DOC PREVIEW
CU-Boulder HIST 1010 - Characters List

This preview shows page 1 out of 3 pages.

Save
View full document
View full document
Premium Document
Do you want full access? Go Premium and unlock all 3 pages.
Access to all documents
Download any document
Ad free experience
Premium Document
Do you want full access? Go Premium and unlock all 3 pages.
Access to all documents
Download any document
Ad free experience

Unformatted text preview:

LYSISTRATALysistrata - Lysistrata is an Athenian woman who is sick and tired of war and the treatment of women in Athens. Lysistrata gathers the women of Sparta and Athens together to solve these social ills and finds success and power in her quest. Lysistrata is the least feminine of the women from either Athens or Sparta, and her masculinity helps her gain respect among the men.Kleonike - Kleonike is the next-door neighbor of Lysistrata and is the first to show up at Lysistrata's meeting of women.Kleonike embraces her feminine side and is delighted that Lysistrata's scheme for peace involves garments like negligees.Myrrhine - If rank were imposed, Myrrhine would be the second strongest woman in Lysistrata. Myrrhine is able to seduce her husband, Kinesias, but she refuses sex with him just at the last minute.Lampito - Lampito is representative of Spartan women. Lampito is a large, well-built woman who American audiences might imagine with a thick Appalachian accent (by Arrowsmith's translation, Sparta was the Greek equivalent of the stereotypically South). Lampito brings the Spartan women into Lysistrata's plan.Ismenia - Ismenia is a Boitian girl who has a nice body, keeps herself well tended, and is quite possibly mute.Korinthian Girl - This lady accompanies Ismenia and Lampito to Lysistrata's meeting and is known for her vast posterior bodily feature.Policewoman - The Policewoman kindly offers her shield up for the women to make a sacrifice upon.Koryphaios of Men - The Koryphaios of Men, a stubborn and rather grouchy fellow, leads the Chorus of Old Men around Athens.Chorus of Old Men - The Chorus of Old Men live up to their title; the chorus is made up of twelve old men who teeter around Athens attempting to keep the women in line. Although, unsuccessful in their civic duties, the Chorus of Old Men strike up some fantastical misogynistic melodies and are a generally comedic element of the play.Koryphaios of Women - Like the Koryphaios of Men, the Koryphaios of Women leads the Chorus of Old Women around. The Koryphaios of Women leads a successful seizure of the Akropolis and outwits the men in every possible way.Chorus of Old Women - The Chorus of Old Women seizes and then protects the Akropolis from the Chorus of Old Men. The Chorus of Old Women, although frail, fights to the last with the men and finds victory in the end.Commissioner of Public Safety - The Commissioner of Public Safety is apparently the head of security and law in Athens, but is completely overwhelmed by the women and ends up being dressed as a woman himself. Lysistrata has a lengthy conversation with the Commissioner about the future of Athens and peace in the region, but the Commissioner is very slow to understand her logic.Four Policemen - These Policemen are humiliated again and again by the women. The women, brandishing nothing butlamps, chamber pots and other various household utensils, scare these policemen away.Kinesias - The needy, desperate clown that Myrrhine calls her husband. Kinesias is the first man to be affected by the sex strike and comes to the Akropolis, fully enflamed.Peace - Lysistrata's handmaid. Peace is the unclothed beauty of a woman whom Lysistrata displays and uses during her final plea for peace between Athens and Sparta. Terribly aroused and uncomfortable, the men quickly discuss the terms of a truce, all the while staring at Peace's body.THE CLOUDSStrepsiades - An Athenian citizen and harried father, burdened by the debts his son, Pheidippides, has incurred. Strepsiades is the "hero" of the play, but he is not very heroic. He is concerned instead with pursuing his dishonest aim: shirking his debts instead of taking responsibility for them. Therefore, Strepsiades is more of an "anti-hero." He does nothave the subtle, esoteric mind that it takes to succeed at the school, but rather frustrates Socrates and the other Students at the school with his stubbornness, his violence, and his limited, literal mind. He is a pragmatist, not a philosopher, and as such he is rooted in the physical world, happiest delivering a sound beating or masturbating. Because of his bumbling, brutish physicality, he is a fitting foil to Socrates's pure intellectualism.Pheidippides - The spend-thrift and arrogant son of Strepsiades. He has adopted the aristocratic posturing of his mother and Uncle Megacles and demonstrates a passion for horses as well as a passion for esoteric knowledge. He is cocky and smug and proves a receptive pupil for the subtle rhetoric taught by Socrates. He is fascinated by himself—at first, his own material needs and finally his own whirling dervish of an intellect—and his egotism makes him cruel and ruthless.Socrates - The master-sophist at the infamous school. Socrates is a spokesman for the "new education" of rhetoric, atheism, science, and sophistry. He represents the heights of esoteric knowledge—so removed from the reality of everyday life in Athens as to appear floating! In contrast to the brutish physicality of Strepsiades, Socrates represents pure, rarified intellect at its most ethereal and impractical. However, Socrates is not "above" human emotions such as anger and impatience, especially when plagued with such a buffoonish student as Strepsiades.The Chorus of Clouds - The personified quasi-divinities who bring rain and thunder. The Chorus of Clouds acts as a core voice in the play, explaining certain motives and egging on the action. At times, they act as prophets, foreshadowingactions and obstacles to come. The Chorus of Clouds can interact directly with the audience and thus may seem to be removed from the action of the scene, much like the gods the chorus is supposed to be replacing. The chorus' prescienceand sense of resolve makes its members obvious candidates for divinity; with their singing and dancing en masse they lend the necessary air of ritual and spirituality. Also, because the Chorus members speak directly to the audience about the play and about playwriting itself, they become mouthpieces for Aristophanes himself.Unjust Argument - A personified school of thought. Unjust Argument is Just Argument's necessary foil. Like Socrates, Unjust Argument represents all that is wrong with sophistry and the "new education"—the specious moral content masked by slippery, well-wrought persuasion and rhetoric. Like Pheidippides, Unjust Argument is smug and disdainful of tradition. He has a facile mind, if not necessarily an upright set of


View Full Document
Download Characters List
Our administrator received your request to download this document. We will send you the file to your email shortly.
Loading Unlocking...
Login

Join to view Characters List and access 3M+ class-specific study document.

or
We will never post anything without your permission.
Don't have an account?
Sign Up

Join to view Characters List 2 2 and access 3M+ class-specific study document.

or

By creating an account you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use

Already a member?