Essays on Aristophanes

In Plato's "Apology", Socrates' series of dialogues in the period preceding, during, and after his trial provide an insight into his mastery of rhetoric. That is especially true given his ability to arrange his arguments in a judicious manner. While not overly successful in persuading the jury, the final judgment appears to be as a result of bias and prejudice rather than having a weak argument in the various passages of the "Apology." Socrates makes a persuasive claim that it is not possible to separate wisdom from moral virtue. Therefore, by being a man of wisdom, he could not ...

Classical English literature studies

Comedy – a professional entertainment consisting of jokes and satirical sketches, intended to make an audience laugh. Late Middle English (as a genre of drama, also denoting a narrative poem with a happy ending, as in Dante’s Divine Comedy): from Old French comedie, via Latin from Greek kōmōidia, from kōmōidos 'comic poet', from kōmos 'revel' + aoidos 'singer'. ("Comedy: Definition Of Comedy in Oxford Dictionary (American English)"). Aristotle defines comedy as an imitation of men, who is worse than the average, but not in their perversities, but in hilarious sense. Comedy, as a genre ...

The first feminist ever

There has always existed a confrontation between men and women. It all started perhaps in old Greek and since then continues to remain the point at issue. It is considered that men are still “the strongest gender” and that the world stubbornly retains a male-dominated, competitive one. However, time changes and now women are making their best just as men do. They master new professions which have always expected to be exceptionally men’s one. Moreover, they are doing it perfectly and achieve great success. There is nothing impossible for an ambitious, hard-working woman especially when she is meditating ...

Speakers in this comedy depict a woman passively suffering from the war, as opposed to actively suffering Men create war. But these passive women are suddenly extremely active as soon as Lysistrata manages to send them to fight with men. Lysistrata in the prologue of the play is relatively easy to manage to carry out a specific women's "strike": On the initiative of energetic and enterprising Lysistrata, the women all gathered her solemnly pledge to each other to refuse to weasel their husbands as long as they do not stop the war. The main figure of this opening ...

The information about the origins of theatre that we have nowadays originates from divider sketches, enrichments, antiquities, and hieroglyphics that demonstrate the significance of effective chases, regular changes, life cycles, and stories of the divine beings. Theater most likely emerged as an execution of custom exercises that did not require initiation on the part of the onlooker. Early social orders saw associations between specific activities performed by the gathering or pioneers in the gathering and the wanted aftereffects of the entire society. These activities moved from propensity, to custom, and after that on to function and custom. The physical ...

Concept of justice

If there is one thing that deserves credit in the existence of mankind is the presence of a woman. Though they are neglected, abused and discriminated, they are the ones who hold the earth together. In Greek for example; antigone, Lysistrata and Odyssey were well nurtured and they stand out above their heads to be noticed as women of high integrity, determined to do their duties and uphold the moral principles of ancient woman. They always fight for there rights and demand justice in every action (Sophocles 665). Justice is an act of bringing people together in a community where there ...

I believe that a problem found in my exploratory essay regards Gay Marriage. Many people feel that it is a "should they or shouldn't they" topic. I believe that all people should be allowed "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness", as defined in the United States Constitution. Although this is stated in our Constitution, many people in this great nation have issues allowing two people of the same sex to have intimate relationships with one another. They use hate speech, isolating those who have essentially "come out of the closet" and can intimidate those who are ready to share their ...

In the Symposium, Apollodorus makes a relation to an unidentified companion story, which he had learned about a dinner party, or a symposium from Aristodemus. The symposium is given to honor the tragedian Agathon. Here, Socrates is lost in thought on the neighboring balcony, and arrives at the party late. Eryximachus accepts Phaedrus suggestion after they have finished eating that, every person should make a speech praising the god of love. After a consensus, Phaedrus starts by referring to love as one of the oldest of gods. He adds that love promotes the most of the virtue in people. Pausanias draws the difference between ...

Plato devotes an entire text to analyze love through Socrates speech. Plato was Socrates student. He was initially a political student before turning philosophical after his master and teacher was tried and sentenced to death after being accused of corrupting the minds of young Athenians. Plato believed that the true aspects of love could lead to proper governance and that the people would live with honor and pursues excellence rather than wealth. Since love revolves all aspects of life including governance, and life being a philosophy in its own sense, it is only wise that he treats love as a philosophical subject. ...

Socrates is well known as a classical Greek philosopher. He is credited as one of the unique founders of the Western philosophy. He is remembered as an enigmatic figure, known chiefly by the accounts of all classical writers. This is well manifested through the writings of his two students, Xenophon and Plato, together with the plays associated with his contemporary Aristophanes. On the other hand, the Socratic problem is the impossible or difficult nature of establishing what information from an antiquity clearly reflects the attributes and views of historical Socrates. Socrates, a main character in the dialogues of Plato, was a common ...

Euripides literature does not reflect outer side of the war, the glitter of swords and loud sounds of victory, but the truth about it; the pain of those who suffers from war clashes more than others through all the history - women and children. This theme in one form or another is described in many works of Euripides, including those which are known to us only in fragments. In "Hecuba" author depicts a heavy destiny of Trojan female prisoners, who were captured and sent to the Greece. Euripides sees in war mostly tragic sides and senses. He gives a clear perspective – ...

Women in Ancient Greece

OUTLINE I. Introduction Thesis: Plato’s Symposium, Euripides’ Medea and Lysias’ Murder of Eratosthenes demonstrate that women had no place in Ancient Greek culture, other than to produce children and run a household. II. Plato’s Symposium A. Pausanias begins his speech describing two types of love: heavenly and common. Common love is a physical type of love, something to be had between a man and a woman. B. Aristophanes, a comedian, gave a speech about humans being split in two by Zeus and because of this we are always looking for our other half. Men who want women, and ...

The character of Socrates in Aristophanes’s Cloud resembles the character he put across in Plato’s Apology. In both cases, Socrates is a master sophist, the ideal philosopher. He is well versed in sophistry, science, rhetoric, and atheism. He appears removed from reality, is ready to defend his stand however outrageous it sounds and refuses to give in to coercions by his critics, students and authorities. Socrates maintains the character of a model philosopher and intellect who combines simplicity with an air of importance to converse convincingly with his challengers regardless of the nature of the topic at hand. ...

Analysis of a World Text

What is the main theme of the play? First performed in 411 B.C., Lysistrata has now achieved “a fairly permanent place in the modern theatre” (Robson 192), although in the past it was often censored for what Harsh calls its “low comedy” (292). The main character’s name – Lysistrata – is one that was given to girls in classical Athens, but, like most names, it has a meaning. It means “Dissolver of Armies” (Tritle 59) or “Disbander of Armies” (Henderson 35), and it seems fitting, therefore, that the prevailing critical consensus is that Lysistrata is about peace: Tritle even dubs it “ ...

Literature as a socializing force

Literature texts have been used throughout the centuries as a socializing tool. This is because it generally describes customs of the time which includes social behavior expectations. While today we have Internet and movies, there were times where these did not exist. The form of entertainment was solely through literature. The way it was exhibited was in the form of plays that the general public could participate. This was the case of the Greek Civilization. Literature of that time describes how everyday life was, how women and men behave and how different groups of society behaved. Because of the ...

Socrates, who was an Athenian resident, lived his whole life engaging people into philosophical talks as well as discussions. He had some students or scholars who included Plato, Xenophon and Aristophanes. These scholars wrote several pieces of writings, which indicated Socrates discussions. Aristophanes comedy clouds and Xenophon’s apology of Socrates where considered as some of the best discussions Socrates taught and argued as well. Tragedy simply refers to the form of drama, which is usually based on human or people’s sufferings, hence it normally invokes heavily on the audience (Bell 245). Aristophanes was among the scholars who ...

CLOUDS AND INTELLECTUAL THUGGERY

Aristophanes’ cloud is a blatant attack on the sophists and a personal attack on Socrates. The sophists were a class of people who had a revolutionary frame of thought which did not conform to the social norms of their time. They believed in arguing about the validity of everything and using their cunningness and mental prowess to triumph in an argument. Aristophanes’ cloud shows how the teachings of the sophists at the Thoughtery went against common social convention of the time. The play focuses on the activities of the sophists to paint them in their true colors as people who went against social ...

Sappho is a household name as far as erotic poetry is concerned. Born in Lesbos around 650 BCE, Sappho stood out as the most celebrated female poet amongst her contemporaries (Scott & Welton, 2008). The main reason why Sappho stood out is because of her unique approach to the explanation of erotic love. Her views of physical love were substantially different from those of her fellow poets, more especially the male ones. Aristophanes on the other hand, is one among the most celebrated speakers on matters of love, sexual intercourse and general erotica. This paper endeavors to explain the differences and ...

Plato's Symposium is a discourse on the nature of love that happens in the house of Agathon. The discussion is among Plato and his companions regarding Eros. There has been a shift into ideas relating to almost every sphere of life but the opinions voiced in the Symposium seem to hold true to date. However, different discussions have been developed regarding the different views of love hence each person who contributes to the subject of Eros advances different thoughts. The thoughts of Aristophanes’ in the discourse are most persuasive taking into consideration that his views on love represent most people’s ...

When Euthyphro, a great theologian, meets Socrates the great philosopher outside King Archon’s court, he is amazed that such a great man as his friend Socrates could be prosecuted. After exchanging casual regards, they narrate to one another the reasons as to why they are waiting outside the court. It becomes apparent that Euthyphro is at the court to sue his father for the murder of a servant of his. Conversely, Socrates is at the court as a defendant after a young man, who Socrates considers wise has leveled charges of incitement against him. Socrates becomes interested in knowing what on earth could ...

(I/2) Aristophanes and Plato are among the three primary sources of information about Socrates, including Xenophon. Aristophanes, the playwright, is the earliest source, who claimed that he knew Socrates in his early years. In 423 B.C., Xenophon and Plato were still infants, when Aristophanes produced his comedy The Clouds, in which Socrates appears. During Socrates’s trial and execution, Plato was about twenty-five.

When it comes to having been acquainted with Socrates, Aristophanes’s account is favored since Plato was some forty-five years younger than Socrates, so he must have been acquainted to him in his later years. However, ...

Ancient Greeks live by the fate of their lives. This was dictated by the presences of a super natural being who was fearful and no one could attempt to question his unforeseen powers. The gods were believed to be part of people’s lives and nobody could imagine doing something without first consulting with the immortal world. The gods were omnipresent and Homer described them as ‘anthropomorphic’ that is they are like human in characteristics and all activities carried out during those days were literally controlled by the gods, this depicts their interaction with the mortals. Although, the presences ...