Aristophanes Heroes: reading the fragments through the lens of hero-cult The socio-political background of Aristophanes and his

rivals has long monopolized the study of Old Comedy, distracting attention from an equally inspirational component of the comic repertoire Greek religion. The void created by such a serious omission has a distorting effect on the interpretation of the comic plays, since it is very often the case that jocular comments, plot-material, and dramatic characters derive their essence from religious beliefs and cultic practices. This paper attempts to decipher multiple elements related to the plot and characters of an understudied fragmentary play, the Heroes of Aristophanes (frs. 310-330 K-A), with the help of an innovative approach, which is premised upon the nexus between religion and comic art. More precisely, I shall examine the play in relation to socalled hero-cult with a view to showing how Aristophanes subjects this widespread religious phenomenon to dramatic elaboration and comic distortion. The discussion follows a tripartite structure. The first section is concerned with the comic persona of the chorus of heroes, who register features and tendencies pertaining to cultic heroic individuals, such as ambivalent power, capacity to intervene in earthly affairs, and the need to receive honours from the living. The second section demonstrates that, in constructing the profile of his heroes, Aristophanes is also inspired by other popular beliefs related to malicious demons, the Aeschylean Erinyes, and the Hesiodic Golden Race, exemplifying the flexibility with which religious phenomena are treated in comic plays. The final part speculates on potential plot-patterns through which the communication between the living characters and the chorus of the dead heroes may have been established. The aim of our inquiry is to illustrate the interpretative power of an approach that contextualises Old Comedy within its religious milieu; even or perhaps particularly when one engages with the tantalising field of fragmentary plays.