Athenian Civic Identity in Pericles Funeral Speech and Aristophanes play Lysistrata
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Thucydides, an Athenian historian writing during the latter half of the fifth century BCE wrote a funeral speech down by Pericles after the speech was given, we need to consider this when thinking about how close the written version is to the reality of what was said. The speech was given to the citizens of Athens during a mass funeral for the soldiers that had died in war. Thucydides wrote the context of the circumstances around the speech before writing his recollection of the speech. The speech focuses on the history and inherited aspects of the city as a whole and infers that there should be a lot of pride in this. His reference to ‘ancestors’, ‘same people’, ‘struggles for the empire’ sparks a feeling of civic pride and inherited values such as strength, overcoming obstacles and independence. When compared to the greek comic play Lysistrata by Aristophanes we can find out more about how an ancient Athenian felt about their own civic pride. Lysistrata brings a viewpoint of how civic identity may look while being a woman in Athens during the 5th century BCE, although it is written by a man. The language used is much more feminine and gentle ‘nurtured in sumptuous splendour’ and focused on the acts of women growing up ‘As soon as i was seven years old…’ (Aristophanes, Lysistrata, 638-56) and then birthing and raising children themselves in Athens ‘I contribute men to it’. In the wider context of the play the women’s standpoint comes from not only the financial outcomes of the war but also the emotional fallout for the women that are left behind when the men are consistently gone or dying. For them civic identity is based around their own nurturing and that of their sons, according to Aristophanes.
Athenian Civic Identity in Pericles Funeral Speech and Aristophanes play Lysistrata
Athenian Civic Identity in Pericles Funeral…
Athenian Civic Identity in Pericles Funeral Speech and Aristophanes play Lysistrata
Thucydides, an Athenian historian writing during the latter half of the fifth century BCE wrote a funeral speech down by Pericles after the speech was given, we need to consider this when thinking about how close the written version is to the reality of what was said. The speech was given to the citizens of Athens during a mass funeral for the soldiers that had died in war. Thucydides wrote the context of the circumstances around the speech before writing his recollection of the speech. The speech focuses on the history and inherited aspects of the city as a whole and infers that there should be a lot of pride in this. His reference to ‘ancestors’, ‘same people’, ‘struggles for the empire’ sparks a feeling of civic pride and inherited values such as strength, overcoming obstacles and independence. When compared to the greek comic play Lysistrata by Aristophanes we can find out more about how an ancient Athenian felt about their own civic pride. Lysistrata brings a viewpoint of how civic identity may look while being a woman in Athens during the 5th century BCE, although it is written by a man. The language used is much more feminine and gentle ‘nurtured in sumptuous splendour’ and focused on the acts of women growing up ‘As soon as i was seven years old…’ (Aristophanes, Lysistrata, 638-56) and then birthing and raising children themselves in Athens ‘I contribute men to it’. In the wider context of the play the women’s standpoint comes from not only the financial outcomes of the war but also the emotional fallout for the women that are left behind when the men are consistently gone or dying. For them civic identity is based around their own nurturing and that of their sons, according to Aristophanes.