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
Biography of Aristophanes *No Works Cited Aristophanes is considered by most scholars to be the foremost Greek playwright and poet of the old “Attic” style of comedy. He was born in 447 BC, in the deme of Cydathenaeum. He was known to be the son of Philippos, and he enjoyed the benefits of an aristocratic life and education. Little is known about the personal life of Aristophanes, but it was known that he served as a councilor early in the fourth century. He sired three sons, Philippos, Araos,
The Lysistrata of Aristophanes Aristophanes was a satirist who produced Lysistrata around 413 BC when the news of Athen’s warships had been destroyed near Sicily. For twenty-one years, while Athens was engaged in war, he relentlessly and wittliy attacked the war, the ideals of the war, the war party and the war spirit. This risked his acceptance and his Athenian citizenship. Lysistrata is probably the oldest comedy which has retained a place in modern theatre. It primarily deals with two themes,
Aristophanes’ Greek comedy, Lysistrata has been translated many times. The key to a good translation is finding one that models what the current time frame is looking for. What would a student attending college in the year 1912, think of the translation used in our 2011 literature class? What about the choices of a literature professor, in the year 1925, when teaching this play? The tone and speech of these translations can be very different, yet mean the same thing. Lysistrata has been altered
The Birds and The Frogs, written by Aristophanes, show a strong dichotomy between the pragmatic and romantic. This dichotomy is prominent in both stories because it voices a perspective on the evolution of Greek culture. Although written for entertainment, many of the punchlines refer to the real life triumphs and crises of Greece. For example; both plays were written during the 4th Century BCE, during which, Athens was on the brink of war with Sparta. The crisis in Athens is used as a plot point
Aristophanes’ Lysistrata is an excellent example of satirical drama in a relatively fantastical comedy. He proceeds to show the absurdity of the Peloponnesian War by staging a battle of the sexes in front of the Acropolis, worshipping place of Athena. Tied into all of this is the role of sex and reason and is evident in the development of some characters and the lack of development in others. Although the play is centered on Lysistrata, the story is truly propelled by the ideas of sex and reason
The different preoccupations of Aristophanes and Menander may be found through exploring the plays. Aristophanes' main preoccupation was to entertain the people, and then to try to educate them about the politics of Athens at the time. Menander's main preoccupation was, like Aristophanes, to entertain the people, but also to try to teach them some sort of moral that they could hang on to at the end. The fact that Aristophanes set `Frogs' in `real time' in Athens in 405 BC shows that the play is
The History of Theatre: Aristophanes Aristophanes (448?-385 BC), Athenian playwright, considered one of the greatest writers of comedy in literary history. His plays have been produced through the centuries and have remained popular because of their wit, comic invention, and poetic language. Aristophanes is believed to have been born in Athens, Greece, in the deme, or township, of Cydathenaeum. Presumably, he was well educated and may have had property on the island of Aegina. He had
Aristophanes Views on Love In the Symposium, a most interesting view on love and soul mates are provided by one of the characters, Aristophanes. In the speech of Aristophanes, he says that there is basically a type of love that connects people. Aristophanes begins his description of love by telling the tale of how love began. He presents the tale of three sexes: male, female, and a combination of both. These three distinct sexes represented one’s soul. These souls split in half, creating a mirror
Aristophanes' Assemlywomen and Lysistrata Typically in Athenian society, women took care of the things in the household while men, although still retaining the final say over matters of the household, focused most of their attention on the world outside the home. In the plays Assemblywomen and Lysistrata, Aristophanes explores roles of men and women in society, specifically what would happen if women were to take on the roles of men. Looking at these two plays about Athenian society as metaphors
be airing tomorrow. This synopsis did not come from the TV Guide, rather it is an updated version of Aristophanes' famous comedy, Clouds. Though it may come as a surprise, many of the elements of America's favorite cartoon are actually the same elements used by Aristophanes many centuries ago in his comedic drama, Clouds. There are many similarities between the main characters of Aristophanes' Clouds and the modern television favorite The Simpsons. The first comparison to be made is between the
Aristophanes' Agathon in Women at the Thesmophoria Aristophanes and Agathon were peers in Ancient Greece. Aristophanes was the master of comedy, and Agathon was the master of tragedy. They traveled in the same circles and are present in the same works. In looking through the comic lens at Agathon in Aristophanes’ Women at the Thesmophoria, the reader is presented with a portrayal of an effeminate man with a flair for the dramatic and a queenly attitude. Aristophanes’ Agathon is a comic character
In reading the comedies of Aristophanes, modern readers are able to catch a rich glimpse of the gender norms and expectations of his time. Visions of power-hungry, crafty women and bumbling, foolish men pervade his plays and reveal ancient Greek views and stereotypes regarding male and female roles. One of the more complicated concepts to grasp, however, is Aristophanes’ true sentiment regarding homosexual love and practice. The aim of this paper is to compare Aristophanes’ presentation of homoeroticism
The Clouds by Aristophanes, the Apology, and the Republic by Plato collectively demonstrate the hazardous relationship between the philosopher and the city. Each work reveals how Socrates’ method of dialectic inquiry and search for wisdom hindered Athens’ city structure and order. The tension between the city and the philosopher ultimately leads to Socrates’ death. Yet, the jury’s decision does not denounce Socrates as a pious individual. The decision merely represents Socrates’ unwillingness to
ancient Greek culture. People would look at playwrights as more than human, using their words to cultivate stories and share their knowledge. The play The Frogs by Aristophanes, tells the journey of Dionysus and Xanthias travelling to Hades to find a playwright, Euripides, to save Athens from the destruction of the Peloponnesian War. Aristophanes tells this story through a use of comedy known as satire, while still covering the major problems of why Athens, and Greece, was collapsing. Stephen Colbert uses
great recognition to this day. It also is tantamount to have literary styles named after them. Aristophanes, Shakespeare, Chekhov and Wilde all have their specific components to their writing that makes it unique and distinct, echoing the practices of where they were living at that time of their writings. **** The origins of comedy date back as early as 6th century BC in Ancient Greece, and Aristophanes was one of the most popular playwrights, defining the structure of Ancient Greek comedy. He was
between what is ethically correct and morally wrong. Aristophanes’ Clouds is a tragedy disguised as a comedy that illuminates Strepsiades’s profound disregard for justice, conduct, and the establishment of civilization. Underneath Aristophanes’ comedic approach lies a dark conclusion that alludes to a problem that civilization faces today: ignorance and its resistance to evolution. Electra adheres to its respective form as a tragedy while Aristophanes’ Clouds outgrows its comedic structure to form a
The Knights is the second surviving play from Aristophanes, written in 424 BC. The Knights serves as Aristophanes’ comedic revenge on the Athenian demagogue, Cleon, who brought Aristophanes up on charges of treason and not truly being an Athenian citizen. The Knights focuses on a fictional representation of Cleon, Paphlagon, which ironically bares resemblance to the Asian territory of Paphlagonia, subtly throwing the charges of being a foreigner back in Cleon’s face. The play tells of how Cleon (in
described in both Aristophanes’ Clouds and Plato’s Apology, has certain traits that both authors agree with: they consider philosophers to be thoughtful and curious but not well liked among the people. However, they disagree as to the effect the philosopher has on society. Aristophanes believes that the philosopher is creating unrest in a society that was in good shape beforehand, while Socrates, being a philosopher, sees himself as a key component in the development of Athens. Aristophanes and Socrates
Makemedo's Journey to Power in Aristophanes' Birds Humans have always journeyed in search of what they want and need. Our earliest ancestors were nomads, wandering the countryside in search of food and shelter. It is no surprise, then, that much of ancient and modern literature deals with the theme of the journey and getting what one wants. This is especially true in the writing of Aristophanes' Birds, from Aristophanes I: Clouds, Wasps, Birds, translated by Peter Meineck, published by the Hackett