Aristophanes was not a proponent of the majority of Athenian culture, as well as other aspects of Greek life as whole. He despised the political, educational, and societal views that remained persistent throughout Athens. While his plays may be comedies, he uses them in an assortment of ways. His plays are used to demonstrate a purpose far beyond that of entertainment. He uses his writing for voicing the problems that lie in Ancient culture.
Aristophanes uses each play to reveal certain issues that he felt should have been dealt with. His plays featured satire, farces, and even comical dialogue. His plays were written with clarity and were quite lyrical. Using plays as vessels for opinion is defined best by saying that “The remarkable freedom of Athenian comedy allowed frank, even brutal, commentary in current issues and personalities,” (Hunt.et.al., pg. 101). The Clouds, Lysistrata, and The Acharnians were all used to attack problems that were prevalent during the time of Aristophanes.
In The Acharnians, we see how Aristophanes uses this play to demonstrate his request for peace. Using this comedy, his ideas against war and battle are visibly displayed. This play reflects Aristophanes’ passion for rejecting all notions and reasons for fighting. This play was written on the basis that continuing the Peloponnesian War was unnecessary and ridiculous. The idea of anti-war justification is prominent through the character of Dikaiopolis.
Dikaiopolis is used to depict Aristophanes in the play. Dikaiopolis is the main character and the play’s protagonist. He is used to establish that war is far beyond needed.
In the play, Dikaiopolis is tired of war. He says “I’m done with trouble, I’m done with war,...
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...out of ignorance, and when they stop to think, they begin to fear,” (Perry, pg. 64). Maybe the Athenians should have feared. Then maybe they would have reconsidered continuing fighting. This was Aristophanes’ approach, but Pericles would have refuted it.
The reaction by Pericles to these criticisms would have possibly included the punishment of Aristophanes. It could have been worse if he found out that Aristophanes was trying to mock his people in his plays. Pericles’ response would not have been pleasant because they differed completely. It all comes down to the fact that Pericles wanted to continue Athenian dominance by keeping the political power the same, controlling the societal control of the people, and continuing attempts to defeat the Spartans. Aristophanes had other plans and ideas. These ideas were simply denunciations of what Athenian life stood for.
Throughout Aristophanes’ “Clouds” there is a constant battle between old and new. It makes itself apparent in the Just and Unjust speech as well as between father and son. Ultimately, Pheidippides, whom would be considered ‘new’, triumphs over the old Strepsiades, his father. This is analogous to the Just and Unjust speech. In this debate, Just speech represents the old traditions and mores of Greece while the contrasting Unjust speech is considered to be newfangled and cynical towards the old. While the defeat of Just speech by Unjust speech does not render Pheidippides the ability to overcome Strepsiades, it is a parallel that may be compared with many other instances in Mythology and real life.
Some evaluations claim that the Dionysus appearing in The Bacchae is fairly true embodiment of the ideals of ancient Athens. He demands only worship and proper reverence for his name, two matters of honor that pervaded both the Greek tragedies and the pious society that viewed them. In other plays, Oedipus' consultations with Apollo and the many Choral appeals to Zeus reveal the Athenian respect for their gods, while Electra's need for revenge and Antigone's obligation to bury Polyneices both epitomize the themes of respect and dignity. Yet although Dionysus personifies these two motifs, his clashes with the rest of Athenian tradition seem to make him its true adversary. Dionysius distinctly opposes the usual views on gender, age, rationality and divinity, leaving the reader to wonder whether these contrasts were Euripidean attempts to illuminate specific facets of the culture itself.
Not only does Aristophanes utilize irony in scenes to transform political attitudes, but he also uses humorous satire. During the sex boycott, one of Lysistrata's followers, Myrrhine, seduces her husband, Cinesias, stalling the entire time to heighten his desire so he will commit to peace. However, when Myrrhine asks if he will, his reply is "I'll think about it" so she runs away leaving him "in torment." The fact that Cinesias will say anything in order to have sex satirizes men's weaknesses. In addition, the scene foreshadows the other men's reactions as they fight to sign the peace treaty so they can return home with their wives and end the oath.
...y from the war, as their main reason for not declaring peace. Pericles would also deny the fact that leaders of Athens are unfit for leadership, since he believes that “no subject can complain of being governed by people unfit for their responsibilities” (Pericles Funeral Oration, Perry pg. 64). Aristophanes plays The Acharnians and Lysistrata both expose leaders as corrupt and unable to do what is necessary for peace, such as the lack of negotiations by The Assembly and Lamachus in The Acharnians and the failures of men and political leaders to stop the war in Lysistrata. Overall Pericles Funeral Oration was meant to install morale, heighten spirits, and lift the Athenian people in a time of crisis. Aristophanes goal was to send a message of peace by exposing flaws in Athenian society, which I believe Pericles would not have taken kindly too during a time of war.
Aristophanes’ Clouds begins by introducing the audience to Strepsiades, a simple-minded and old man who finds himself in debt due to his son’s ,Pheidippides, expensive hobby. Strepsiades asks Pheidippides to attend Socrates’ thinkery; a place where Pheidippides could learn a speech that he could then use to talk the city and Strepsiades’ creditors out of collecting the debt. From the very initial moment of this play, therefore, we witness an individual who finds himself in direct collision with the laws of the polity. Specifically, Strepsiades’ is in collision with those features of civil law that seek to ensure that interactions between citizens are characterized by a somewhat
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.
On the other hand, there are others, such as Platias and Koliopoulos that say Pericles’s strategy could have worked. Both state that "the Athenians lost the war only when they dramatically reversed the Periclean grand strategy that explicitly disdained further conquests". The Athens could have Although his countrymen engaged in several aggressive actions soon after his death, the Athenians remained true to the larger Periclean strategy of seeking to preserve, not expand, the empire, and did not depart from it until the Sicilian Expedition. 33%
Pericles tells the Athenians that the Spartans do not have proper courage. They “bring all their allies with them, whereas [Athens], when [the Athenians] launch an attack abroad, do the job by [themselves]”. Pericles tells them they should rely on loyalty and real courage rather than secret weapons while fighting. He also encourages them by saying their strength comes from the thought of losing Athens, where Sparta’s strength comes from their strict military training and use of outside sources. Pericles is not expressing the entire truth. He says that Athens did not use allies to fight, even when they did in the Battle of Thermopylae. In the Battle of Thermopylae, all of the Greek forces joined together to hold the Persians off. Pericles tells everyone this because it makes it seem like they have more courage than the Spartans because they are not based on the state. In a way, Pericles is offending Athens as well as Sparta because they have some fighting strategies in
Aristophanes’ significant contributions in the development of the theater arts and his standing in the Athenian community are well documented. His hilarious comedy, Lysistrata, reflects the disgust with war prevalent at Athens after the disastrous expedition to Sicily. It is ripe with sexual innuendo and provides much insight into the timeliness of human sexuality, desire, and the war of the sexes, yet it was intended to make a political statement regarding the folly of Athenian military aggression. Aristophanes was not suggesting that a sex strike might be an effective means of ending the Peloponnesian War, more likely that the reasons for the war itself were suspect. Lysistrata’s scheme to force the men of Greece to the peace table could never have been successful. Property concerns, gender roles, and the sexuality of Athenian men prevented Athenian women from exerting the necessary political influence.
Sophocles was able to incorporate Poetics in his tragedy of Antigone. We see two different characters, moved with two different purposes: one ethical and one pathetic. Through the complication and unraveling we see how Antigone embodies the fundamentals of what a Greek tragedy is.
The debate between Unjust and Just Speech in Aristophanes’ Clouds draws the reader’s attention to the theme of natural pleasure versus lawful justice. The debate begins with the two Speeches representing
The subject matter and the way Euripides presents Medea is what makes this play atypical of Greek theatre. Euripides was not especially popular during his lifetime. Aristophanes and others constantly mocked him in their comedies because of his condemnation of war during the Peloponnesian War. Euripides was also skeptical of the standard religious practices of the era, distancing himself even further from the general public1. Medea is a prime example of Euripides' style of playwriting.
... convey deeper themes of life and death, the struggles between power and class structure and also the societal differences between men and women. Aristophanes uses humor to hook his audience into his play, and then undermines the surface humor with much bigger thematic issues. If this play had simply been about women withholding sex for other reasons such as wanting more money for shopping or other frivolous ideas it would not then be considered a satiric comedy. Satire requires more than physical humor. An issue must be raised such as the life and death theme that is seen in the war in Lysistrata, and a solution must then be made. Aristophanes created the women in the beginning to be bickering, unintelligent, and self-centered people. But in the end it was their idea and compromise that ended the war.
The other three elements of tragedy as defined by Aristotle that is Melody, Diction and Spectacle can all be traced in the play. With regards to Melody Sophocles makes the chorus know the story line of the play hence making it very easy for the audience to understand the play. Diction that is the style of Oedipus and spectacle which includes the visual effects and stage appearance makes the audience appreciate the play wholeheartedly.
Aristophane’s Lysistrata is a flawed classic filled with the power struggle between man vs. woman. It is entirely focused and written from the male perspective, in which male-privilege dominated and disregarded the women’s outlook entirely. This “classic” is full of misogynistic perspectives, and should be disregarded as a great piece in Athenian literature.