The play is in our day and age considered on of the great Greek tragedies but that was not the case for the Athenian Audience as they did not react in a positive manner towards the play; it was awarded last prize at the Dionysia Festival. The distaste towards the play mainly stems from the extensive changes Euripides made to the conventions of Greek Theatre in the play as well as including an indecisive chorus, the clear criticism of Athenian society and by showing public disrespect towards the
Athenian society consisted of citizens; foreigners, also called metics, and slaves. The division into these groups presupposed the different levels of personal freedom and civil rights. For instance, only Athenian citizens were allowed to vote, serve as officials and own land. Among other restrictions, metics had to pay an additional tax and were not allowed to apply to any state bodies without the mediation of citizens. The slaves were in a possession of their owner; however, the law limited owner’s power.
Greece was divided into individual city-states that each had their own form of government. Most notable, however, was the democracy of Athens and the oligarchy of Sparta. The driving force behind all of Greek life and politics was this concept of arete. While arete differed between Athens and Sparta, this lust for excellence became the driving force behind their democracy and oligarchy. The geography of Greece did not allow for a strictly central government, and so, the Greeks adapted.
Another reason Athens had better cultural achievements was because Doc A states, “The Athenian leader Cleisthenes introduced a system of political reforms that he called demokratia, or rule by the people.” In fact, this government is still going on today and is in many countries including the best America. This government gives power to the people instead of just 1 to 3 rulers. The last reason why Athens was undoubtedly better than Sparta culturally was when doc C says, Rising 500 feet above sea level, the Acropolis in Athens showcases some of
Athens established the Delian League with their “allies” in order to “fight against the Persians” but this alliance was just a pawn in the Athenian chess game. After the Persian War, Athens established an Empire within the Delian League. On the other hand, Sparta were conservative. Sparta established the Peloponnesian League, which was not converted into an empire. Another assumption about Sparta and Athens was that they were natural born enemies.
There are many characteristics of Greek tragedy; it always depicts the downfall of a good person who is called the protagonist. In the play ‘Oedipus the King’, Oedipus was the protagonist and soon met his demise at the end of the play by no one
In ancient Greek society, the tragedy was both a deeply spiritual and deeply emotional art form that was integral to daily life. Perhaps one of the best examples of the genre of Aristotelian tragedy is Sophocles’ Oedipus the King. The work is distinguished by the deep emotion and thought it elicits from the reader. This is partly due to Sophocles’ portrayal of Oedipus as the ultimate tragic hero. Oedipus is characterized by both his pride and his honorable character.
He killed four men by himself and outsmarted a Sphinx, and became the great king of the city he rescued from her claws. Being the king, when they begged him for help, even though it involved solving a murder that was many years old, he spared no effort trying to outsmart this problem too. It is this investigation into the murder of the previous king that reveals just how blind he has been. All of the irony that is dripping off the lines of this play makes it powerful to its audience. Irony impact’s Sophocles’s Oedipus the King by developing characterization, exposing a theme, and appealing to an archetype.
Therefore with Athenian, their government was chosen through election whereas with the Sparta the government was made up of few individuals with the inclusion of the kings. The kings who ruled Sparta will be there until they die whereas with the Athens, official were elected annually. The Sparta system of government can be described as very exclusive as it was open only to those who had the highest social standing in the Sparta society. On the hand, the Athenian system could be termed democracy due to the fact that it involved good number of
Ancient Greek society was ahead of its time politically speaking. Indeed they initiated the concept of democracy. Of course, this democracy did not include everyone in Greece; male citizens dominated society and had full legal status. They were divided in three classes depending on wealth. Females on the other