The Language of Madness in Aristophanes’ Comedies. Observation on “Wasps” and the Contemporary Psychiatric Terminology

Authors:

Pages: 87-96
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54664/DYNE2106

Abstract:

In the Old Attic comedy many states, values and human reactions are reversed. Мadness is rarely associated with great misfortunes or serious illness. Going crazy more often causes laughter, and can even be helpful in solving a private or public problem. Aristophanes’ drama “Wasps”, however, displays a malicious form of madness: the plot is based on a conflict between the generations – the son tries to reason with his father, who has a strong passion, even addiction, to participate in litigation. Starting from this testimony, in the second part of the text we discuss the heritage of ancient languages in modern psychiatric vocabulary. From the point of view of psychiatry, the types of psychiatric diseases containing the term element -philia are considered.

Keywords:

madness; mania; Old Attic comedy; psychiatric terminology.

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