Role Of Comedy In Lysistrata

Historical evidence tells us that Tragedy was far more prominent and performed quite frequently during competitions and festivals in Ancient Greece. Although a comedy performance was not unheard of it was somewhat of a rarity and works from before 440BC are sadly lost to us today, making it harder to pinpoint or theorize on the evolution of comedic plays and comedy in ancient Greece theatre. Early indications of comedy can be found Athenian pottery with depictions of men dressed as animals and in exaggerated costume. Old Comedy or Attic Comedy would quite often follow a six-part structure: introduction, parodos, agon, parabasis, spectacle and exodus (Lowe, 2007). Old comedy is also commonly referred to as Aristophanic Comedy due in part to …show more content…
Led by Lysistrata she convinces the Women of Greece to withhold sexual privileges from their husbands in an attempt to force them to negotiate policy and peace. Lysistrata was conceived and written during the middle of Aristophanes career as he was beginning to add new elements to his take on Old Comedy. For example Lysistrata has a double chorus, which is reflective of the plots divide – men versus women – that later unites to exemplify reconciliation between the two opposing genders. The plays Aristophanes wrote contained somewhat formal arguments (agon) that are simply for rhetorical effect. Lysistrata’s debate with the Magistrate is an odd one when considering a typical agon as Lysistrata does most of the talking herself while the antagonist (magistrate) simply asks short questions or briefly expresses moments of indignation toward the protagonist. Though this does display the unpretentiousness of the agon, which highlights the silliness of the women engaging in a public debate. The character Lysistrata plays a somewhat architectural character, plotting the action and acting at times as an on-stage director. There are elements of spectacle and symbolism and as to be expected the women playing ‘men’ or rather ‘powerful women’ in Lysistrata are given hint of sexual representation. The roles reverse when the old men of the chorus attempt to burn the meddling women out of the acropolis. The men are given lit torches (phallus) as they try to force their way into the citadel gate, female gates shut by the women. Theatrically strategies like this raised the bar for comedy at the time and gave Aristophanes an edge during competitions as he incorporated choral and symbolic conventions to his work, while sticking to the style of Old