Chi-Raq Compare Contrast Essay

“Chi-Raq”, by Spike Lee, is an adaptation of the Athenian comedy “Lysistrata”, by Aristophanes, written in 411 B.C.E.. Chi-Raq takes many liberties as an adaptation, although retains the absurdist nature of the source material. The setting of Chi-Raq is in modern Chicago, focusing on the majority black south side of the city and on the blights that affect said area. These include, rampant gang violence, poverty, poor education and unemployment. Although the characters and aesthetics in the Chi-Raq may be superficially different from those in Lysistrata, Chi-Raq keeps many of the themes form the original and adds some of its own. Many of the differences between the two works can be categorized as recontextualization, as the problems in America today are different from those experienced by Athens around twenty four hundred years ago. Such as the problem that has to be solved in

Although, both works keep the theme of violence being overcome by the actions, or rather inactions, of women. The actions that women take in both works was to refuse all sexual advances of men and give none of their own for the goal of stopping the violence that is ravaging their communities. Another point of similarity between the two works is the existence of both the male and the female Koryphaios, groups of old people divided by their gender. There is a similarity between the social caste of women in Athens and that of blacks in America today, both being subjected to lower treatment by the whole of society, although this does