Publications [#357963] of Kent J. Rigsby

Papers Published

1. Rigsby, KJ, Pericles' decree censoring comedy, Transactions of the American Philological Association, vol. 150 no. 2 (September, 2020), pp. 287-297 [doi]
   (last updated on 2024/04/23)

   Abstract:
   The claim that Pericles in 440 sponsored a decree restraining comedy because of the genre's offensiveness should be rejected. The claim depends on the scholium to Ar. Ach. 67; this paper argues that the alleged decree was the scholiast's deduction from a victor list that showed three non-performance years in a festival. These are better explained as a suspension in only one of the two dramatic festivals, occasioned not by hostility to freedom of speech but perhaps by limited resources caused by the siege of Samos.