Plato on Aristophanes “The Age of Heroes was passed and the Age of Iron was come.”(Lord 31) This age was the time when Aristophanes, the great Greek comic-poet, had lived and produced his fine works of literature. Aristophanes was “born an Athenian citizen some time in the decade following 450 BC”(Lord 21) “The Peloponnesian War began in 431 BC and dragged its weary course till 404 BC”(Lord 22-23) Aristophanes lived to see his city shorn of all her power, her fleets scattered and dismantled, her commerce wrecked, her people reduced to starvation, the olive orchards cut down and the long walls which had been the symbol of her greatness demolished to the music of flutes. Aristophanes had been a member of the first and most complete democracy the world has ever seen. He lived to see this democracy succeeded by an oligarchy of Four Hundred. (Lord 23) The works of Aristophanes therefore not only coincided with the war, but also were directly effected by it. His concerns and approaches to the world and its problems also reflected the democracy of the time, demonstrated clearly by Old Comedy. Old Comedy could have only existed during the time of a complete democracy; it attacked anything and everything. Everything was a target, everything was a satire.
Specific individuals were attacked frequently and openly. Aristophanes often attacked Socrates, in fact in the Clouds, Aristophanes fiercely ridicules Socrates method of teaching. He finds the new education that is taught by Socrates absurd and useless. Socrates the chief of the sophists according to Aristophanes had laid hold of philosophy and had dragged her from heaven to earth to answer such obvious questions as What is justice?, What is beauty?, or such pointless trifles as how many feet a flea could leap or what end of the gnat produced the buzz. (Lord 29) Aristophanes slanders on Socrates are the most essential reason that Plato may disparage Aristophanes character. In Platos dialogue, the Symposium, we see two perceptions of Aristophanes by Plato.
The Essay on Plato Direct Democracy
Plato was a philosopher in the time of the distinguished Greek philosophers. He wrote a book entitled The Republic in which he explains some of his philosophy on subjects ranging from education to government. Plato constructed a model by which he proposed all governments evolve. He called it the Five Stages of Government. He suggested that there are five forms of government, which evolve out of ...
One is the remarkable description of Aristophanes discourse on Love that could have been written by Aristophanes himself, it is so true to his character. The other is the small amount criticism that is dispersed throughout the dialogue that can be seen as belittlement of Aristophanes manner. In the Symposium we see both Platos ridicule of Aristophanes and his sense of the comic poets approach to the worlds concerns and problems. Aristophanes used Old Comedy to attack the current issues of Greece in his plays. There were two sides to his plays, the serious side, and the mocking side. Aristophanes flourished using this style and even “did much to elevate comedy from mere horse play and rude personal satire to a thoughtful criticism of government policies and of tendencies in philosophy and literature.”(Lord 75) Most notably Aristophanes Lysistrata illustrates his criticism of the current policies of the government. During the war, Athens drained her finances and Aristophanes was the only person daring enough to expose the abuses of public finance.
When the commissioner questions why Lysistratas coups had seized the Acropolis, she states, To protect all the money up there from you youll have nothing to fight for without it.(Aristophanes 33) Lysistrata then goes on to blame all of the troubles of Greece on money. (Aristophanes 33) The commissioner asks Lysistrata what she wants to do with the treasures, she replies, Can you ask? Of course we shall superintend it.(Aristophanes 33) She then gives the groups’ qualifications as many wives who manage the household money. (Aristophanes 33-34) During this scene Aristophanes has shown the audience, through the ludicrous act of women taking over the Acropolis in an attempt to end the war, that the government has some illicit tendencies with the reserve. Aristophanes proves that he was not so much concerned with the maintenance of a reserve as with condemning improper expenditure for vicious purposes of such revenues as were available.(Hugill 9) The absurdity of women saving the men from war is the most important and powerful appeal of the play. It provides a number of significant ideals of the comic poet. It emphasizes the lack of leadership in the state policy. It places the project above and beyond party entanglements. It smoothes the way for rapprochement between warring Greek states, by discrediting the government which was committed to war .
The Essay on High School Football Women Play
The Gridiron is For Girls Too The roar of the crowd, the smell of the hotdogs in the air, and the loud crack of the helmets on the field, these are all things that football is made of. Now, do you find it unfair that women can not experience the excitement of creating this atmosphere like men do Not often to we hear a woman s name being announced over the loud speaker for making a touchdown. In ...
. . It at once provides the stimulus which justifies the plot, and the chief hope of converting the audience. (Hugill 13) The women prove the insolence of the government in that they are the only ones suitable to run it. Lysistrata demands of the crisis, It isnt so much bolts and bars we need so much as brains.(Aristophanes 31) And that the women are the only ones demonstrating intelligence because, With any intelligence in you you statesmen would govern as we work wool. (Aristophanes 38) Those clever statements made by Lysistrata, give audiences a foolish view of the government and hope of returning to normal life if the government gains sense. Another remarkable aspect of the Lysistrata, was Aristophanes honest patriotism.
His peace play begins in the unity of all the women of Greece, not only Athenians. Lysistrata states her plan of action to the first woman that meets her, Kalonike, as a Panhellenic strategy. Lysistrata impatiently states, Yet if the women meet here as I told them from Sparta, Thebes, and all of their allies, and we of Athens, all together well save Greece.(Aristophanes 14) Even where Athenian interests are the special subject of consideration, they are regarded as extending beyond the borders of Attica to the allies of Athens, and the interests of the latter are held to be identical with the true interests of Athens. (Hugill iii) Works Cited Aristophanes. Lysistrata. Trans. by Donald Sutherland. Classical Comedy: Greek and Roman.
Ed. Robert W. Corrigan. Applause Books, 1987. 11 68 Hugill, William. Panhellenism in Aristophanes. The University Of Chicago Press, 1936. Chicago.
Lord, Louis. Aristophanes: His Plays and His Influence. Longmans, Green and Co., 1927. New York. Plato. The Symposium. Trans. by William S. Cobb.
The Term Paper on American Governmen State Government Man
Resistance to Civil Government, or Civil Disobedience Henry David Thoreau [1] I heartily accept the motto, That government is best which governs least; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believeTh at government is best which governs not at all; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of ...
Platos Erotic Dialogues: The Symposium and The Phaedrus. State University of New York Press, 1993. 15 59. (Commentary 61 84)..
