1.

Lysistrata

Alan H. Sommerstein
(page 67-70)

Aristophanes

許芷綾 Lynn Hsu

608115001
 Concept of Women’s Power

許芷綾 Lynn Hsu

608115001
 Concept of Women’s Power

– Sexual strike
“The first, and the more prominent in the play as a whole, is
the boycotting of sexual relations. This campaign is
prosecuted by the younger married women of Athens and
Sparta such as Calonice, Myrrhine and Lampito.” (p.3)

許芷綾 Lynn Hsu

608115001
 Concept of Women’s Power

– Occupation of the Acropolis

“the seizure by the Athenian women of the Acropolis with
the object of denying Athens the resources to fight on.” (p.4)
“And it is taken for granted in the play that if the Athenian
state is cut off from the funds on Acropolis it will not be able
to continue the war; there is no thought of any possibility of
financial support from an outside source such as Persia.”
許芷綾 Lynn Hsu
(p.2-3)
608115001
 Sexual strike - Aphordite Occupation of the Acropolis – Athena

許芷綾 Lynn Hsu

608115001
 Concept of Women’s Power

– Chorus of old women’s fight of words

“The choruses take no part in either the ‘strike-plot’ or the
‘occupation-plot’ but instead confront each other in a
conflict of words and symbolic action.” (p.4)

許芷綾 Lynn Hsu

608115001
 Concept of Women’s Power

– Sexual strike

– Occupation of the Acropolis

– Chorus of old women’s fight of words

許芷綾 Lynn Hsu

608115001
 2. Antigone
(page 25 - 28)

Sophocles

許芷綾 Lynn Hsu

608115001
 Concept of Autocracy

許芷綾 Lynn Hsu

608115001
 Concept of Autocracy

– Creon’s deaf ear

“When Antigone tries to explain to him why she felt compelled to bury
her brother, he turns a deaf ear. Absorbed in his role as ruler of Thebes, he
indulges in aphorisms and banalities. He is deaf to the entreaties of his
son Haemon, who tries to dissuade his father from making a rash
decision.” (p.67)
“He is even deaf to the revelations of the seer Teiresias, who, warned by
unfavorable omens, urges him to desist from his fatal course and allow
許芷綾 Lynn Hsu
the dead man to be buried. In his folly he supposes even Teiresias to be a
608115001 venal traitor.” (p.67)
 Concept of Autocracy

– Disrespect for god

“When Creon forbids the burial of Polyneices and not only allows the
rotting corpse to contaminate the air but also does not stop dogs and birds
of prey from dragging around torn pieces of the dead man and in this way
defiling the altars, such conduct, which slights both gods and mortals, is
not a political virtue but rather a political crime.” (p.66)
“In their initial state of surprise when they first learn from the guard that
Polyneices has been buried, they describe the deed as ‘cause by god,’ an
許芷綾 Lynn Hsu expression that carries with it the implication that Creon’s decree is
608115001 ‘godless.’” (p.70)
 Concept of Autocracy

– Disrespect for god & deaf ear

“Instead of listening, he persists in his impiety until he has
destroyed his entire family and in the end is himself nothing
but a shadow.” (p.66)

許芷綾 Lynn Hsu

608115001
 Concept of Autocracy

– Against the rite

“Creon’s decree forbidding the burial of Polyneices was
inconsistent with the religious feeling of the day.” (p.66)
“In Athens anyone who failed to bury a dead relative was liable
to the curse of the Buzygae (a prominent priestly family).”
(p.66)

許芷綾 Lynn Hsu

608115001
 Concept of Autocracy

– Against the rite

“The primitive custom of leaving the corpse of one’s enemy
unburied, to be eaten by birds and dogs, is set against the
determination of the relatives to do their sacred duty by
ensuring that the body of the dead man receives proper burial
rites.” (p.65)

許芷綾 Lynn Hsu

608115001
 Concept of Autocracy

– Democracy
“The Athenian spectators of the fifth century saw Antigone
against the background of their political experience and thus
were aware that while such behavior as the guard’s is
possible in a political system in which the lives of the
citizens depend on the arbitrary will of one man, it is not in a
democracy such as Athens enjoyed, in which all the citizens
許芷綾 Lynn Hsu work, at least theoretically, towards the common good and
608115001 are free to voice their opinions without fear.” (p.69)
 Concept of Autocracy

– Democracy
“Cringing in fear before Creon, he hesitates to report that an
unknown person has tried to bury Polyneices, prevaricating
until he has obtained assurance from Creon that he will not be
punished.” (p.69)
“In the prologue her (Ismene) fear of the ruler proves stronger
and makes her act in conformity with his will.” (p.68)
許芷綾 Lynn Hsu

608115001
 Concept of Autocracy

– Creon’s deaf ear

– Disrespect for god

– Against the rite

許芷綾 Lynn Hsu

– Democracy
608115001
Thanks for listening