Chorus In Medea
In this song, the singer describes a man’s love for his girlfriend as well as the difficulties and pain inherent to loving another. The song describes the pressures that humans face, and how their struggles against difficulties end in failure. Despite this, it is the efforts made against these failures that eventually add up to an individual’s worth (Mahan, 2005). The significance of this song to the album is that it attempts to deify love, and it does this by examining how man tries his best at love, just the same way in which he tries his best at being good and religious. Even though man will always lose in his efforts at devotion and pure love, he will eventually be redeemed through his constant
The Homeric Hymns portray Aphrodite, Athena, Artemis and Hestia as strong females who uphold their own beliefs; challenging the “typical” gender stereotypes of the time period. Women in antiquity were expected to follow and uphold certain societal rules, most of these rules emphasized the gender stereotypes that women were perceived as being. The use of the goddesses powers challenge these societal rules and ideas about women. Aphrodite, Athena, Artemis, and Hestia are portrayed in the Homeric Hymns in contrast to ancient stereotypical roles of women being confined to the household; as a result this contrast emphasizes that women can showcase strength, intelligence, and power within society. A women’s life in antiquity was constricted by
The play also questions the role of women in society. In Ancient Athens, women are seen to reside in the private sphere of home and finances since they did not have suffrage. However, in Lysistrata, a suggestion is made that women are better than men when it comes to taking charge of the city. The traditional tasks of the women, such as spinning and weaving require a good management of detail. This management mindset is precisely what the city needs when it comes to ending the pursuits of war.
A very well-known part of the song speaks out against the violence that is acted out against women, “(...) I wonder why we take from our women Why we rape our women, do we hate our women? (...)”. This is almost a nod to men that they must take responsibility for their actions and treat women with basic respect. He also takes a hit at misogyny, shaming men for disrespecting the people who give us life, “(...)
In the Oresteia, Aeschylus explores social patriarchy through the consistent imagery of women throughout the play. Using similar imagery Aeschylus potentially voices his disagreement with this patriarchy. The Oresteia discusses women in instances to imply the possible patriarchy of the Greeks, in the moments before Clytemnestra’s death and in the discussions of Athena the imagery of the woman is of an inferior person. However, the anger of Clytemnestra and the Eumenides themselves are in contrast to this patriarchy, as Aeschylus potentially recognizes the woman in these scenes. Divine law overrules women in many instances in The Oresteia to establish a pattern of patriarchy.
In Euripides’ text The Medea, Medea can easily be painted as the villian. She is a woman who killed her own children in an attempt to spite her husband. But, by examining the text, we can see that she deserves some sympathy. She has little to no control over her own life and has to rely on the will of men. And as a foreigner in Corinth abandoned by her husband, she faces even more challenges than the native women of Corinth did.
Medea and the women of Corinth both share, to a different extent, the experience of being unfairly categorized as the caretaker of the family, which aids Medea in persuasion because she can be trusted as a woman to speak on the patriarchal society. She continues as ‘’of all creatures that have life and reason we women are the sorriest lot’’ (229-230) of all the living things Medea describes women as the ‘’sorriest’’ which suggests that women are pitied and helps Medea to allure the Chorus to be on her side. Medea suggests to the Chorus that Females ‘’must at a great expenditure of money buy a husband and even take on a master over our body: this evil is more galling than the first. ’’(231-233) Medea is arguing that women must sacrifice a ‘’great’’ amount of money to ‘’buy’’ their partners. This conveys the patriarchal community in Corinth.
The women felt that the war was causing disruption and ruining the unity between the people. Particularly, the main protagonist Lysistrata herself, gathers the power of females in hopes for peace and the reunion of Greece. Although the women initially were dubious about ending the war with a sex strike, it was Lysistrata who brought leadership to the group, encouraging all to contribute their powers for good, as she says, “Our country’s fortunes are in our hands; and whether the Spartans shall perish and the Boeotians shall be completely annihilated” (Aristophane 34-35). During this process, the women were faced with corrupted men, who believed that females should have no participation in the topic of war. Rather than succumbing to the demands of the men, Lysistrata insisted and argued for women to take charge and restore Athens.
In the Iliad, there are continuous examples of women being treated as an object or being treated materialistically. Women are treated as they are inferior to the men and the gods. The dictionary definition of being sexist or sexism is; prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination, typically against women, on the basis of sex. Essentially women are shown to have no power in the Iliad due to the dominance of the men and gods. The book is centrally based upon male dominance, and on how the women are constantly put down by the gods or overruled by them.
“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely” said historian Lord Acton. In Sophocles’ Antigone, Oedipus the King of Thebes newly departs after disgracing his people, and his successors to the throne, Polynices and Eteocles die in battle, thus leaving his brother Creon to inherit his throne. From the beginning, Creon uses his newfound power to impose excessive punishments against not only the people of Thebes, but also his family. As a result, the Thebans recognize his abuse of power, and express their fears through not only the chorus, but also his son. To finalize his play, Sophocles exposes how Creon uses his power to manipulate the hierarchy in Greek society; consequently offending the gods.
Paul Vu Dr. Elizabeth C. Ramírez THTR 475A.03 2 May 2017 Macbeth and Medea: Breaking Expectations Macbeth by William Shakespeare and Medea by Euripides are known for their powerful critiques on the social expectations of women. Women during the time of Elizabethan and Greek theatre were often stereotyped and considered the weaker sex. Men were depicted as strong individuals who supported and protected women. However, both Shakespeare and Euripides broke expectations by portraying strong and iconic female characters in their respective plays. The idea of a strong female character was often unheard of during the time of Elizabethan and Greek Theatre.
Euripides created an unusual art work that left people mouth-opened. It was criticized and dissed during its time since the audience witnessed a very odd ending. The fact that Medea was really clever and powerful made it different as well. During those times, women had no role in the society. Women were just supposed to serve their husbands and take good care of the children.
I will also discuss how does the Chorus represents the Athenian audience. The role of the Chorus is like the role of a narrator. It gives detail and insight into the events and help to guide the audience. However, as Electra being a
Introduction The purpose of this essay is to investigate the women’s role in Classical Greece society and literature (5th/4th century b.C.). Therefore, I decided to discuss and analyse one of the most controversial comedies of that time, “Lysistrata” by Aristophanes. This text shows how women, sick of their submissive and powerless position in the political scenario of Athens and Sparta, come on the scene and, through a smart stratagem, achieve their expected result.
In this essay I will be exploring the role of the chorus, what purpose they serve in certain events and how they help to foreshadow the plot. The Chorus in Antigone is made up of old Theban men, mainly because the young people died in the battles. They also represent in some ways the embedded patriarchal (male dominated) society that Antigone defies. They also lay the foundation for the occurrence of the incidents unfolding in the play, by outlining the background to the present actions. The Chorus at times seems to directly affect the action in the play.
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