Aristophanes

Homer and Aristophanes wrote centuries apart, and the time between the compositions of their works spans a large swath of time across the history of the Greek civilization. Through their works one can pick up on shifts in attitudes as time passed for the Greeks, especially the attitude of the Greeks towards their religion. Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey feature so many instances of man interacting with the gods while the work in which Aristophanes pits man against the divine is his play The Birds.…

As discussed in the Symposium, individuals have different interpretations of erotic love. Aristophanes and Alcibiades define erotic love as longing for another being which an individual is drawn to. Both these men yearn for love in the idea of another figure in their life. Alcibiades yearned for the Socrates, whereas Aristophanes yearned to find his “matching half” (Plato, pg. 19). Both want to achieve a sense of completeness in their lives, because of these yearning faults are seen in their…

for as many healthy children as they could. Aristophanes noticed this and cleverly reversed these gender roles in his satirical play, Lysistrata. He did this by having women take up the positions of men, allowing the women to be more sexually open, and giving them a less subservient role and a more active voice. This made for an interesting commentary on Ancient Greek society and the expected roles of the men and women who were a part of it. Aristophanes 's most important step in switching the…

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…

In 411 BCE, Aristophanes’ play L ysistrata, a tale of war, a sex strike, and the comedy that rises out of male and female conflict was first performed on the Greek stage. While Aristophanes’ work L ysistrata is indeed comedic, it echoes a valid sentiment of consideration: the submission women faced and the gender roles society socialized them to play Socially­defined norms of gender create a direct reflection on the way each individual views themselves, others in their gender, and their opposite…

When Aristophanes composed his comedy play Clouds, his goal was to portray philosophy, at the very least Socratic philosophy, as a threat to the city, and society. If Philosophy’s principles were followed, the city would crumble around its foundations, because philosophy and politics were two opposing forces that could not be reconciled together. While Aristophanes approached this idea in a humorous way, he was deadly serious that Socrates posed a tangible threat to society. He believed that…

Furthermore, perfect love is for both relationships between individuals and relationships between aspirations. I agree with Aristophanes’ eulogy that love is for a relationship between humans, both of body and mind, as we all search for our other halves in order to become complete once again and thereby regaining their prized possession of love (Plato 27). Though I believe that Aristophanes’ concept lacks because it fails to include another important aspect of love’s purpose: aspirations.…

power against patriarchy. In fact, human history manifests that the dovetailing male directorate rulers who deployed the first wave of women exposed in their power in war, occupations, and fuelling economic extremismin contradiction of the poor. Aristophanes’ Lysistrata provides a comedic depiction of powerfully influential…

Navodh Perera Dr. Wayne Gay English 2303-005 1/26/2016 Response No 1 (Aristophanes’ Oration from the Symposium of Plato) In the beginning of the speech Aristophanes begins to explain of man’s ignorance of the power of love. Since, as humans we believe that miracles or things that cannot be explained is done by a “higher power” or anything tragic is caused by smite of gods. Aristophanes begins to make fun of this by saying, “they would surely have built noble temples and altars, and offered…

“What Euripides in Aristophanes' Frogs gives himself credit for as a service, namely, that through his household medicines he freed tragic art of its pompous hustle and bustle, that point we can trace above all in his tragic heroes.” Euripides prided himself on his elegant…