Concocting Justice: Dicaeopolis the Cook-Comedian

Discussion of costume in Acharnians has focused on Dicaeopolis’s appropriation of Telephus’s rags and violent un-costuming of Lamachus. No less metacomically significant is Dicaeopolis’s persona as a mageiros, made explicit by props rather than a costume-change when he eventually cooks onstage. The chiton- and phallus-wearing protagonist in fact throughout Acharnians assumes the persona of a cook-comedian, whose ultimate triumph is marked by his festively donning a himation. The metapoetics of cooking largely figure Acharnians’ melding of Aristophanes and Dicaeopolis, as the latter promotes τρυγῳδία as an innovative blend of comedy deserving a serious hearing and victory at the festival.