Eiron
Sign in to savethumb|An actor dressed as the eirōn character Xanthias in Aristophanes' The Frogs In the theatre of ancient Greece, the eirōn (, “dissembler”) was one of various stock characters in comedy. The usually succeeded by bringing down his braggart opponent (the "boaster") by understating his own abilities. The eiron lends his name to the related concept of irony.
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- History
- Irony
- See also
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thumb|An actor dressed as the eirōn character Xanthias in Aristophanes' The Frogs In the theatre of ancient Greece, the eirōn (, “dissembler”) was one of various stock characters in comedy. The usually succeeded by bringing down his braggart opponent (the "boaster") by understating his own abilities. The eiron lends his name to the related concept of irony.
==History== The developed in Greek Old Comedy and can be found in many of Aristophanes' plays. For example, in The Frogs, after the God Dionysus claims to have sunk 12 or 13 enemy ships with Cleisthenes (son of Sibyrtius), his slave Xanthias says "Then I woke up."