Lysistrata
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Submitted by kempochic on 06/30/2008 05:21 PM
- Category: Social Issues
- Words: 1596
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Lysistrata
Cultural identity is an important aspect of the lives of many people. It helps them to form unified groups and provides a feeling of solidarity with the people around them. There are many ways in which people categorize themselvesor are categorizedin order to identify with the people in their local environment. Some categories, like religion, are chosen, while others, like race, are not. Another way of forming a group identity, which is discussed in Aristophanes' play Lysistrata, is political allegiance. In this play, the Athenians and the Spartans, are peacefully united though political allegiance, something that goes beyond their ethnic similarities. The unity created by their political allegiance is something that other forms of categorization, such as common religious beliefs and language, are unable to do.
Lysistrata is a comedy that was written in 411 B.C.E. The story takes place during the Peloponnesian War. More specifically, it is set during a border skirmish between the city-states of Athens and Sparta. Superficially, this appears to be a comedy about sex and gender issues. Upon further analysis, it is evident that the story is about more than mere sexual interactions between the characters. For example, the husbands and wives, such as Kinesias and Myrrhine, display genuine love for each other. Throughout the play, Aristophanes expands this bond between husband and wife to a bond among countrymen, and a bond between the city-states of Sparta and Athens, the desire for which is known as Pan-Hellenism.
A commonality which exists between the citizens of Sparta and Athens is shown through their Hellenic cultures. As Lysistrata herself says, "At festivals, in Pan-Hellenic harmony, like true blood-brothers, you share the selfsame basin of holy water, and sprinkle altars all over Greece Olympia Delphoi, Thermopylai
"(445) However, the Spartans and Athenians do not seem to recognize their ethnic connection, and therefore...
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