Lysistrata

the stage name Chi-Raq and is the leader of the purple gang known as the spartans. Given the title of the film the audience may be led to believe that Chi-Raq is the main character of this story, this however would be wrong it is his girlfriend Lysistrata, portrayed by Teyonah Parris, who serves as the strong independent female…

Traditional and shocking sometimes is not promising; Spike Lee’s 2015 film, Chiraq, is a hit or miss for audiences based on background knowledge of the Aristophanes’ Greek classic, Lysistrata. Although Lee keeps the same plot structure of classic comedy and adds new male characters, his lack of Lysistrata’s original famous wool metaphor has left the film fall flat. Lee’s views on the importance of the upcoming presidential are just lost in translation. In ancient Greece, the point of comedy was…

enlighten the mood during a disastrous moment in time. Even though plays such as Lysistrata and The Women of Troy are meant to convince their audiences that war needs to end, the results are not successful. Plays relieve the stresses of war by including a humorous aspect. There are certain moments during Lysistrata where the audience wonders whether to take the play seriously or simply enjoy its humor. One example is when Lysistrata tries to rally up the women in protest against the…

are willing to sacrifices innumerable amounts of troops in order to feel the satisfaction of her sex. Even in Lysistrata, it is referenced that Menelaus became so enchanted by Helen’s bare chest, that he dropped his sword in outer awe. Female sexual dominion over men is quite evident in The Iliad itself, but in Lysistrata, this theme becomes even…

In many of the works reviewed throughout World Literature Before 1660 there is the idea of The Hero. The most accepted version of the traditional Hero is based on a male figure that is of low birth or status. The character then rises to a position of power because of their perseverance during adverse circumstances. Although there is the idea of the traditional Hero, there are times within literary works where the characters act as their own heroes. List 20 in The Pillow Book is a complex…

Spike Lee’s “Chi-Raq”, based loosely on Aristophanes’ play “Lysistrata” in 411 B.C., tells the story of the main character’s, Lysistrata (played by Teyonah Paris), resolve to end gang violence in Englewood, South Side Chicago by leading women to withhold sex from men. With an amalgam of somewhat crude yet cleverly delivered lines, rhyming verses, and heartbreaking moments, the movie captures the viciousness of gang violence, and the significance of women in our society. For those reasons,…

Chi-raq “War; a state of usually open and declared armed hostile conflict between opposing forces” Merriam-Webster Spike Lee’s Chi-raq is a movie that is loosely based on Aristophanes Lysistrata. The latter focuses on a women’s strike led by Lysistrata in efforts to end the Peloponnesian war. In the story, Lysistrata devises a plan for all women to withhold sexual intercourse with the men, until they put an end to the war. Lee creates Chi-raq as an extension of this concept. In Chi-raq gang…

Women in Classical Athens (508 – 322 BCE) are usually portrayed as submissive and secluded to the house. Most of the evidence to support this theory is from writing. However, the issue is that most of the writing of the time was by men, who were usually biased against women. Most of them have a very negative attitude towards them. Euripides, Xenophon, and Aristophanes wrote about women, usually portraying them as submissive, housewives with little freedom. Euripides was a play write during the…

characters were often women. These women did things atypical of what a traditional greek woman would do. Lysistrata brought an end to the Peloponnesian War, Medea enacted a cunning revenge, and Antigone valiantly ensured her brother received a proper burial. Despite these heroic actions (except in Medea’s case), some argue that women had an overall negative portrayal in Greek theater. In Lysistrata, the only power the women had was their sexuality, in Antigone Antigone’s only motivation was to…

Lysistrata develops a strong aversion of gang violence, and elements of gender lead to the eventual solution. When Lysistrata decides that withholding sex until peace can be a useful tactic, she creates a clear divide between males and females. Although Lysistrata and many of the other women are eager to withhold sex to work toward peace, some are not easily convinced; Sugar Pie initially…