THESMOPHORIAZUSAE

Question 1

WHAT is THES pot otherwise known as? ➕ who painted it? 📞

Answer 1

Telephus Pot by Schiller Painter

Question 2

WHAT play does the THES pot show? ➕ playwright? 👩🏾‍🦱👩🏻‍🦰👩🏼

Answer 2

Women at the Thesmophoria by Aristophanes

Question 3

📞 WHO is the person on the R ➕ costumes? 👨🏽🍒🍆

Answer 3

MNESILOCHUS
Having just infiltrated women’s meeting = snatched woman’s ’ 👶🏼’ hostage + threatens to kill it 🔪🩸

Correct:
- Comically failed female disguise
- Grotesque Mask (Greek comedy‼️)
- Belted chiton

Incorrect:
- ❌ Comedic phallus??

-Bare foot ->❌ Agathons boots (in original…)

-🖌️ ❌ Drawnt on body suit actor = would’ve been wearing

-Poorly shaven beard despite its being perfect in play until reveal of X 🍒

(artistic liscensce…)

Question 4

📞 WHO is the person on the L ➕ costumes…? 🐰~🐯

Answer 4

MICA
Rushing up to catch wine that might escape wineskin 🍷 (COMEDY 😹 = socially…)

Correct:
- Grotesque mask (Green Comedy‼️)
- Veiled (Women = Modesty)
- Barefoot

Incorrect:
- 🖌️ ❌ Drawnt on body suit actor = would’ve been wearing

(artistic liscensce…)

Question 5

WHERE is this scene set + context? 🌸💐💓💞 (❌⚽️)

Answer 5

ALL WOMENS Athenian festival of Thesmophoria — 3️⃣ days of drunkness 🥂🍾

Question 6

HOW the THES props useful? 🔥🪥🪞

Answer 6

PROPS
[accurate]
1) Mnesilochus sits at an altar
2) Mica carries a krater (wine bowl) 🍷
3) Mnesilochus’ Dagger 🗡️
4) Baby like wineskin (Similar to baby’s 🦶🏽)
5) Mirror (randomly hanging above altar) 🪞

[not]
6) ❌ altar surrounded by brushwood to burn him alive

LINK

1) Threatens to split wine skin here
2) Mica asks to be allowed to catch her sons ‘blood’
3) Threatens to split wine skin with
dagger
4) The baby wears Persian slippers in this scene
5) Used in earlier dressing scene —> 🖌️ emphasise how WAT = Telephus (Euripedes) parody
6) Emphasise parody of Euripides Telephus —> Aristophanes = created

Question 7

HOW is staging useful in THES? 🎯 🦵🏼

Answer 7

1) Mnesilochus = centre of stage + looking at audience

2) Sits with one knee at the altar

LINK
1) He’s clearly the main character

2) Emphasise Parody
—> Standard visual representation of Telephos in Euripedes play
—> SO 🖌️ = trying to parody this + show comedy
v
[AUSTIN & OLSEN 2008]

Question 8

WHAT does the THES pot remind us about this scene? 🙏

Answer 8

1) That the disguise failed and Mnesilochus was desperate

Question 9

HOW does the time the THES pot was made effect the pot? 👁️

Answer 9

• Pot = 370-380 BC 🆚 Play = 411 BC
• Unlikely 🖌️ saw original
  SO
  Scholars ”Might reflect later performance of Thesmophoriazusae”

Question 10

HOW ELSE might the pot be useless? 🤣… 😒

Answer 10

Comedy of pot = ❌ fully make sense without background knowledge of play