Greek classical literature is considered to be the canon of literary writing that pertains to the ancient history of Greece. Greek literature displays the classic lifestyle, culture and beliefs of the Greek race during the early portions of mainstream ancient and classical European history. Prominent Greek writers such as Thucydides, Homer, and Aristophanes produced pieces that are regarded, up to this day, as af conveyer of Greek life in the context of classical Europe. Looking deeper into their respective works, Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War, Homer’s Iliad and Aristophanes’ Lysistrata all show a common theme in ancient Greek life –life in the context of war.
This paper will conduct textual analysis of each classic piece. The argument is that the concept of war functions as the prime mover of Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War, Homer’s Iliad and Aristophanes’ Lysistrata. This study defines the concept of “prime mover” as the major plot of each literary work. With this, it will study the account of Thucydides as a participant and recorder of the Peloponnesian War. I will then compare the Peloponnesian narrative with the epic events of the Trojan War in Homer’s Iliad. Lastly, i will show the parallels of the developments in the Peloponnesian War with the Lysistrata and its author’s arguments of the female intervention in warfare with concern to the Iliad’s claim of man’s monopoly in war.
With concern to ancient Greek literature, Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War is considered a relevant reference to the historical developments in Greece during those turbulent times. Thucydides, for one, is considered by many historians as a primary and earlier contributor in the developments of historiography...
... middle of paper ...
...ch literary piece. More importantly, the notion of war is taken into different views. Thucydides saw it as the venue for proper historiographical recording of past events and the overall perception of human nature as the source of such conflicts. Homer viewed it as literary venue for the epic tale of heroes, Greek divinities and the struggle of man to overcome the other in the field of warfare. Aristophanes, ultimately, regarded it as the venue for feminine intervention and the role of femininity in neutralizing the harmful and destructive side of man.
Works Cited
Aristophanes (trans. Jeffrey Henderson). Lysistrata. London: Oxford University Press, 1990.
Print.
Homer (trans. by Richmond Lattimore). The Iliad. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1951.
Print.
Thucydides (trans. by R. Warner). The History of the Peloponnesian War. New York: Penguin, 1972. Print.
The French Revolution, the American Civil War, the constant civil conflicts in certain parts of Africa in recent history and even today; these are all historical clashes of countrymen. They all also contain stories of immense atrocities. The violence, bloodshed, and ruthlessness that were seen throughout these events were appalling. They were made perhaps even more so by the fact that theses horrors were inflicted upon one another by countrymen, brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers. The civil war or stasis at Corcyra during the Peloponnesian War was no different. This paper will detail the events surrounding the conflict and attempt to give scope to it as a mirror into the rest of the conflict.
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.
Works Cited Robinson, C.E. (2007). Hellas – A Short History of Ancient Greece. Pantheon Books Bury, J. B.; Russell Meiggs (2000). A History of Greece to the Death of Alexander the Great Lazenby, JF. The Defence of Greece 490–479 BC.
The book written by Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, contains two controversial debates between distinguished speakers of Athens. The two corresponding sides produce convincing arguments which can be taken as if produced as an honest opinion or out of self-interest. The two debates must be analyzed separately in order to conclude which one and which side was speaking out of honest opinion or self-interest, as well as which speakers are similar to each other in their approach to the situation.
The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. "Peloponnesian War (ancient Greek History)."Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 24 Dec. 2013. Web. 05 Apr. 2014
The Iliad by Homer and the Women of Troy by Euripides are both Greek works of literature that look at the Trojan War from different perspectives. Book 6 of the Iliad illustrates that the ultimate glory is to fight for the city with no regard to the impact on the family. The Women of Troy focuses on the negatives that war causes, especially towards the soldier’s wives and children. Whereas the Iliad focuses on the battle itself and centers on the warriors, the Women of Troy focuses on the wrath the war brings upon the families left behind. The central theme in both the works is the Trojan War and they both offer perspectives of the duty of a person, the role of predetermined fate, and the role of women.
Homer’s Iliad has been a European myth for many millennia , the long poetic narrative written in the 8th century B.C. recounts a fearsome war fought over a beautiful woman. The reliability of Homers Iliad as a true historical document has been challenged for hundreds of years and only through archaeological studies can the truth be deciphered. The Iliad was written five centuries after the war, where the stories had been passed down through the oral tradition, therefore the type of society reflected within the poems resemble much more the time of Homer . The fact and fiction of the Iliad has been uncovered through archaeology. Archaeologist found a site in which they thought to have been ‘Troy’ destroyed by the powerful country of Mycenae in the late Bronze Age. They found large amount of material culture from where they could reconstruct the society, this included pottery, engravings, murals and clay tablets. A reason for the Trojan War has always inspired great controversy. The Trojan War according to Homer was fought over the abduction of a beautiful women but this theory appears improbable. Other causes which could have sparked a war is Troy’s geographical positioning. This made it extremely opulent, where other countries of the Aegean would trade there goods and use its harbour. The Mycenaean’s being an extremely imperial, violent and militaristic country would have seen Troy as a great opportunity to gain territory and wealth, on this motive the war took place.
The causes of the Peloponnesian War proved to be too great between the tension-filled stubborn Greek city-states of Athens and Sparta. As Thucydides says in Karl Walling’s article, “Never had so many human beings been exiled, or so much human blood been shed” (4). The three phases of the war, which again, are the Archidamian war, the Sicilian Expedition and the Decelean war, show the events that followed the causes of the war, while also showing the forthcoming detrimental effects that eventually consumed both Athens and eventually Sparta effectively reshaping Greece.
This epic poem by the ancient Greek poet Homer, recounts some of the significant events of the final weeks of the Trojan War and the Greek siege of the city of Troy. All of the places where Homer’s stories took place were in areas that had been significant in the Bronze Age of Ancient Greece. Excavations at Troy and Mycenae have revealed that affluent kingdoms did indeed exist there. The Iliad provides examples of the culture and traditions that took place in Ancient Greece. The warrior culture that is presented in The Iliad is based on honor and bravery, a good example of this is when Diomedes is trying to rally his fellow warriors in says, “I know only cowards depart from battle. A real warrior stands his ground. Whether he is hit or hits another.” This society was strongly against cowardice; bravery was the only option in these times. The Iliad preserves the Ancient Greek’s views on masculinity and what it meant to be a “real warrior” in their times. The evolution of what people consider honorable and brave is evident, for The Iliad has conserved past views that can be juxtaposed with more modern
Thucydides set out to narrate the events of what he believed would be a great war—one requiring great power amassed on both sides and great states to carry out. Greatness, for Thucydides, was measured most fundamentally in capital and military strength, but his history delves into almost every aspect of the war, including, quite prominently, its leaders. In Athens especially, leadership was vital to the war effort because the city’s leaders were chosen by its people and thus, both shaped Athens and reflected its character during their lifetimes. The leaders themselves, however, are vastly different in their abilities and their effects on the city. Thucydides featured both Pericles and Alcibiades prominently in his history, and each had a distinct place in the evolution of Athenian empire and the war it sparked between Athens and Sparta. Pericles ascended to power at the empire’s height and was, according to Thucydides, the city’s most capable politician, a man who understood fully the nature of his city and its political institutions and used his understanding to further its interests in tandem with his own. After Pericles, however, Thucydides notes a drastic decline in the quality of Athenian leaders, culminating in Alcibiades, the last major general to be described in The Peloponnesian War. While he is explicit in this conclusion, he is much more reticent regarding its cause. What changed in Athens to produce the decline in the quality of its leadership?
“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.
Homer, Iliad is the narration of the Trojan war. The Trojan war was one of the most important and significant wars of Greek mythology, Homer described how the war was triggered by the abduction of the most beautiful women known as Helen. This paper will argue how the traditional view of this poem is accurate because it indeed was Helens beauty and her selfishness that sparked the Trojan war. Although Helen was not happy about the outcomes of her mistakes. This paper will present how Helen faced many forms of self judgment, how she created many relationships with significant characters, such as Paris, Priam and Aphrodite. Homers portrayal of this significant women was remarkable as we were able to feel her pain and anguish, the readers were
The Peloponnesian War (431-404 B.C.) was a conflict between the Athenian Empire and the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta that resulted in the end of the Golden Age of Athens. The events of the war were catalogued by the ancient historian Thucydides in The History of the Peloponnesian War. Thucydides’ writings showed the ancient Greek belief that there is a parallel between the city-state and the character of its citizens; in order for the city-state to be successful, its citizens must be virtuous. Thucydides did not believe that the true cause of the Peloponnesian War were the immediate policies of the Athenian Empire against the city-states in the Peloponnesian League but rather the fundamental differences in the character of the two city-states
...ys. Trans. by Alan Sommerstein. (2002), xiii.5 Thuydides. History of the Peloponnesian War. Penguin Classics. Trans. By Re Warner. (1954), 212.6 Thuydides. History of the Peloponnesian War. Penguin Classics. Trans. By Re Warner. (1954), 87, 103 & 108. 7 Clyde Curry, “Aristophanes” Magill’s Survey of World Literature (2009; Salem Press), 5.8 Aristophanes, Lysistrata and Other Plays. Trans. by Alan Sommerstein. (2002), xi.9 Thuydides. History of the Peloponnesian War. Penguin Classics. Trans. By Re Warner. (1954), 219 & 222.10 Thuydides. History of the Peloponnesian War. Penguin Classics. Trans. By Re Warner. (1954), 222.11 Philip Walsh, “A study in reception: the British debates
Richardson, Nicholas. The Iliad : A Commentary. Vol. VI: books 21-24. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1993.