Lysistrata is the only surviving Aristophanean play whose title designates the name of the main character. Most other plays convey the collective name of the Chorus or another chief theme of the play. Lysistrata means something like "releaser of war" or "army disbander" and we are invited by Aristophanes to consider her character above all others, as the … Continue reading The War Between the Sexes in Lysistrata
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Aristophanes’s The Birds: A New City in the Sky
Aristophanes The Birds ("Ornithets") is the only comedy written by Aristophanes whose entire action takes place far from the city of Athens. Consequently, the play makes little mention of the circumstances of the Peloponnesian War, or of contemporary Athenian politics. It won second prize at the Dionysia in 414 BC. It is a play about the … Continue reading Aristophanes’s The Birds: A New City in the Sky
The Peloponnesian War, Book V: Battle Recommences and Melos Enslaved
Book V opens at the conclusion of the truce between Athens and the Spartans. Cleon leads the Athenians in an attack on Thrace. A double surprise attack is launched against Cleon and the Athenians by Brasidas of of the Spartans, catching Cleon off guard and kills him en route, as well as Brasidas. After this … Continue reading The Peloponnesian War, Book V: Battle Recommences and Melos Enslaved
What Is Tragic About Greek Tragedy? Euripides’s Hecuba Considered
Euripides's Hecuba is perhaps the most bleak of the Greek tragedies. It takes place shortly after the sack of Troy by the Achaeans. The few remaining Trojans have been either killed or enslaved by the Greeks. Hecuba, Queen of Troy and wife of Priam, has been captured and enslaved by Odysseus. Like Job, the her life has had … Continue reading What Is Tragic About Greek Tragedy? Euripides’s Hecuba Considered
Examining Euripides’s Helen
Thirty years prior to Euripides's first performance of Helen at the Dionysia in 412 BC, Herodotus of Halicarnassus echoed a controversial theory of the story of the Trojan War. In Book II of his famous Histories, or "Inquiries", Herodotus suggests that Helen of Sparta, wife of Menelaus, was not actually taken to Troy, but was instead transported by the gods … Continue reading Examining Euripides’s Helen
The Idea of the Enemy in Aeschylus’s The Persians
"However, you can be sure that so great a multitude of men never perished in a single day" -the messenger to the Persians (line 432). Aeschylus's second part of a lost trilogy has come down to us as The Persians, told from the perspective of the Greek enemy in the Persian wars. It is unique, a … Continue reading The Idea of the Enemy in Aeschylus’s The Persians
Nature in the Nicomachean Ethics
Regarding the question of nature, or rather the “not-natural”, as has been commonly asked, we recall Shakespeare’s use of the word ‘natural’ in King Lear. In the play, political nature has been upset. If we accept Aristotle’s famous pronouncement that “man is a political animal”, then indeed human nature has also been upset. King Lear … Continue reading Nature in the Nicomachean Ethics
Notes on Athenian Democracy
The hero Theseus was rumored to have instilled the democratic sensibilities in Athenians during the Bronze Age when he brought the twelve districts of Attica (an area capable of housing twelve different cities) together and limited the rule of the kings. He recognized certain families as Eupatrid, or "well born" and created the Council of … Continue reading Notes on Athenian Democracy
The Purpose of the Histories: Notes on Book I
Book I is often called "Kleio," named for the muse of the past meaning the "Proclaimer" or the "Rejoicer"; literally "to recount" or "to make famous." The Causes of the Persian Wars At the outset, in the proem of Book I of Herodotus's Inquiries, he first identifies himself as the author hailing from Halicarnassus in … Continue reading The Purpose of the Histories: Notes on Book I
Notes on Sappho
As with much of ancient literature, the life of Sappho is shrouded in mystery. She is said to have been a poet hailing from the islands of Lesbos and was revered in antiquity for her short songs of revelry -praising the stars, the gods, children, a woman's love, carefree summer days, and cool evenings. We … Continue reading Notes on Sappho
