From the very beginning, tragedy and comedy are set apart from each other by how they approach existence. Comedy, according to Cicero, is ‘the imitation of life’(Donatus 22); it is steeped in realism. It focuses on the probabilities of a situation because it aims to base itself on real life as much as it can. It shows us a reflection of the real world, and thus it should read like a mirror image to us. Generally speaking, comedy does not intend to aim particularly high in its design. Instead it looks to the ground beneath our feet; a story of humble beginnings and endings. Tragedy, on the other hand, contains ‘an element of the wonderful’(Aristotle 57). It looks beyond the probable, to the possibilities and often to the worst potential outcome.
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The play in question was written at a time of war, and proposes a solution – a comedic solution, but one that resolves the problem nonetheless. Athens’ ‘most pugnacious women’(Aristophanes 51) are used as a mouthpiece in order to downplay the real chance of the play’s subject as a probable resolution to the ongoing war against Sparta. By doing so, Aristophanes’ seriousness is camouflaged and he is allowed to speak his mind. Lysistrata can be undervalued because of its comic elements and its extensive use of female characters, which may have been Aristophanes’ original intention. Antigone, on the other hand, is steeped in misfortune and barely conceivable tragedy. So much of Sophocles’ play relies on possibilities – the chance that Antigone might be discovered burying her brother, the gamble that she might kill herself before Creon can release her, the prospect of Haemon, ‘raging mad with his father’(Sophocles 120), missing his original target so that Creon is left alive, alone in his grief. Antigone becomes a martyr, as tragic figures must always be out of our realm of realism, whereas Lysistrata is a mockery of a general. Antigone’s stubbornness and, at times, foolishness is seen by the audience as wisdom. Lysistrata’s wisdom is seen as foolishness; nothing to be taken seriously by the audience. Antigone is allowed to become this heroic figure without criticism because tragedy …show more content…
There are few set rules in place for comedy; it may not even feature humour at all. It is simply the exploits of ordinary people. Lysistrata may feature the conflicts and plights of a ‘hopeless war’(Aristophanes 58), but for 5th century Athens this was the norm. Tragedy, in comparison, features a certain rigidity that comedy is exempt from. To philosophers such as Aristotle, there are many critical aspects that a play must contain in order to be called a tragedy. In the case of Antigone, the moments of anagnorisis, peripeteia, and hubris can be clearly perceived. Tragedy must also have six constituents, among them plot and spectacle, which determine its quality(Murray 39). Such constraints mean that tragedy does not need to attempt to relate to its audience. It must focus on fulfilling its required criteria and often achieves this through exploration of its plot’s
The play in question was written at a time of war, and proposes a solution – a comedic solution, but one that resolves the problem nonetheless. Athens’ ‘most pugnacious women’(Aristophanes 51) are used as a mouthpiece in order to downplay the real chance of the play’s subject as a probable resolution to the ongoing war against Sparta. By doing so, Aristophanes’ seriousness is camouflaged and he is allowed to speak his mind. Lysistrata can be undervalued because of its comic elements and its extensive use of female characters, which may have been Aristophanes’ original intention. Antigone, on the other hand, is steeped in misfortune and barely conceivable tragedy. So much of Sophocles’ play relies on possibilities – the chance that Antigone might be discovered burying her brother, the gamble that she might kill herself before Creon can release her, the prospect of Haemon, ‘raging mad with his father’(Sophocles 120), missing his original target so that Creon is left alive, alone in his grief. Antigone becomes a martyr, as tragic figures must always be out of our realm of realism, whereas Lysistrata is a mockery of a general. Antigone’s stubbornness and, at times, foolishness is seen by the audience as wisdom. Lysistrata’s wisdom is seen as foolishness; nothing to be taken seriously by the audience. Antigone is allowed to become this heroic figure without criticism because tragedy …show more content…
There are few set rules in place for comedy; it may not even feature humour at all. It is simply the exploits of ordinary people. Lysistrata may feature the conflicts and plights of a ‘hopeless war’(Aristophanes 58), but for 5th century Athens this was the norm. Tragedy, in comparison, features a certain rigidity that comedy is exempt from. To philosophers such as Aristotle, there are many critical aspects that a play must contain in order to be called a tragedy. In the case of Antigone, the moments of anagnorisis, peripeteia, and hubris can be clearly perceived. Tragedy must also have six constituents, among them plot and spectacle, which determine its quality(Murray 39). Such constraints mean that tragedy does not need to attempt to relate to its audience. It must focus on fulfilling its required criteria and often achieves this through exploration of its plot’s