Humor In Aristophanes The Birds

Satire is a literary manner built on wit and humor with a critical attitude directed to human institutions and humanity.  A successful satiric play will show certain truths about society and then try to improve upon them.  Satire is meant to be constructive rather than destructive.  Aristophanes uses satire in Lysistrata to convey many different themes such as war and peace, the struggles of power and class, and the life and death issues that are seen in war.  Satire is successfully used and seen in Lysistrata by stereotyping women in general and then the different classes of women as well.  Double entendres are seen throughout the play to help add humor to the play.  Sex is

Aristophanes’ Lysistrata is an excellent example of satirical drama in a relatively fantastical comedy. He proceeds to show the absurdity of the Peloponnesian War by staging a battle of the sexes in front of the Acropolis, worshipping place of Athena. Tied into all of this is the role of sex and reason and is evident in the development of some characters and the lack of development in others. Although the play is centered on Lysistrata, the story is truly propelled by the ideas of sex and reason.

Aristophanes wrote The Acharnians at a time where the world he saw around him was changing. Athens had been at war for six years with no end in sight, the leader who started the war has been killed by a plague, and just three years prior Athens almost voted to kill off one of its allies for trying to leave the Delian League. He was seeing a whole new side of Athens. A side in which the concept of an independent polis has been lost and Athens is at war with its former allies. These are the things that inspire Aristophanes’ Greek comedy to be born. He uses the theater to address the questions he has about what is

Elizabeth Minchin’s “The Expression of Sarcasm in the ‘Odyssey’”, published in 2010, analyzes Homer’s usage of sarcasm in the “Odyssey” and explains its significance. Minchin’s critical analysis peaked my interest specifically because it studies not only the expression, but the reception of sarcasm as seen in the “Odyssey”.

A comedic work of literature is often just one that was meant as pure enjoyment for the reader. Other times, comedy is meant to shed light on a serious situation or instance the public refuses or is uncomfortable talking about in a non-comedic setting. However, the greatest type of comedy is one that makes the reader think, one that provokes “thoughtful laughter” from them. “The Importance of Being Earnest”, a satirical play written during Victorian Era Britain by Oscar Wilde, is such a piece literature. By poking fun at the time period in which his characters live in during one particular scene, as well as illustrating the unsubdued hilarity of a character during that scene, Wilde is able to elicit thoughtful laughter from his audience, ultimately showing them that life is far too serious and needs to be taken more lightly.

Aristophanes was not a proponent of the majority of Athenian culture, as well as other aspects of Greek life as whole. He despised the political, educational, and societal views that remained persistent throughout Athens. While his plays may be comedies, he uses them in an assortment of ways. His plays are used to demonstrate a purpose far beyond that of entertainment. He uses his writing for voicing the problems that lie in Ancient culture.

The story Don Quixote is a burlesque, mock epic of the romances of chivalry, in which Cervantes teaches the reader the truth by creating laughter that ridicules. Through the protagonist, he succeeds in satirizing Spain’s obsession with the noble knights as being absurdly old fashioned. The dynamics of the comedy in this story are simple, Don Quixote believes the romances he has read and strives to live them out, and it is his actions and the situations that he finds himself in during his adventures that make the reader laugh. We can define comedy as something that entertains the reader and that makes us want to laugh out loud and Cervantes succeeds in doing this through his use of

Aristophanes and Agathon were peers in Ancient Greece. Aristophanes was the master of comedy, and Agathon was the master of tragedy. They traveled in the same circles and are present in the same works. In looking through the comic lens at Agathon in Aristophanes’ Women at the Thesmophoria, the reader is presented with a portrayal of an effeminate man with a flair for the dramatic and a queenly attitude. Aristophanes’ Agathon is a comic character to be laughed at, a man that is more female than male. In looking at this view of Agathon, Greek views of homoeroticism are brought up and Agathon’s reputation and character in the world of Ancient Greece is brought into question. How much of

Terence in his plays was attempting to bring the “New Comedy” of Greece to a Roman audience. “Old Comedy” was usually more blatant with sexual humor. The phallus was typically over displayed, with a protagonist obtaining the woman of his desires, with a finale of uninhibited party and celebration. This was not what Terence was introduced to his audience. Although women of “Old Comedy” were a reward. The “New Comedy” was developing women as characters, not just a sexual prize. Erich Segal emphasizes, “Terence has put a few new wrinkles on… traditional figures, often adding touches of originality and realism, creating such novelties as… an honest prostitute.” Yet these were still the stock characters who defined comedy in plays, and did not represent women well.

Probably the most significant Greek tragedian after Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, Agathon is presented here as celebrating after his first victory in the dramatic festival. Agathon is presented as young, beautiful, and very clever with words. He is the passive partner in a life-long relationship with Pausanias. None of Agathon's plays survive todayThe greatest comic poet of ancient times, Aristophanes (445 - 385 B.C.) exercised a tremendous influence on the course of comedy in the Western tradition. Many of his plays survive, and in one, The Clouds, he presents a satirical attack on Socrates. Nonetheless, the two are presented as friends in the Symposium, despite what effect this attack might have had on Socrates' eventual execution.

Apart from the colossal amount of Greek plays that contain tragedies in the history of showings, there lies a wondrous assemblage that stands alone. This collection is meant to service our great people with humorous reassurance from the extreme connotation of tragedy and misfortune. The people of these great city states rejoice in celebration after these showings, intended to neutralize the solemness and earnest lifestyle that comes with living in our Greek society. If you asked me to compare the concepts expressed in comedies and in tragedies, I would merely laugh at the contradictoriness of these opposing forms of play writing. However, even the atypical nature of this comedy there is an underlying value that yearned for awareness of

Through this central irony, Aristophanes illustrates that Socrates and his Sophist philosophy are completely undermined by the irony of the play’s

The time at which Aristophanes wrote “Frogs” Athens was in a time of turmoil, recovering from the Peloponnesian War. Aristophanes believed that society was in ruin because it had lost their virtues and sense of honor and integrity. The Athenians had placed their trust in the teachings of the modern Sophists, and therefore they were destroying the Athenian foundation. Through the taunting dialogues in the play, Aristophanes presents to the audience that returning to the virtues that once held the city together is the way of saving Athens.

The role of comedy in literature is to challenge preconceptions, satirize stereotypes, and hold a mirror to societal standards in a way that changes the viewpoint of the reader, or, in the case of Lysistrata by Aristophanes, the audience. From its parody of gender roles, to its frequent use of double-entendres and sexual humor, to its sardonic message directed at the culture and politics of Greece, Lysistrata is a cornerstone of modern satire. It also possesses numerous qualities analyzed in Andrew Stott’s book Comedy: The New Critical Idiom. This work details the history of comedy and the influence it has on modern humor. It explains what goes into making comedy work as an art form and analyzes why people find certain elements humorous to begin with. Both pieces give great insight into the use of satire as a way to make a difference in common opinion, as comedy should do.

In the ‘Frogs’ and ‘Wasps’ written by the “eminently best” comedian of the fifth century, Aristophanes, we see he utilized humour to exact the important message that Athens is corrupt, and on the verge of chaos. The Athenian audience would expect to be thrust into a world of humour in the City Dionysia, somewhere parallel to their own (e.g. the Athenian jury in the ‘Wasps’, and the failings of the government in ‘Frogs’). It is vital, then, that Aristophanes conveys his political and social views through slapstick, farce, and caricature to interest the audience. This is an important component in both plays as the audience is able to simultaneously accept his diplomatic views whilst being entertained. After all his main point for producing his plays were to produce something with a “little fable, with a moral”.