Go Girl Power!

I had a mixture of reactions after reading Aristophanes' Lysistrata.  The first one was...

The second reaction was..

It was the first time I've ever read a Greek comedy, so I had no idea what to expect.  I have to say I was pleasantly and hilariously surprised.

   Normally, I never associated the ancient Greeks with humor.  Humor, especially the kind seen in Lysistrata, is meant for modern-day teenagers with immature minds, right?  The Greeks were too uptight and pristine to have time to sit around and laugh at crude, sexual jokes.  Aristophanes' play, Lysistrata, begs to differ.  Lysistrata is one giant sexual innuendo.  However, as a reader I had to make myself look past all of phallic jokes and dirty puns to uncover the serious story regarding the women of Greece.

    Many scenes throughout the comedy have somewhat sober undertones that can be easily overlooked due to the distraction of the multitude of jokes, but my main focus is the scene in which Lysistrata and the Councilor discuss the women’s motives behind their actions in lines 506 through 613.  The conversation might seem ridiculous and a jab at cross-dressing, but it represents the struggles of the women of the time.  Women are supposed to be passive creatures that don’t speak out or participate in important matters.  They are supposed to sit back and let the men handle the affairs of the city.  Lysistrata says, “Throughout this futile war, we women held our peace./ Propriety (and husbands) permitted no peep/ To escape our mouths” (lines 506-509).  The women are finally fed up with being put down, and the men are at a complete loss for a way to deal with their newfound predicament.  Go girl power!

   The women go as far as to instruct the men to be the submissive ones for a change.  Then maybe stuff would get done.  In the midst of calling the Councilor a “loser,” Lysistrata also accuses him of using ineptitude as a “shield against advice” (line 522).  Maybe bluntly rebuking the Councilor wasn't the smartest idea, but it was pretty funny to read.  Of course he finds Lysistrata’s proposition of gender role reversals to be an “insufferably presumptuous notion!”  For this comment, the Councilor is mobbed and dressed as a housewife.  The dressing of the Councilor is as important as it is ridiculous.  Even in modern times, the way people dress affects how they are judged.  Slowly, society is pulling away from this way of thinking, but, in Athens, dress code marked where one stood in society.  The veil, a common article of clothing worn by the women, symbolizes the derogatory way women were judged by the people of Greece.  The veil does not make the Councilor a woman.  That would be improbable! But by draping the veil on the Councilor, Lysistrata and the other women were bringing him down to their level, so perhaps he would feel the same oppression that the women felt.

   Jump ahead to Lysistrata’s comparison of the women’s grand plan with wool, and the conversation takes an even more serious turn despite the witty banter.  The Councilor finds Lysistrata’s solution regarding wool and getting rid of "all the layabouts and briars" preposterous (line 35).  But what does he know?  He’s a man.  He probably didn’t understand half of what she said regarding wool because he never actually had to deal with spinning wool firsthand.  After the Councilor ix-nays Lysistrata’s plan, she gets even more testy and points out that the women have suffered just as much, if not more than the men, when it comes to war because the women have to give up their husbands and sons to the fighting.  It’s also becoming more and more difficult for women to find a husband because most of the men are dying in battle.  Once again, the Councilor doesn’t understand the women’s struggles because he is a man.  When men grow old they can still find a young bride, no matter how creepy the marriage might be.  Women who are past their prime are forced to sit around and waste away.

   At this point, the women play dress up with the Councilor again, but this time they dress him as a corpse- not quite as fun as a housewife.  The fact that they are able to stand still long enough for the women to dress him up is a feat within itself.  Too bad it’s not Halloween.  The Councilor as a corpse could represent a wide variety of things, from the death wish spat by Lysistrata to the fact that every man will one day die.  The women must basically prepare every man for a funeral when they are preparing them for war.  The Councilor is not going to war; he just serves as a good substitute because he’s there and being a jerk.  Honestly, he was asking for it.

   This scene may have not been the funniest compared to the the rest of the comedy, but it was still full of hilarity.  All jokes aside, Lysistrata definitely warrants a second glance into the somber nature of the otherwise outlandish play.  The effect of war on women is a topic that is often overlooked in works from ancient Greece, and if it's touched upon like in Trojan Women, the suffering is overwhelming.  The women in Lysistrata are able to describe their hardships and woes without beating their breasts and falling to the ground.  The play is able to portray a comedy that would have had the Greeks bent over double from laughter while sneaking a hidden message between the lines without beating it over the reader's head.  Props to Aristophanes. 
   I thoroughly enjoyed reading Aristophanes' work, especially once I was able to appreciate both the humor and undertones.  I had no idea that the Greeks could be so funny!

   

Reading Between the Lines

Below I have undertaken the task of explicating two specific lines from Homer's The Iliad.  Robert Fagles' translation of the epic poem is the version I will be referring to, unless stated otherwise. Despite the fact that basically the entire epic involves war, I chose a rather discreet passage that occurs off the battlefield.

A brief explanation of events surrounding the passage is necessary before I can begin my explication.  Achilles has just killed Hector.  Priam, Hector’s father, comes to Achilles under the cover of night to plead for his son’s body to be returned since Achilles has refused to release the body to the Trojans.  The reason for Achilles' disrespect of Hector's body is rooted in Hector's role in the murder of Patroclus, Achilles closest friend and possible lover (the latter is a topic meant for a different time). It is during their secret discussion that Achilles and Priam end up having a joint pity party.  In Achilles' long speech to Priam (the Greeks were quite fond of words), two lines stand out among the rest: 

“So the immortals spun our lives that we, we wretched men 

live on to bear such torments—the gods live free of sorrows."

-The Iliad, Book 24: Achilles and Priam, page 605, lines 613- 614

First, note Achilles' use of the term "immortals" in the first line.  In another translation of The Iliad by Richmond Lattimore, "gods" is used in place of "immortals."  The two words mean basically the same thing, but Fagles' translation leaves room for a broader interpretation of who is manipulating the lives of mortals.  For example, in Greek mythology there are three sisters called the Fates who have been known to literally spin, well, fate.  The Fates are classified as immortals.  The use of "gods" by Lattimore limits the reader's imagination to the feisty beings associated with Mount Olympus.  I'm not saying that the gods aren't part of the events in mortal lives.  However, the gods are not the main source of manipulation, even though they interfere on many occasions.  When it comes to meddling, the gods just can't help themselves.  Usually, they intervene only when the situation would be beneficial to them or if their interaction is detrimental to one of their rivals.

Moving from the immortals to the mortals, why does Achilles use repetition of the word "we" in the first line?  Did Achilles have a stutter?  No.  Therefore, the repetition is probably something that warrants a second glance.  Repetition is usually used when someone wants to emphasize a point.  Homer uses repetition extensively throughout The Iliad when he is highlighting the importance of a certain theme or event.  The back to back use of a word imprints the word in the listener, or reader's, mind and forces them to pay attention to what follows, which in this case is "wretched men." 

Who is Achilles referring to when he says, "we, we wretched men?" He could mean himself and Priam exclusively, or he could be referring to all men under the gods' surveillance.  I would classify both Achilles and Priam as "wretched men," no offense to either of the characters.  According to the Oxford dictionary, wretched is an adjective used to describe a person "in a very unhappy or unfortunate state."  I can count the number of times Achilles or Priam are genuinely happy on one hand during The Iliad.  They are miserable people.  My theory is supported by Homer's repetition of the terrible fate awaiting both characters in the near future.  Achilles is doomed to live a short life full of strife; Priam is doomed to live a long life equally full of strife.  Both character's lives will come to an end soon after the two reconcile in Achilles' tent. It's a wonder that both of them are able to get out of bed in the morning, let alone fight a war with their imminent demise hanging over their heads.  Albeit, Achilles can be classified as mentally unstable on many occasions.  For example, he threatens to eat Hector's flesh shortly before killing him.  Even in ancient Greece, cannibalism was a big no-no.

Achilles says that he and Priam must "bear such torments."  Because The Iliad is about a war, the word "bear" calls to my mind the phrase "to bear arms."  Maybe it's a coincidence of translation since Lattimore uses the phrase "live in unhappiness"in his version.  I would like to believe that there is a connection between torments and weapons (arms).  They must bear their torments through life the same way they would bear arms in battle, though arms are meant to protect and torments to deter.  

The "torments" that Achilles and Priam face are different respectively.  Priam has lived to be an old man blessed with many sons.  However, this same blessing turns into a curse because many of Priam's sons die at the hands of Achilles.  Likewise, Priam will die at the hands of the Achaeans.  Achilles, on the other hand, is relatively young, but he knows his death is approaching quickly.  His life is so tragic because he has to chose between glory after death or comfort before death.  There is no other option, no gray area to turn to.  Achilles is tormented by the decision he must make, but, by the time Achilles' is speaking with Priam, his mind has already been made up.  He will stay in Troy and continue to fight, even if it will literally be the death of him.  

Rather bitterly in my opinion, Achilles continues by accusing the gods of living "free of sorrows."  I don't necessarily agree with this statement.  While the gods may live free of mortal anguish, they are still capable of suffering.  In fact, the gods' suffering is amplified by their immortality.  They must live for eternity bearing the weight of anything that causes them anguish.  They have mortal children who will die, whether it be from old age or battle wounds.  They feel the sting of the loss just like any other parent.  Zeus is reluctant to let his son, Sarpedon, die during the Trojan war.  Also, at one point in the epic, Aphrodite is wounded by Diomedes and becomes so bent out of shape that she turns to Dione and has a mental breakdown.  In some Greek myths, Hephaestus, an Olympian god, was essentially thrown off Mount Olympus due to a physical deformity, which I'm sure was great for his psyche.  No, the gods are not able to escape sorrow.  Sorrow comes for everyone, gods and mortals alike.  

Perhaps the lines I have chosen are not the most well-known of The Iliad, but Achilles' words sum up the tension in the relationship between the gods and the mortals perfectly.  The gods control the lives of mortals, and usually the result of such manipulation leads to disaster for man.  But heaven, I mean Olympus, forbid that anyone tries to escape the fate laid out by the gods.  Therefore, the bitterness felt toward the gods is understandable.  Maybe if the gods and the mortals had invested in relationship counseling instead of petty revenge, the entire Trojan war could have been avoided.


Sources:
-The Iliad. Penguin Classics Deluxe E. New York: Penguin Books, 1990. Print.
-Lattimore, Richmond. The Iliad of Homer. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1961. Print.

Images:
Thor Anuual #8, page 43, panel 1