Oedipus The King And Lysistrata

Throughout history, art has been a reflection of society, an indication to culture and a way to analyze historical context. Art is a gateway to understanding how people think, feel, and act in the context the art was created in. Athenian theater remains popular in modern times; it is not only timeless in its message but it can be useful in analyzing the way in which people lived during the time. Oedipus and Lysistrata, both Greek dramas, prove an example of this: they provide a reflection on the views of women at the time. The playwrights, Sophocles and Aristophanes, were both highly popularized at the time, deeply culturally ingrained into society and therefore highly reliable when it comes to cultural observation. The role of women in Ancient Athens was that of subservience and limitation. Respectable women held no job, instead bound housework and childcare. While higher class women often had

Throughout the play we find that Oedipus, the protagonist of this Greek tragedy, is tested by life in a number of ways. To those in Athens who watched the performance of Oedipus the King, Oedipus appeared to be the embodiment of a perfect Athenian. He is self-confident, intelligent, and strong-willed. Ironically, these are the very traits which bring about his tragic discovery. He is portrayed as a character of

During the time of Euripides, approximately the second half of the fifth century B.C., it was a period of immense cultural crisis and political convulsion (Arrowsmith 350). Euripides, like many other of his contemporaries, used the whole machinery of the theater as a way of thinking about their world (Arrowsmith 349). His interest in particular was the analysis of culture and relationship between culture and the individual. Euripides used his characters as a function to shape the ideas of the play (Arrowsmith 359).

Lysistrata is based around the city of Athens & its main goal/storyline is to unite the Spartans and the Athenians and stop the war – everything in the play orchestrated by Lysistrata is motivated/driven by national self-interest - to preserve her nation.

In Sophocles play, Odeipus The King, there are many types of universal themes to humans in society. The main character, Oedipus reveals traits that humans have. No one wishes to kill their father or marry their mother. However metaphorically speaking, we can relate to his emotions and behavior. His actions and how he reacts to certain situations, defines him as a worthy person.

Oedipus is a man of unflagging determination and perseverance, but one who must learn through the working out of a terrible prophecy that there are forces beyond any man’s conceptualization or control. Oedipus’ actions were determined before his birth, yet Oedipus’ actions are entirely determined by the Gods who control him completely. In the beginning of this tragedy, Oedipus took many actions leading to his own downfall. He tried to escape Corinth when he learned of the prophecies that were supposed to take place in his life. Instead, he

Throughout the story of “Oedipus The King” the main character, Oedipus, proves to be the tragic hero. He makes constant judgement errors that lead to his inevitable demise. Oedipus’ fatal flaw is his arrogance. This trait first becomes evident when Oedipus tells the chorus “You pray to the gods? Let me grant your prayers.”

Oedipus was a man of rapid, impulsive actions and an unlimited awareness of the things going on around him. These qualities made him an excellent king who valued his subject’s needs. But, later on in the play I saw that his habit of acting quickly and irrationally had a hazardous side to it. He has shown that he behaves impulsively, for example when he had told the story of himself killing the band of travelers who had attempted to shove him off of the three way crossroads. Oedipus is overly confidant. This confidence comes from when he had saved Thebes from the curse of the Sphinx and had basically become the king overnight. Oedipus’s speediness and self-confidence weaves its way through to the very end of Oedipus the King, he is continuously in motion, trying and failing to keep up a pace with his fate, even if fate is well beyond his reach. He seems to have begun to accept this and appears to accept that his life is actually out of

In the story Oedipus The King (Dramatic Tragedy), Oedipus The King plays a role that will ultimately determine his own fate in the end of the book. In the story we see many factors that play a role in Oedipus’s fate, and we see there are many factors that lead to Oedipus’s tragic downfall. In a book a character can be influenced by others and what others have done in the past, but ultimately the decisions is in the characters hands and is based off their personality which results in their fate. In the beginning of the story we can see that Oedipus’s character is displayed and it is first seen as heroic when he saves Thebes.

Oedipus is seen as a great ruler and listens to the needs of his people. Certain qualities make him stand aside from Achilles and Aeneas. He is seen to always be aware of situations and ready to provide a solution. An example of this would be when his people ask him to do something about the plague. Oedipus does not hesitate and sends for advice from the Oracle. Oedipus is determined and willing to do what it takes, but his flaw is having too much Hubris, or pride. “Wealth and a

Greek theater encompassed many aspects that reflected the moral values and ideals of society. Their customs were tightly woven into the scripts of plays. Antigone and Oedipus the King, two renowned works of the Greek playwright Sophocles, explore these values through a plot thick with corruption, virtue, and determination. These plays reveal the burdens two Theban kings, Oedipus and Creon, as their lies and poor judgment corrode the integrity of their city, their families and themselves. Possessing a strong faith in their respective gods, the characters of these Greek plays are often led astray as they try to escape the twisted hand of fate, further warping their perception of reality. As their vain

In Oedipus the King by Sophocles, Oedipus is responsible for the tragedy of his downfall. Oedipus is presented with a series of choices throughout the play, and his arrogant and stubborn nature push him to impulsively make the wrong decisions, the decisions that ultimately lead him to his downfall. While Oedipus and those around him consider "fate" the source of Oedipus' problems, Oedipus' decisions show the audience that it is he who is responsible.

Lysistrata by Aristophanes is seen to be a comical play used to show the impact of war not only on the ones physically in the war, but the ones mentally involved also. This play was written to help express the feeling the author had about the war occurring during the time the work was written. Lysistrata, the main character, is a strong woman who decides to become as what could be said as being “rebellious”. She does this by refusing to have sexual relations with the men in the city until it was agreed that peace would be declared between the two troops. She calls a meeting with the women in the city and include them in her vindictive ideas to bring the war to an end. This play is sure to bring a smile to the readers face due to the comical events that occur. However, comedy is not the only thing that becomes apparent within the play. Throughout the work of Lysistrata there are three themes that become apparent during this play: peace and harmony, control by gender, and politics.

Oedipus play (c. 430 B.C.) by Sophocles pictures an Ancient Greek tragedy in which the main character usually dies and there is intervention towards the main character 's destiny; or the main character is presented as a good person in the play, but oracles caused them to do bad things. A classic Greek play such as Oedipus can be perceived not only as an art in literary work but also as an analysis of Foucault 's theory of power and power relations between the king and the seer of the kingdom.

Greek Drama played an important civic role in ancient Greece. This is evident in the tragic drama, Oedipus the King by Sophocles. The people of ancient Greece religiously believed in prophecies and the fact that the Gods controlled their destiny. If something were to be wrong with their lands then they would think that it was because something angered the gods, and in return would try to sacrifice animals in an attempt to make the Gods happy. These are some of the key points on which the play, Oedipus the King is based on.