Balladeer’s Blog takes another look at the surviving fragments of an ancient Greek comedian, in this case Crates.
CRATES – Crates’ career spanned from approximately the 450s B.C. to the 430s B.C. We have fragments from nine or ten comedies from an unknown total output. From other sources we know that comedies as stage productions began sometime around 500 B.C. or earlier so Crates came fairly early to the artform.
Crates was credited with being the first Athenian comic poet (the comedies were written in verse and included songs) to introduce drunken characters, still a comic staple over 2,400 years later. Aristotle himself credited Crates as being the first to abandon the “glorified comic monologues” approach of the oldest comedies and introducing fleshed-out plots and storylines.
Be that as it may, there is still a great deal of academic arguing over whether or not Crates’ work simply reflected the influence of Epicharmus, who may well have been the TRUE innovator.
Crates was supposedly an actor before he began writing comedies (But I’m sure he really wanted to direct. – rimshot – ) and his brother was Epilycus, one of the Epic Poets. Eusebius’ Chronicles stated that Crates was a well-known comedian by 451 B.C. and Demetrius Lacon in his work On Poetry indicates that Crates may have acted in some of Aeschylus’ tragedies before switching genres.
KNOWN WORKS
NEIGHBORS – We do not have even a hypothetical year for this work, unfortunately. Since titles sometimes referred to the all-important Chorus of a Greek comedy there is speculation that the chorus members were “Neighbors” of some sort (Duh!) but nothing is known about the plot.
Athenaeus argued that Crates’ use of a drunken character in this comedy PRE-DATED Epicharmus’ use of stage drunks, so apparently even back in ancient times this was being debated. Continue reading
DEATH GAME (1977) – Also released under the title The Seducers, this horror movie/ psychological thriller was filmed in 1974 but not released until 1977 due to assorted legal entanglements. Sondra Locke and cult queen Colleen Camp starred with Seymour Cassell in this thoroughly bizarre exploitation movie.
After the oft-invoked nonsense about the film being based on a true story Death Game begins.
Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog has been watching as Justin “Blackface” Trudeau and the corporate media have tried doing to the Canadian truckers what America’s corrupt government and corporate media have been doing to the January 6th protesters. Trudeau has proven to be far more of a “dictator” than Trudeau supporters hysterically pretended our previous president was, 
She continued, “It’s impossible to measure, and it leads us to this point where we sit today where we have people who were integral in making this happen, people like Jake Sullivan, now holding very influential positions of power in shaping our country’s foreign policy. And what they’re doing is telling the American people, they’re telling us saying, hey, you’ve got to be ready to go to war with Russia or other countries to spread democracy, to protect democracy. And yet they’re actively undermining our democracy here at home.”
QUEST OF THE STAR STONE (1937) – It’s crossover time! C.L. Moore decided to do a story in which her two most famous pulp creations – 
NJCAA DIVISION ONE – 1. INDIAN RIVER STATE PIONEERS ### 2. SALT LAKE CITY COLLEGE BRUINS ### 3. DODGE CITY COLLEGE CONQUISTADORS ### 4. JOHN A LOGAN COLLEGE VOLUNTEERS ### 5. KILGORE COLLEGE RANGERS ### 
6. SOUTHEASTERN (IA) COLLEGE BLACKHAWKS ### 7. INDIAN HILLS COLLEGE WARRIORS ### 8. HUTCHINSON COLLEGE BLUE DRAGONS ### 9. OTERO COLLEGE RATTLERS ### 10. ODESSA COLLEGE WRANGLERS ### 
America’s cesspool of corruption which passes for our government doesn’t care about what the people want or approve of. 
MEDA: A TALE OF THE FUTURE (1891) – This sci-fi tale of the year 5575 AD was first written in 1888 but read mostly among the social circle of the author. Its first official publication came in 1891. 
CAPTAIN AMERICA & THE FALCON Vol 1 #171 (March 1974) 
A gang of armed men have blasted their way into Captain America’s jail cell, claiming to be on his side and offering to help him escape. Cap is torn, apprehensive that people will conclude he’s guilty if he escapes but fearful that if he stays nobody will be able to prove his innocence. 
THE DARK LAND (1936) – In her tower bedroom at Castle Joiry, Jirel lies in bed, mortally wounded while leading her men at the Battlefield of Sorrow. A pike wound in her side has grown infected and the weak, delirious warrior woman is surrounded by her chambermaids, all of them weeping over their lady’s condition. 
Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog presents another item from Mary Harris Jones, better known as “Mother” Jones. This pioneering lady stays in touch with Balladeer’s Blog despite having passed away long ago. Now THAT’S dedication. 
MOTHER JONES: Thank you, Balladeer. I want to jump in with some of the latest dispatches from the Biden Regime’s war on the rest of us, a war they wage alongside complicit Republican office-holders like Cocaine Mitch McConnell. 
