The Menaechmi: Use the new to learn from the old, comedy that is
Through time and generations, comedy has appealed to its spectators in different ways. Each generation as you can say has different appeal and through times the interest changes. As the style of comedy changes so does the matters of which they pursue or address. As Old comedy developed and matured, it started to change shape by its writers and poets through language. Its standard focus on topics also became different and with the cumulative changes happening through time new, comedy was developed. Moreover, In Plautus' The Menaechmi written as New Comedy, and its focus on different issues in the roman society, much different from old comedy, it offers many insights of comedy which becomes very successful at getting the message across.
At this point we all know that even though much of its focus is no longer practiced today, old comedy is the origin of comedy. Old comedy has taken the most outrageous projects and presents plausible solutions to contemporary issues. It also has mostly focused, on slapstick action, scatological and sexual jokes, and tragedy. Furthermore, its most common focus would be political and social spoof along with literary distortion. In The Menaechmi, besides their inner relational drama, the characters have managed to send across the interaction and standards of the Roman society. In this book, interestingly enough, Plautus writes the characters with Greek names and green scenery. Nevertheless, the manners and taste were noticeably Roman giving it a taste of old comedy as well.
In this book we can see than in roman times, the men had the free will. Even though married, they would have their mistress on the side and also have their servants be the "watchdog" for them if the actual wife suspected anything. In the beginning of the story, the twin brother is shown to be the depression of his jealous wife. He leaves his house, criticizing his wife. While leaving the house, he takes the wife's mantel and with his servant, he gives the mantle to Erotium who is a prostitute. He then, tells her that he can get the mantel fixed and demands that dinner for himself and his servant. Moreover, without disagreement, Erotium agrees. This scenario shows, that in roman society women did not have much say in their lives and they were always at the call of men and serving what the men pleased whether it made the woman happy or not.
In Ancient Athens, marriage and the relationship between husband and wife formed the core structure of Greek society. In both Xenophon 's Oeconomicus and Lysias ' On the Murder of Eratosthenes, there is a profound emphasis on the separation of women from men and their role in maintaining an orderly household. Both also establish unambiguous and separate spheres of responsibilities for men and women. However, there exists a clear difference between equality of the relationships and communication between the spouses. While the couple in Oeconomicus engage in an egalitarian, pleasant, and understanding relationship, Euphiletus and his wife 's relationship is opaque, treacherous, and marked by hostility and sparse communication. In both households,
This paper will discuss the well published work of, Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity. New York: Schocken, 1975. Print. Sarah B. Pomerory uses this book to educate others about the role women have played throughout ancient history. Pomerory uses a timeline to go through each role, starting with mythological women, who were called Goddesses. She then talks about some common roles, the whores, wives, and slaves during this time. Pomerory enlightens the audience on the topic of women, who were seen as nothing at the time. Men were seen as the only crucial part in history; however, Pomerory’s focus on women portrays the era in a new light.
Aside from all the prodigious number of Greek tragedies in history, stands a collection of Greek comedies which serve as humorous relief from the powerful overtone of the tragedy. These comedies were meant to ease the severity and seriousness sometimes associated with the Greek society. The ideas portrayed in the comedies, compared to the tragedies, were ridiculously far-fetched; however, although abnormal, these views are certainly worthy of attention. Throughout his comedy, The Clouds, Aristophanes, along with his frequent use of toilet humor, ridicules aspects of Greek culture when he destroys tradition by denouncing the importance of the gods' influence on the actions of mortals, and he unknowingly parallels Greek society with today's. Aristophanes also defiantly misrepresents an icon like Socrates as comical, atheistic, and consumed by ideas of self interest, which is contradictory to the Socrates seen in Plato's Apology or Phaedo.
Since women of this time had little rights, they often produced children to get a leadership role. Although it seemed like the father had the most power, since he had ownership of the mother and children as written in the Twelve Tables. When a couple had children, especially the first boy, the wife would gain a little more authority. In the letter from Hilarion to his wife, he is telling her to expose/kill their child if it is female (249). This was common in many households since the male is in charge. As the mother began having more children,the children would look up to their mother just as equally as their father. Once a woman had three children, she was “free” from her husband and could disobey him (261). Roman women were valued on how many children they birthed and were responsible for instilling class and respect into their children. The mother relatives in sharing the life and the be...
According to Aristotle, “Comedy can be any colloquy or performance generally intended to amuse or stimulate laughter”. In modern times, comedy can be found in different forms, such as television, movies, theatres and stand-up comedy.
He would make the all the decisions in the family, and made the rules and standards, including the moral standards that women were expected to follow. Ideal Roman women were valued for their piety, modesty, performance of womanly duties, and faithfulness to their husbands. In both their stories, Lucretia and Dido do what is necessary to maintain their image of the ideal Roman woman. The story of Lucretia begins with men boasting about their wives, trying to determine who is the best of them all. It is clear to them that Lucretia is the winner when she is found “hard at work by the lamplight upon her spinning” (Livy, 100).
There is a distinction between men and women within the Oresteia that presents a detachment within the house of Atreus and in turn Athens. However, the three plays of the Oresteia provide a conclusion to the battle of the sexes. Characters within the play show their side of misogyny or misandry. It is quite obvious that the women are misanadvertising, while the men are misogynists. This division between men and women within the Oresteia reflects the division within the household, but is overcome through women rather than men.
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.
Greek and Roman women lived in a world where strict gender roles were given; where each person was judged in terms of compliance with gender-specific standards of conduct. Generally, men were placed above women in terms of independence, control and overall freedom. Whereas men lived in the world at large, active in public life and free to come and go as they willed, women's lives were sheltered. Most women were assigned the role of a homemaker, where they were anticipated to be good wives and mothers, but not much of anything else. The roles of women are thoroughly discussed in readings such as The Aeneid, Iliad, Sappho poetry, and Semonides' essay.
For some odd reason, it seemed that men were allowed to be philanderers while their wives stayed at home. This is evidenced in the Odyssey quite well- Odysseus the?hero? is free to sample all the pretty ladies he cares for, whereas Penelope, his wife, is expected to fend off all the suitors at home. Predictably, Penelope melts into his arms when she realizes it is her long-lost husband without pausing to consider what he has done in his absence. This reaction portrays the unequal morals of Greek society regarding gender.
The social hierarchy of ancient Rome reflected these views of sex as a means in gaining political power where the elite upper class male possesses certain rights and powers that later allow him the personal gain of a valued wife. The value of a wife increased in this period of sex and power, now changing the responsibilities of the common housewife from domestic tasks to the responsibility of boosting the male kin’s careers behind the scenes, a useful pawn in the game of elite male politics. The growing power of women grew into their personal accounts as well at the same time trade influences luxury in Rome. This period of laziness and luxury formed the era of moral deprivation and in turn enforcing the social lows of sex within class and the negative implications of pederasty as well as homoeroticism. This constant interweaving of sex and politics creates this era of social hierarchy or rank and marriage as a means for political gain, all of which encompassing the great journey of the Roman population in their deviance from Greece and into the spotlight of mistress of the
The ancient Roman tale known as the “Rape (or seizure) of Sabine Women” depicts women, taken against their will by Roman captures and married to Roman men. These women later, intervene in a battle between their new husbands and their angry brothers and fathers. The ancient tale depicts Roman ideology and practices of marriage. It shows how a bride was transferred from living under her father’s jurisdiction to being ruled by her husband. The capture of the Sabine women, the war that follows, and the final truce brought upon the Sabine women themselves are direct relation to the separation of a young bride from her maternal family, the transfer of authority, and her beginning in her new family. The tale is told by two philosophical figures of Roman history. Livy, whom writes about the events in 30 B.C.E and Ovid whom rights about them nearly a generation later1. Both have different views on the event, its meaning, and its relevance. The two men also share the same thoughts in regards to their view masculinity and power.
Women were often subjects of intense focus in ancient literary works. In Sarah Pomeroy’s introduction of her text Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves, she writes, “Women pervade nearly every genre of classical literature, yet often the bias of the author distorts the information” (x). It is evident in literature that the social roles of women were more restricted than the roles of men. And since the majority of early literature was written by men, misogyny tends to taint much of it. The female characters are usually given negative traits of deception, temptation, selfishness, and seduction. Women were controlled, contained, and exploited. In early literature, women are seen as objects of possession, forces deadly to men, cunning, passive, shameful, and often less honorable than men. Literature reflects the societal beliefs and attitudes of an era and the consistency of these beliefs and attitudes toward women and the roles women play has endured through the centuries in literature. Women begin at a disadvantage according to these societal definitions. In a world run by competing men, women were viewed as property—prizes of contests, booty of battle and the more power men had over these possessions the more prestigious the man. When reading ancient literature one finds that women are often not only prizes, but they were responsible for luring or seducing men into damnation by using their feminine traits.
Aristophanes stereotypes women as bickering, self-centered, unintelligent people in the beginning. They are sex driven and selfish. Lysistrata is upset that the women are late for the very important meeting "Here I've called a meeting to discuss a very important matter, and they're all still fast asleep" (180). Calonice sums up what women are thought to do all day, and also what they represent to their households; "The women! What could they ever do that was any use? Sitting at home putting flowers in their hair, putting on cosmetics and saffron gowns and Cimberian see-through shifts, with slippers on our feet?" (181). It is in fact these very frivolous ideas that are used to bring peace to the two cities. Throughout the play Aristophanes begins to knock down ...
Writers at the time such as Aristophanes and Menander wrote comedy similarly to how we do today, mocking politicians, fellow writers, and Greek philosophers (Mark Cartwright). The word ‘comedy’ is derived from Middle English, from Medieval Latin comoedia, from Latin, ‘drama with a happy ending’ (Merriam-Webster). This joyful type of performance may be why we commonly use the word ‘comedy’ to talk about jokes, humor, and hilarious performers. Comedy is meant to bring us joy and relief from reality’s negativity. Mary O’Hara wrote about comedy for a BBC article titled “How Comedy Makes us Better People”: “Comedy is more than just a pleasant way to pass an evening, humour more than something to amuse. They’re interwoven into the fabric of our everyday existence. Whether you’re sharing an amusing story down the pub, making a self-deprecating joke after someone pays you a compliment or telling a dark joke at a funeral, humour is everywhere. (O’Hara)” This is certainly an accurate statement about modern comedy. Comedy is not sadness, but rather a way to forget the woes of everyday life. What is the point in humorous incidents and ridiculous jokes if they do not make a person smile or laugh so hard their gut