The Role of the Comic Slave - Essay Example

The role of the comic slave Introduction The true picture of slave and slavery can be Cleary observed in the fifth century. There were comedies in the fifth century that illustrated the picture of slavery. Aristophanes Cleary illustrates this aspect in his plays, the frogs and also peace. The comic works analyzes different reactions about the aspect of slaves and their masters. The essays also try to explain the changing image and roles of slaves in the Athenian empire. The essays have given a good analysis of a wide range of material culture, textual and comparative data as far as slavery and its image in the ancient Greek stage of comedies (Aristophanes & Rogers 1989, p.24). Comedies in the society have been used in various ways. One of its main uses in the society is entertainment of the audience. However, comedies have also been used greatly to highlight several issues that are worth elimination from the society. It only means that they are also used to enlighten the public as well as educating them. In the ancient Greek, the specialists in comic works used their knowledge to educate people on slavery with the use of slavery comics. They helped to teach the slaves as well on how well they could live in their situation (Aristophanes & Merry 1905). Discussion The aspect that is brought out on the Aristophatic play is the fact that the slave behaves in an equal manner as his master. The slave tries to attract attention by this behavior. While, on stage, the slave is preoccupied with the sexual thoughts and also thoughts of why his master never punishes him or even threatens him. It shows that the master has unruliness character. In the Aristophanes, the character of the slave was also found in the old comedies. The Mazon and Coulon reject this. In the Aristophanes play, the xanthians and the carion have the same characteristic which is one of a kind. Xanthians has the will and also holds the wishes of his master. On the other hand, carion is a devoted slave to his master (Aristophanes & Johnston 2008, p. 37). In the case of Carion, the skills that he possessed became useless when he recovered his eyesight. It was with the help of the god of wealth. The slave was also far more independent that his fellow slaves this was seen in a manner that he behaved and also the duties that he attended. It can also be seen in the earlier plays that he addresses his master with little respect. He makes the use of the terms blockhead and nonsense when he addresses his master. This slave is paramount to the action, this is because he summons the chorus and he also sing the Cyclops song with the others. He also makes the delivery of the massagers’ speech. The late idea is that he equally steals food as his descendants’ plautine (Griffith 2013, p. 63). Another role played by this slavery comic is offering advice on the return of the rights of citizenship to the oligarchic revolution members. This revolution had taken place in 411 BCE. The play made an argument that Phrynichos tricks misled the oligarchic revolution members. Phrynichos was the oligarchic revolution’s leader who was assassinated to serve a general satisfaction back in 411 BCE. This idea was later put into effect in Athens by the government. It created a significant relief to people who were leaving in slavery in Athens. In the play several passages have been marked to stir the memories of the return of the Athenian general Alcibiades who had earlier been defeated (Aristophanes & Rogers 1989, p.26). This slavery comic played another major of allowing Aristophanes to express concerns on the Athenian politics that were in a very delicate state at that time. However, the play was naturally not strong in the political aspect but its main theme was essentially literary. It was only means poor state in which the contemporary tragedy of the drama in Athens. The composure of this play began a short time after the death of Euripides. In this play, Aristophanes does not scruple in attacking or mocking Dionysus who was the god’s guardian of his own honor and art. This play is specifically exhibited to Dionysus because it was believed that gods had a better understanding of fun even more than men did (Aristophanes & Johnston 2008, p. 37). The comic further portrays the point of cowardice. It is in regards to portraying Dionysus as an effeminate dilettante, cowardly, farcically dressed in a hero’s club and a lion’s skin. The play later reduces and rows him over the lakes into Hades. The half brother to Dionysus the hero Heracles was also treated in an irreverent manner depicting him like a boorish brute. However, Xanthias who was Dionysus slave was depicted as more reasonable and smarter than both Dionysus and his half brother. This context played a part of passing across information that there was no need of despising the slaves since they may be possessing better qualities than their masters (Griffith 2013, p. 62). The slaves’ comic the frogs also played a role of warning the Athenians against the voices of education that had newly erupted. The examples of these teachers were the sophists and claimed that these teachers posed a danger to Athens as a state. The sophists maintained that the society’s guiding principles such as truth and justice were concepts that were relative. They also maintained that these principles do change in accordance to men’s need in a given area and time. However, Aristophanes challenged them and claimed that an individual’s virtue can be a vice to another. The sophists made the attempts of urging the students to challenge their traditional views of morality, religion and also the deities’ existence (Aristophanes & Johnston 2008, p. 36). The play the frogs also went ahead and explained the significant difference that existed between old and the new principles. The old principles were represented by Aeschylus while the new ones were represented by Euripides. In the chorus, the traditional was described to be mighty while the new one had a wit. Aeschylus that was the representation of the old virtues and society was believed to possess cultural authority, as opposed to the new society which only had radical experimentation. Patriotism was also a virtue of the old people of Athens while the new society of Athens was full of skepticism (Aristophanes & Merry 1905). The play also expressed the old society as masculine and characterized of heroic characters. However, the new society was described as all people from the slaves, women, and old crone up to the young maiden were all talking calling for democracy. All this was to express the great necessity that was there for the Athenians to go back to the old days. A return to the traditional ways would make the society a suitable dwelling place for all the human kind (Aristophanes & Rogers 1989, p.27). Aristophanes’ play also played a role of emphasizing that every person had his or her potential and, therefore, no one should despise the other with the basis of the level he or she holds. It is shown in the play when Dionysus had arrived at Acheron and the ferryman ferried Dionysus. Xanthias had to walk around him by the virtue of being a slave and Dionysus met Xanthias at the far shore. They were immediately confronted by Aeacus who was one the judges to the dead who expressed anger over Cerberus theft by Heracles. Aeacus mistook Dionysus is due to the attire he wore and threatened unleashing monsters to revenge. Cowardly Dionysus traded clothes to Xanthias who seemed courageous regardless of the fact that he was a slave (Aristophanes & Olson 2003, p. 43). In the comedy dynamic slave, the slaves have many relatives mostly cousins. They shared the same functions as servants of their masters. These slaves were referred to as the comic heroes. Aristophanic originality is clearly seen in the discrepancy among the slaves. It occurred between the fragments and resulted to empowering the servants for peace. Aristophanic also revealed originality through the domestic slave that was present. The domestic slave in some way provides a conduit of dissemination. Aristophanic comedy also illustrates that the slaves are also capable of the development of the economy and also the social state on the region (Aristophanes & Johnston 2008, p. 38). In the play of Aristophanes, the depiction of slaves can be analysed in different terms. There is a difference in the way xanthians was presented in the frogs’ from how the karion was presented in the play wealth. In the plays the slaves and the citizens shared the same experiences in the struggles. It was shown when the two parties scrambled for the fruits in the play. There was no manumission upon the slaves despite the levy paid for the slaves in the fleet (Aristophanes & Rogers 1989, p.27). The play peace was presented after the period of four years. It was in the year 422 B.C, by the Acharnians. By this date of time, the war had lasted for a period of four years. The play had the motive to help relief the middle-minded of the miseries they faced as a result of the war. This motive was similar to that of the previous plays. The miseries were experienced by the excitable men in the society (Aristophanes & Merry 1905). In the play, there was a character by the name trygaeus who was described as a rustic patriot. He did not find any help from the men in the society. Because of this reason the young man made the decision to move to the heavens. The idea he had was to resolve personally with the character Zeus the reason he allowed these conditions to continue. He used an object that looked like a gigantic beetle which carries him to in an aerial journey (Aristophanes & Olson 2003, p. 44). On reaching the Olympus, he found that the gods have moved to other places. He also found out that the demons have NIL the heavenly abode. The demons that were there were the demons of war. The demons were pounding the state of Greece in a mortar with great efforts. The person had a benevolent purpose and it was used for the benefit. He learned that the goddess of peace had been thrown into a deep pit. He learned this from the Hermes. The goddess was kept as a prisoner in this pit. The point of being a prisoner also demonstrates that slavery was also present Jack (Griffith 2013, p. 61). The demon war had thrown leeks into the mortar. They represented the laconians, garlic that that represented the megarians, he threw cheese that presented the silicans and also honey for Athens. He took advantage that the demon war could not find the pestle and he mobilized the states of Greece so that they can save peace. The play also plays the role of commending the author of this comedy in its chorus because of opposing the monsters like cleon courageously. Genial disposition is also revealed in the comedy. He is recommended especially to bald men. The play uses some quotations from the songs of the seventh century by Stesichorus. Contemporary dramatists such as the carcinus are also condemned in the play. Trygaeus returns to the stage as the chorus resumes. On arrival, he says that the audiences are more of a bunch of rascals when they are observed from heaven. He said that they are worse when they are seen from a closed position than when looked from heaven (Aristophanes & Olson 2003, p. 45). Trygaeus sends harvest to the people indoors so that they can prepare for the wedding. He also makes the delivery of the festival to the archon who sits in a row, in front. A religious service is also prepared to honour peace. In the service, the lamb is slaughtered and sacrificed in the indoors. Prayers are then offered and lastly Trygaeus begins to barbecue the meat. The smell of the food attracts the monger who hovers around in the scene in search of free food. However, the monger was driven away with a good thrashing. It was the custom between the mongers and the oracle (Aristophanes & Merry 1905). Aristophanes plays also plays a role of revealing the tender love that existed in the nostalgia and rural life for simple times. The play explains that these people usually develop a vision of peace in respect to returning in the country and its routines. Religious imagery is used in this play to express the existing relationship between the rural revival and peace. The play is expressed to be imprisoned in a cave and on top being guarded by a Cerberus figure. It was found to resemble a chthonic fertility goddess that is held captive in the underworld. The play has also borrowed from ancient folklore on the maiden’s rescue or a hidden treasure that couldnt be attained because of the stronghold of a monster or a giant acting as an obstacle. This monster is described to be familiar with the Athenians in the Perseus and Andromeda’s story. The monster is also familiar with the modern audiences such as Beanstalk and Jack (Griffith 2013, p. 60). The play, however, manages to bring out the political action despite the existence of these religious and mythical contexts. The play reveals the political action as a human affairs’ decisive factor. The play explains gods as distant mortals and figures them, therefore, rely on their personal initiative towards releasing the peace from the captivity. The main part of this context is to reveal how the peace may be ruined by a group of people and also expressed the necessity of intervention measures to make sure that peace in the nation is restored. The chorus’s joyful celebrations in the comedy ended with very bitter reflections of the previous leaders. Trygaeus expressed much fear concerning the future status of peace since the results were as a result of bad leadership. In such circumstances, Aristophanes expressed many concerns that peace requires something else more than a miracle. The comedy urges the entire community that if they could combine good will and good luck in every part of a particular group peace could be attained (Aristophanes & Olson 2003, p. 46). Conclusion Aristophanes has employed the use of jokes in all of his plays. The actions in the play are always absurd and the satire is savage. The author of these plays was in love with the rural life and also the nostalgia for simple times is clearly revealed in the play. He expresses the return for peace and also for the country to return to its normal routine in the plays. It is expressed in the terms of the religious and also the allegorical imagery. These plays were used to educate the middle minded men on the importance of peace in the states. The author points out the issue of politics in the society. It comes out as a decisive aspect of the society. References list Aristophanes, & Rogers, B. B. (1989). The peace. Cambridge, Mass, Harvard Univ. Press [u.a.]. pp.24-27 Aristophanes, & Johnston, I. C. (2008). Frogs. Arlington, Va, Richer Resources Publications pp.35-38 Aristophanes, & Merry, W. W. (1905). The frogs. Oxford, Clarendon press. Aristophanes, & Olson, S. D. (2003). Peace. Oxford, Oxford University Press. pp. 43-46 Griffith, M. (2013). Aristophanes Frogs. London, Routledge. pp.60-63 Read More