyax Vases. London: Institute of Classical Studies,

28. Images
Beacham, Richard. The Roman Theatre and its Audience. London: Routledge, 1991.
Bieber, Margarete. The History of the Greek and Roman Theater. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1961.
inovcation.html
Empire/Southern-Italy.htm
Trendall, A.D. Phlyax Vases. London: Institute of Classical Studies, 1967.