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History of the peloponnesian war sparknotes
History of the peloponnesian war sparknotes
History of the peloponnesian war sparknotes
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Athens has always been embroiled in one military conflict or another despite being the epicenter for the arts in Greek culture. War directly shaped Athenian culture, and by extension it influenced Greek playwrights and the theater. In 405 when Aristophanes wrote Frogs, Athens was in the midst of a war spanning twenty-seven years with the Spartans. Athenian’s were on their last dredges as many of them were impoverished due to the Spartan blockade (Wise). In Frogs Aristophanes uses comedy to subvert the political climate surrounding the ongoing, but soon to be over, war. The writing and performance of Frogs took place on the eve of Athens collapse, and as a result Aristophanes political viewpoints were made evident in his work. At the end of
prized. This of course was more of a problem for a rich husband than a
The main themes in this book are war, power, heroism, love, loyalty and growth. We are given further insight into the classical Greek society as Alexas reminisces about his family life, his training as an athlete, the Olympic Games, his homosexual relationship with his mentor Lysis, and his encounters with Socrates the Philosopher. The main characters seem dogged by guilt, loneliness or failure, often the failure to love. The book ends on a triumphant note, with the Athenians defeating the Spartans, and liberating their city from the corrupt politicians.
During the play of “Lysistrata” by Aristophanes, he offers readers the benefit of the doubt by giving women the power and respect over men. Through out the play Lysistrata uses women to show how change can occur over time. While reading the play one can see that the purpose of the author writing this place was for it to be a comedy. He also tries to be funny by saying that the war between Sparta and Athens was a complete waste and it was very senseless. There are several themes that are present in this play. The one that stood out the most was realizing that time is valuable to spend more time with one’s wife then going to a war. War is not a great thing because it just divides nation and it also tears families apart. Also those men can’t be
Functions, Occasions, and the Individual: Sappho and Archilochus In his introduction to Greek Lyric Poetry, scholar M.L. West explains, “all [lyric poetry] is the poetry of the present, the poetry in which people express their feelings and ideas about all their current concerns…it is all social poetry” (p. viii). It is this sentiment that lies at the core of this analysis of the Greek lyricists Sappho and Archilochus. The functions and occasions of their poetry represents the social constructs for which their poetic thought was introduced to the ancient world. Yet, equally important to the poetic work they created in, is the individual experience they put forth in their work.
A Greek drama is a series of actions within a literary presentation in which the chief character has a disastrous fate. Many Greek dramas fall under the theatrical category of a tragedy due to the tragic events and unhappy ending that cause the downfall of the main character. During the famous play “Antigone” the Greek author Sophocles incorporated several features of a tragedy. These features include a morally significant dilemma and the presence of a tragic hero. The grand debate over which character can hold the title of the tragic hero has been discussed in the literary world for ages.
Aristophanes denounces the importance of the gods' influence on the actions of mortals. In the usual tragedy, the gods play an extremely important role towards the actions of the mortal characters. Through fear of the alternative and examples of the past, Athenians carried out their everyday lives under the guidance of the gods' wishes. Aristophanes challenges the audience, and Greek culture as a whole, by offering a different view on the answers and directions of life, than that of the gods. He denounces the parables and explanations to answers in life that involve the gods. Instead he explains that such things as the aerial whirlwind, and especially the clouds, are the reasoning behind all of natures actions. On the surface these comments were seen as a mockery and very humorous. Underlying this humor is a scary truth, most likely ignored by the congregations witnessing this play. How many times has a character in a tragedy been so willing to contradict the gods? Dominant characters like Creon and Prometheus have blatantly disobeyed the gods. The alternative explanations serve a hidden truth in the hearts of many of the Athenian people. This truth is always again repressed by the end of each play, tragedy or comedy; because their was too great of a fear to upset the higher beings.
In Euripides’ play The Bacchae, the ideals that were the foundation of Greek culture were called into question. Until early 400B.C.E. Athens was a society founded upon rational thinking, individuals acting for the good of the populace, and the “ideal” society. This is what scholars commonly refer to as the Hellenic age of Greek culture. As Athens is besieged by Sparta, however, the citizens find themselves questioning the ideals that they had previously lived their lives by. Euripides’ play The Bacchae shows the underlying shift in ideology of the Greek people from Hellenic (or classical), to Hellenistic; the god character Dionysus will be the example that points to the shifting Greek ideology.
Aristophanes was born presumably around 449 B.C. and died somewhere around 386 to 380 B.C. He wrote and producing his first comedy, The Banqueters, in 428 at the showpiece festival in the City of Dionysia. The following year Aristophanes won first prize with his play The Babylonians. This production however caused charges to be brought upon him by the politician Cleon for smearing the Athenian people and state. In all, Aristophanes was brought on charges twice, the second time for his play The Knights in which he again attacked the politician Cleon. In 405 Aristophanes was however publicly honored and crowned for promoting Athenian unity in his play The Frogs. Throughout his life Aristophanes wrote forty plays, eleven surviving to this day. A recurring theme in Aristophanes plays is one of comedic showmanship, in that he uses his plays as a stage to mock, slander, and critique prominent people and events in Athenian society and politics. The three productions focused on here are The Acharnians, The Clouds, and one of the most famous peace plays, Lysistrata.
Sophocles. Four Plays by Sophocles. Trans. Thomas H. Banks. New York: Oxford University Press, 1966.
Sophocles’ background influenced him to write Antigone. One important influence on the drama was the author’s life in the “golden era” of Athens during fifth century BCE. In that time, Athens was experiencing much change in all facets, and drama was a major factor in Athenian culture. In his essay “Sophocles,” Ed Downey reports that Sophocles was born at the beginning of the “golden era” in Athens and lived a long life influenced by “the artistic and cultural achievements in the ancient Greek world”. Sophocles was a wealthy and highly educated, “happy man.” As a young man, Sophocles began his playwright career, eventually becoming one of the greatest writers in history although only seven of his works are still intact (1). Similarly, the setting
“Lysistrata” is a tale which is centered around an Athenian woman named Lysistrata and her comrades who have taken control of the Acropolis in Athens. Lysistrata explains to the old men how the women have seized the Acropolis to keep men from using the money to make war and to keep dishonest officials from stealing the money. The opening scene of “Lysistrata” enacts the stereotypical and traditional characterization of women in Greece and also distances Lysistrata from this overused expression, housewife character. The audience is met with a woman, Lysistrata, who is furious with the other women from her country because they have not come to discuss war with her. The basic premise of the play is, Lysistrata coming up with a plan to put an end to the Peloponnesian War which is currently being fought by the men. After rounding up the women, she encourages them to withhold sex until the men agree to stop fighting. The women are difficult to convince, although eventually they agree to the plan. Lysistrata also tells the women if they are beaten, they may give in, since sex which results from violence will not please the men. Finally, all the women join Lysistrata in taking an oath to withhold sex from their mates. As a result of the women refraining from pleasing their husbands until they stop fighting the war, the play revolves around a battle of the sexes. The battle between the women and men is the literal conflict of the play. The war being fought between the men is a figurative used to lure the reader to the actual conflict of the play which is the battle between men and women.
The Greek playwright, Euripides, is considered one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens. His individuality is attributed to the way he “pushes to the limits of what an audience can stand” . His masterpiece Medea , a fascinating classic centered on the Greek goddess Medea, is a prime example of this. During his time, Euripides was unpopular since he defied the commons themes of tragedies during the 430s B.C.E.; he instead introduced a nihilistic and disturbing tragedy focused on women, slaves and persons from the lower class. His mastery shines through as he guides the audience to sympathize with Medea even when she commits filicide, a seemingly horrendous act. He utilizes the Chorus, the Nurse, and the Children-which are all minor characters-to induce compassion for Medea, establish the development of her emotional state, and ascertain the importance of her pride. Although these characters guide the audience towards similar concepts, they represent a contradiction when it comes to the slaughter of the Children.
C.Storey, Ian and Allen, Arlene, A guide to Ancient Greek Drama. USA: Blackwell publishing, 2005. Print
Lysistrata is an original comedy written by Aristophanes and performed in 411 BCE. This was two years after the Athenian defeat against Sparta in the Sicilian expedition, after a 21-year long Peloponnesion war between Athens and Sparta. The name Lysistrata means “releaser of war” or “arm disbander.” Lysistrata is about women’s effort to end the war between Athens and Sparta, much like the one that was occurring at the time. In order to end the war, Lysistrata convinces the women of Greece to withhold sexual privileges from their husbands. Overtime, this play write has been geared to spread a message on feminism and antiwar efforts. The plays original theme can be debated, whether it was originally feminism, pacifism, or sexual stereotyping.
One might say that comedy and tragedy are completely opposite; however this is not true. Throughout the comedy, The Frogs by Aristophanes, the cowardly protagonist makes foolish actions in order for self-gain. In the tragedy, Oedipus Tyrannus written by Sophocles, the protagonist suffers a tumultuous downfall that results in exile. While the plays stand different in their beginnings and outcomes, The Frogs transpires from bad fortune to good fortune while Oedipus Tyrannus evolves from good fortune to bad fortune, they also share similarities. These include a progression from ignorance to knowledge and characters that remain consistent and act with believable personalities. These principles follow along with Aristotle's beliefs, which he outlines in his book Poetics. Whereas both