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Ballyhoo, as a word and as a title, is a paradox. What joy in saying it—Ballyhoo!—and yet, what performance and emptiness—O.E.D.: “ a showman’s touting speech.” For several years now, I’ve been interested in the cultural, personal, and even political (and...

Komoidia (“party song”) was a type of play invented to mimic tragedy at the festival of the God Dionysus in 486 BC, and by mid-century it was as popular as its dignified ancestor. You may have heard of Aristophanes, but he was only one of many creators of...