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The '''Charition mime''' is a [[Greek theatre]] play, in fact more properly to be called a [[farce]] or [[burlesque]] rather than a mime, which is found in [[Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 413]]. The manuscript, which is possibly incomplete, is untitled, and the play's name comes from the name of its protagonist. It is approximately dated to the 2nd century CE,<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=889baCXIetkC&lpg=PR9&pg=PR9 |title=Roman Theatre |author=Timothy J. Moore |year=2012 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |page=ix }}</ref> and the play was probably performed in [[Egypt]], where the manuscript was found.<ref name="Ruth_2008">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-3Q3-UbIgycC&lpg=PA129&pg=PA129 |title=Demons and Dancers: Performance in Late Antiquity |author=Ruth Webb |year=2008 |publisher=Harvard University Press |pages=108, 129 }}</ref>

The play alludes to earlier texts such as ''[[Iphigenia in Tauris]]'' and ''[[Odyssey]]''. Charition (Χαριτίων), the protagonist, is a Greek girl held captive at a temple in India (like Iphigenia), and her brother comes to her rescue. The Greeks escape by getting the Indian king drunk, an element possibly borrowed from ''Odyssey''.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WTNaAQAAQBAJ&lpg=PA288&pg=PA288 |title=The Romance between Greece and the East |author=Tim Whitmarsh |author2=Stuart Thomson |name-list-style=amp |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2013 |page=288 |isbn=9781107038240 }}</ref> The introduction of humorous elements suggest that it may originally have been written as a [[Parody|spoof]].<ref>Daniélou, Alain (1985), ''Histoire de l'Inde'', Fayard, Paris. {{ISBN|2-213-01254-7}}.</ref> The play's character makes it almost a burlesque, representing a type of drama which was prior to the play's discovery not known in antiquity. The manuscript contains signs at various points which are almost certainly instructions to play percussion instruments and, possibly, the [[aulos]], a Greek double-piped reed instrument, which suggests that the use of music in Greek mime was much more extensive than was earlier thought.<ref>Hall, Edith (2002), "The singing actors of antiquity," in Pat Easterling & Edith Hall, ed., ''Greek and Roman Actors: Aspects of an Ancient Profession'', Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. {{ISBN|0-521-65140-9}}. Page 5.</ref>

== Plot ==

Chariton, a beautiful Greek girl, is captured by (or sold to) the king of a coastal kingdom in India. The king keeps her at the temple of the moon goddess (as a temple girl or a priestess). A Greek search party, including her brother and a jester, arrives to rescue her, after crossing the [[Indian Ocean]]. As Chariton, her brother and the fool are discussing their escape, a group of Indian women returning from a hunt encounter them. The jester defends the Greeks with his farts. He asks Chariton to steal items from the temple, but she refuses arguing that robbery would make the gods angry. On the brother's suggestion, the Greeks serve wine to the Indian king and his subjects, intoxicating them. The characters, including the king, then perform a dance for the moon goddess. The Greeks then discuss tying up the king, who has tripped over (as suggested by loud drums at the end of the music). The end of the play is lost, but the Greeks escape to their ship.<ref name="Ruth_2008"/>

== Indian language dialogues ==

One of the most interesting features of the skit is the appearance of a number of characters who speak dialogues in an unknown language. This language may partly or wholly represent [[Kannada language]] of [[South India]]. It was included as amusing gibberish for the contemporary audience, who did not understand it.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/stream/greekliterarypap01pageuoft#page/336/mode/2up |title=Greek literary papyri |author=D.L. Page |author-link=Denys Page |publisher=London Heinemann |page=337 }}</ref>

Shortly after the papyrus' modern publication, Dr. [[E. Hultzsch]], a noted German [[indologist]] who had a strong command of the [[Dravidian languages]], claimed that the words represented an ancient form of [[Tulu language|Tulu]], and suggested possible readings for the dialogues in question which made sense in the context in which they were uttered, but couldn't justify their claims and lost it.<ref>[[E. Hultzsch|Hultzsch, E.]] (1904), "Remarks on a papyrus from Oxyrhynchus," ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'', 1904: 399-405.</ref> His findings were criticised by others at the time for being speculative, but even most of Hultzsch's critics accepted that the language must have been a Dravidian language.<ref>Salomon, R. (1991), "Epigraphic Remains of Indian Traders in Egypt," ''Journal of the American Oriental Society'', 111(4): 7-16</ref>

; Kannada
: Apart from Hultzsch, [[B. A. Saletore]]'s explanation of the locale of the story and Shastri's analysis of the language of the play suggest it is a form of [[Kannada language|Kannada]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Varadpande|first=Manohar Laxman|title=History of Indian theatre, Volume 1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SyxOHOCVcVkC&pg=RA2-PA260#v=onepage&q=&f=false|page=260|publisher=Abhinav Publications|year=1987 | isbn=978-81-7017-221-5}}</ref> The subsequent discovery of the [[Halmidi inscription]], which contains a form of Kannada much earlier than the forms known at the time Hultzsch wrote his article, confirms many of his theories on the evolution of the language and might therefore add support to his readings.

; Tulu
: According to the Indian scholars Shivaprasad Rai<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CjwfAQAAQBAJ&lpg=PA375&pg=PA133 |author=Edith Hall |title=Adventures with Iphigenia in Tauris: A Cultural History of Euripides' Black Sea Tragedy |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |date=2013 |isbn=978-0-19-539289-0 |page=133 }}</ref> (1985) and U. Padmanabha Upadhyaya<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=grTfAAAAMAAJ |title=Coastal Karnataka |author=U. Padmanabha Upadhyaya |publisher=Rashtrakavi Govind Pai Samshodhana Kendra |year=1996 |isbn=9788186668061 }}</ref> (1996), the Indian language used in the play is [[Tulu language|Tulu]]. Manohar Laxman Varadpande identified the kingdom mentioned in the play with [[Malpe]] (which lies in the [[Tulu Nadu]] region).<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OJp1AgAAQBAJ&lpg=PA98&pg=PA98 |title=Ancient Indian and Indo-Greek Theatre |author=Manohar Laxman Varadpande |publisher=Abhinav |year=2014 |page=98 }}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.usu.edu/markdamen/ClasDram/chapters/162reading9charition.htm A translation of the mime]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Charition Mime}}
[[Category:Ancient Greek plays]]
[[Category:Bactrian and Indian Hellenistic period]]

Charition mime - Revision history

2401:4900:4A66:3352:1:0:8C9B:CC83 at 05:46, 4 June 2021