Reason, Balance, And Harmony In Aristophanes 'Lysistrata'

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Reason, moderation, balance, harmony: the key ingredients to a Greek society . Greeks were known for upholding strict social virtues and values. As many people can assume from mythology, the Greeks were very invested in religion, having polytheistic roots. From these roots the Greeks seemed to adapt to other religions very well and were much more open-minded than other civilizations. Despite being open-minded regarding religion, the culture was quite restricted when it came to war. From a young age, men were expected to begin preparation for the war. If a husband or son returned from war with a loss, the family would often weep in disappointment. Men’s entire purpose was to be glorious, men dominated the Ancient Greek society. Of course being brought up with these values, men loved war and loved fighting. Conflict eventually arose between the two main cities of Greece known as Athens and Sparta, during the Peloponnesian Wars. Greek writer, Aristophanes, had a very strong critique regarding the war . Through …show more content…

Aristophanes may depict these four elements in unusual ways throughout the play, however, when everyone comes to peace once again, the elements can be seen quite easily. Many of the Greek ideologies have been passed on to the world we know today. The idea of gender roles plays a major part in Lysistrata and in life as we know it. Men and women are still, in the 20th century, not treated completely equally to men, and Aristophanes critiques this throughout his writing in Lysistrata. On top of this, generals from each country come into conflict regularly, causing various wars. These major themes which Aristophanes discusses are everywhere and from his writing people can learn about these issues, connecting them with concepts from the present. Lysistrata is quite an amazing piece of work and represents numerous critiques for people to learn from. But, it’s all Greek to

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