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

Езикът на лудостта във и след комедиите на Аристофан. Наблюдения върху „осите“ и върху съвременната психиатрична лексика
The Language of Madness in Aristophanes’ Comedies. Observation on “Wasps” and the Contemporary Psychiatric Terminology

Author(s): Boryana Chomakovska
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Literary Texts, Drama
Published by: Великотърновски университет „Св. св. Кирил и Методий”
Keywords: madness; mania; Old Attic comedy; psychiatric terminology

Summary/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.

  • Issue Year: 42/2023
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 87-96
  • Page Count: 10
  • Language: English, Bulgarian