Skip to main content

What do you think would be a good alternative title for Lysistrata that reflects its theme? How does the theme relate to contemporary issues and...

The first thing you need to do in order to complete this assignment successfully is to think about the major ideas of Aristophanes's Lysistrata. Although some modern critics think about the play in terms of female empowerment, that is probably anachronistic. For Aristophanes, the idea of females acting in unison to affect affairs of state was inherently comic, rather like the idea of a man flying to Olympus on a dung beetle or birds and humans allying together against the gods. Much of Aristophanes's literary technique involves portraying the fantastic or absurd for comic effect while nevertheless making an important political or social point.


The central point of the play, as of many other plays by Aristophanes, was to oppose the Peloponnesian wars. An important aspect of this opposition, and again something consistent across several works by Aristophanes, was that war tended to harm ordinary citizens, especially farmers and people who were not members of the political elite. 


While you are the only person who can determine your own personal response to the play, the key issue you might look at is the effect of constant war on the citizens of countries in which the fighting is occurring. For example, you might look at news reports about daily life in Somalia, Libya, or Syria. You might also look at Lysistrata's actions and think about what sort of actions private citizens can take to oppose wars. 


While actually writing a title for you would be a form of academic dishonesty, I would suggest that you think about something related to this major theme of war and what ordinary women (or average citizens in general) can do to prevent or end wars.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

etymology - Origin of the greeting "Sweet dreams".

Does anybody know the etymology of the phrase "sweet dreams"? I tried googling but did not find anything satisfying. Is this a relatively new phrase of the modern world or has this been in use for some time? I think it's the latter one. Answer The OED has the interjection as "a farewell to someone going to bed" from the 20th century: 1908 Sears Roebuck Catal. 198/1 Tenor Solos..Good Bye, Sweet Dreams, Good Bye. But it goes back until at least the 19th and possibly 18th centuries. John Wolcot, writing under the pseudonym of Peter Pindar, used it in his poem "Orson and Ellen; A Legendary Tale" published in 1801: Also from 1801 in The infernal Quixote (Page 287) by Charles Lucas: In the March 1776 of The Universal Magazine was published "The Serenade. A Pastoral Tale. From the German of Gesner" , where the shepherd Daphnis watches over his beloved as she sleeps and sings: The same tale appears in 1776's as Idyl XI, " Daphnis ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...
Post a Comment
Read more

What are the similarities between the relationships of the characters in The Outsiders and Romeo and Juliet?

At first glance, it might appear as if the characters in  The Outsiders  by S. E. Hinton and  Romeo and Juliet  by William Shakespeare do not have much in common; however, when one isolates the core of the conflicts, it becomes clear that the relationships in both stories are rooted in rivalry and secrecy.  In both  The Outsiders  and  Romeo and Juliet , an overarching theme is rivalry. While   socioeconomic status separates the greasers from the Socs in The Outsiders , last names separates the Montagues from the Capulets, who appear to be relatively equal in terms of socioeconomic status. Due to these rivalries, there are instances of deadly interactions in both stories. In  The Outsiders , Johnny kills Bob (whether his actions were justified or not is debatable). In  Romeo and Juliet , Romeo kills Tybalt and Paris, and Tybalt kills Mercutio. These deaths have profound effects on the main characters. In Ponyboy's case, the Johnny's death and other events in the novel inspire h...
Post a Comment
Read more