It also discusses the consequences of wars and poverty on older people and how their theatrical characters came to epitomise dispossessed social groups such as the farming community and war veterans. It investigates the ideal behaviour expected from the elderly and its importance and in the public sphere and in the household. This paper examines the historical context of Old Comedy, the role of costumes and masks in theatrical performances, the role of the audience, and the importance of the concept of self-control and courage in the definition of manliness in young and old men.

The grotesque portrayal of old men as stock characters in Old Comedy continued into the fourth century's New Comedy as portrayed in the plays by Menander. These characters can be seen to represent existing anxieties in public life (polis) and in the private sphere (oikos) in classical Athens. Aristophanes presents in his comedies irascible and randy old men in situations that inspired ridicule and derision. Furthermore attitudes towards old age like gender and ethnicity reflected the habit in Greek culture of dividing the world into mutually exclusive categories, in this case youth versus old age.

The cultural script of ageing was determined by biological changes in the body, but also by a social construct influenced by intellectual, economic and political considerations. Abstract In the fifth and fourth century BC in Athens, old age did not confer automatically respect and authority, in fact, an old person's worth was based on one's ability to remain a functioning member of society.

Lysistrata cliff notes