Procne’s Beak in Aristophanes’ Birds

This paper argues that the importance of the Procne scene in Aristophanes’ Birds extends well beyond any association of the nightingale with the official auletes of the production. Maintaining, contrary to some recent studies, that Procne is costumed with a beaked bird mask that is removed by Euelpides, the paper demonstrates that the removal of that mask is the final expression of an emergent mastery obtained by the human protagonists over the birds’ beaks, which are a focal point of costume interaction in the first half of the play.