Comedic Violence in The Medea, The Oresteia, and Antigone Essay

Sophocles, a great tragedian, was the one who gave Greek tragedies their traditional form. An important part of traditional Greek tragedies is the presence of a tragic hero. All tragic heroes should have the characteristics of rank, a tragic flaw, a downfall, and a recognition of mistakes. The seemingly tragic hero is Antigone. She wants to bury her brother Polyneices even though this would be going against Creon, who is her uncle and the king. When Antigone buries Polyneices Creon sentences her to death because of it. In Antigone by Sophocles the tragic hero is not Antigone because she only meets the characteristic of a tragic flaw, hers being pride, but doesn 't meet the other three characteristics of a

Peace and Harmony is the central theme in the play. Lysistrata is out to end the prolonged war. After consideration on how to accomplish her wishes, and idea finally arises. Lysistrata holds a meeting with all the women to become rebellious and refuse to have sexual relations with the men. During this meeting between all the women, Lysistrata states, “From now on, no more penises for you” (Line 124). The women first do not know how to react as they have not seen their husbands in months. However,

“Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.” The words of Martin Luther King perfectly illustrates the difficulties of fighting for social injustice. Similarly, the two works of literature Antigone and In the Time of the Butterflies can also teach us about the sacrifices and rewards from taking direct action against injustice. Antigone is about a girl sentenced to death by the king for burying her traitor brother. In the Time of the Butterflies is the story about three sisters who fight for freedom against the Dominican Republic’s dictator,

The character of Lysistrata in both Aristophanes’ comedy of the same name and Spike Lee’s 2015 film Chi-Raq is a uniquely powerful female character who, through sheer willpower and intelligence, forges peace between two diametrically opposed forces that have devastated their respective communities. Both stories offer an interesting journey of seeking peace in the midst of desperation. Aristophanes writes of a woman trying to bring an end to the destructive Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta while Lee’s version of Lysistrata aims to bring peace between two gangs whose fights routinely spill into Chicago’s streets, killing many innocent people in the crossfire. In fact, despite the radical difference in setting, both versions of the story share a numerous amount of similarities in terms of plot and theme. However, I will argue that Spike Lee’s tale is, like Aristophanes’, trying to instill a message about the need for peace, but also telling a story of self-development with regard to Lysistrata herself. The Ancient Greek version of Lysistrata was nearly mythic, commanding the respect of her peers almost without question. By contrast, modern-day Chicago Lysistrata has to grow into the role of leader, gradually waking up to the severity of the chaos of her home then making the effort to push for accord. Making this version of the heroine more human allows Spike Lee to create a model for ordinary people in this era to take charge and put an end to senseless suffering in

Euripides and Sophocles wrote powerful tragedies that remain influential to this day. The vast majority of work recovered from this time is by male authorship. What remains about women of this time is written through the lens of male authors’ perspective and beliefs about the role of women in Greek culture. The works of these two playwrights frequently characterize women as unstable and dangerous. Agave, Antigone, and Medea are all undoubtedly the driving force behind the tragic action in these plays. It is their choices that lead to the pain and death of the people around them. Through an examination of the evidence from three separate works, Antigone, The Bacchae, and The Medea, the role of women in ancient Greek tragedy becomes clear. The actions of Agave, Antigone, and Medea repeatedly prove their characters instability and danger.

Lysistrata comes to the conclusion that the only way to save Athens from destruction in war comes with defiance of her husband. In her role of rebel within the family, Lysistrata decides to "...compel [her] husband to make peace" by withholding sex from him until he stops his disastrous warring behavior (Lysistrata, 7). She concludes, "...there are a thousand ways of tormenting [him]" that will lead to the ultimate safety of Athens (Lysistrata, 9). Unlike Antigone, Lysistrata realistically considers the possible consequences of her actions. She understands that the consequences of rebellion against her husband could be dire. Lysistrata recognizes that her husband might beat her or even rape her in order to get physical satisfaction, but she also realizes that her husband would, "...soon tire of the game there's no satisfaction for a man, unless a woman shares it" (Lysistrata, 9). Lysistrata acknowledges that defying her husband will have consequences, but she chooses to realistically face those possible consequences, and continues knowing that her actions will benefit Athens. Aristophanes' reveals that a woman's greatest allegiance lies with her polis through Lysistrata's role of rebel within her family to save Athens.

Medea, a classic play by the Greek writer Euripides explores the Greek-Barbarian dichotomy through the character of Medea, a barbarian princess from the land of Colchis. As the story progresses, it becomes noticeable to the reader that Medea is not a traditional woman by Greek standards, this comes as no surprise as she is not native to the region. Central to the play’s plot are Medea’s barbarian origins and characteristics. These are related to and may indirectly influence her to perform acts such as misleading the King of Corinth, Creon and murdering her own sons. Despite these terrible acts, Medea still behaves heroically, as she breaks traditional and cultural barriers thus freeing herself from a doomed and lonely life.

Lysistrata's role and her powers of manipulation are very similar to those of Medea. Lysistrata is an Athenian woman who is interested in ending the Peloponessian War and also is upset with the treatment of women in Athens. Lysistrata gathers the women of Sparta and Athens together to solve these problems and uses the art of manipulation to find success and power in her journey. Lysistrata develops a plan to deny sex to the men of Greece and take over the Acropolis, which is the heart of Athenian commerce until they stop the war. She is able to manipulate the women of Sparta and

As the famous Greek playwright Euripides once said: “Stronger than lover's love is lover's hate. Incurable, in each, the wounds they make.” Such ideas are portrayed in one of him most famous plays, Medea. This play is a fascinating classic centered on the Greek goddess Medea. Despite its recent fame, during his time, Euripides was unpopular since he used what would be considered a ‘modern’ view where he would focus on women, slaves and persons from the lower classes. In the play, Medea commits filicide, which initially appears extremely horrendous, but as the audience is guided through the play, they develop sympathy towards Medea. In order to achieve this empathy and enhance the understanding of Medea’s pride and ideals, Euripides

Antigone is thought to be a tragic hero because of everything that had happened to her throughout her life. She lost her father Oedipus through a curse and her brothers through battle. The only one that was left was her sister Ismene. Her brother Polyneices died in battle being a traitor to his family. There was a rule made from the king of Thebes stated that no one can mourn for or bury him. But Antigone did not care she still loved Polyneices and thought that he deserved to have a proper burial like his brother Eteocles. Foreshadowing, mood, and situational irony are used in the drama to explain peripeteia the reversal of fortune, nemesis fate that you can't avoid, and catharsis when the audience is feeling pity

Lysistrata is a play written by a man named Aristophanes around 400 B.C.E. in Athens Greece. Aristophanes, a contemporary of the Greek philosopher Socrates, was the last and greatest of the Old Attic comedians. He wrote many plays, however, only eleven of his plays have survived until today. Lysistrata, being one of these plays, is a is an extremely bawdy anti-war fantasy. Aristophanes wrote this play during a time when Athens was undergoing a crisis with its social attitudes. Therefor, this comedy shows sympathy and longing for the return of peace. Lysistrata is all about the women of Athens and Sparta, led by a woman named Lysistrata, coming together and trying to force the men at war against each other to return to peace by

In nearly every conflict between man and woman portrayed in Lysistrata, the women emerge victorious. This is especially significant since women can assert themselves and impose their will on man. Traditionally, men are the ones who possess this behavior and force women to be at their ever will. Yet, there are many instances in this play when these roles are opposite occurring, which is further evidence that Aristophanes has switched the characteristics of the genders. One instance from the text is when the men and women choruses are speaking to each other at the Acropolis. “All you fellow citizens, we’ll start to give the city good advice and rightly, since it raised us splendidly… I was born a woman, but don’t hold that against me if I introduce a plan to make our present situation better. For I make contributions to the state—I give birth to men. You miserable old farts, you contribute nothing! (Aristophanes 42-43). Furthermore, this quote portrays the control taken by the women when they take the Acropolis and fend of the chorus of old

In Jean Anouilh’s version of the play, Antigone, the protagonist, Antigone, is interpreted as a member of the resistance to despotism that parallels the antifascist French resistance against the Nazi occupation. Anouilh’s controversial play was performed in 1944 under Nazi-controlled Paris, so when Antigone sacrifices her life to defy the oppressive ruler Creon, Anouilh makes Antigone not only a heroine, but also a symbol for resistance. Anouilh based his playwright on Sophocles’ version, which was originally written in 442 BC in Ancient Greece. However, Anouilh uses different literary devices such as anachronisms, allusions, similes and symbolism to relate the story to the most disturbing dilemma during his time in the 1940’s. He writes his play to show the importance in joining the French resistance, but he must also make his play acceptable to the controlling Nazis. As such, the play Antigone can be interpreted as a political allegory of Vichy France.

It is plain to see what about the character of Antigone it is that makes this a tragedy. Tragedy is defined as a dramatic composition dealing with a serious or somber theme, and this story fits all these criteria. First of all, it involves a tragic course of events that involved both of her brothers dying and then being completely disrespected even in death. She felt she had to rectify this mistake, even though it was against the law, and the opposition was too great. Because of her attempt to rectify the injustice, even more tragic things happened to her and her family. This is why she is a tragic heroine.

When Medea kills her children, audiences react with shock and horror. Any sympathy viewers have built for the woman is, in the words of Elizabeth Vandiver, “undercut” by this act (15). Since Medea is the protagonist, we question why Euripides chose to make her a child murderer. Most scholars agree that he invented this part of the myth. He also lessened her role as witch by drawing attention to her human qualities. This only highlights the infanticide (14) because we cannot excuse her ruthless act as monstrous and non-human. However, Medea remains very human until after she kills her sons. Appearing at the end of the play in the deus ex machina, she takes over not only the position but also the