"Thesmophoriazusae" by Aristophanes-I Guess There Is Another Gender...
The two genders have always been at odds in some way. I remember in sex education classes in middle school, boys were separated from girls. This was meant to shelter each gender from the horrifying aspects of what went on during the two talks at opposite ends of the school. You would never guess the first thing that happened as soon as these sessions let out-boys and girls started talking about what they had missed out on. Men have always been curious as to what goes on when bachelorette parties go down, just as bachelor parties have been a pact of secrecy for about as long as they have existed. The oddly named play "Thesmophoriazusae" means "Women at the Festival of Thesmophoria". This essentially refers to the "ladies only" festival that happened on a little hill called the Pynx in ancient Athens. Men were not allowed. Naturally, men got curious. The only difference here is that women were not allowed to talk about what went on during the three day religious festival aside from men having a serious case of not having sex with their wives. Aristophanes decided that it was time, when he wrote this play, to give up on politics for a while. Athens had been in a nearly constant state of war with the city state of Sparta, or otherwise, for years now. Usually, as many other plays will demonstrate, Aristophanes was not afraid of pointing his sharp wit against the follies of war or the foolishness of demagogues like Cleon. With nothing seeming to change, Thesmophoriazusae was a change of pace. Women were the exploration here, and their consistent abuse in the plays of his contemporary-Euripides.
Euripides is known for many fine ancient works of drama, as well as the lone extant Satyr play "Cyclops" (hey I wrote about that!). In this play, the women decide to strike back at the play-write for his depictions of villainous women throughout history and mythology. In real life, this section of society that did not have all that many rights to begin with were most likely none to thrilled at the prospect of having that fact that women like to cheat on their husbands and have a darker side revealed. In the play, things are taken a step farther as the women decide to kill Euripides. This all takes place at the Thesmophoria festival, which as you might recall, does not allow men to enter. How convenient.
Drag queens. Everywhere. That is what happens in this play. Euripides gets his father-in-law, Mnesilochus (good luck pronouncing that) to go to the festival dressed as a women to spy on him. Physical humor depicting the hiding of a penis, the raunchy humor that occurs when the man tries to talk about the scandalous ways of women (he must suppose this is what happens when women are alone together), and stabs against country bubkins all make their appearances in this play. Most strikingly, however, are the references to homosexuality and the humor of gender role violation. At least three characters go in drag during the course of this play, and numerous references are made to well-known homosexuals in the Greek community. The only political issues that are brought to light are in terms of individuals that Aristophanes bothers to mention by name. There is the secrecy of the Thesmophoria festival as well, and some gender role discussion to boot. This is not one of the most famous of Aristophanes' plays, but it does have some gems of wisdom. To surmise my findings from this play, it is obvious that jokes against sexual minorities such as homosexuals have been around since Greek times; cross dressing and the violation of gender roles have long been sources of comedy, as well as such shocking physical humor as the hiding of a penis between an actor's legs, and others on stage commenting as to the quality of it. If you are looking for a break from politics in Greek drama and an extremely early observation of how men and women interact as antagonistic forces, this is most certainly the place to look!
To end here, my favorite quote from this play!
"Mishaps must be faced and squarely tackled, not wriggled out of"
Euripides is known for many fine ancient works of drama, as well as the lone extant Satyr play "Cyclops" (hey I wrote about that!). In this play, the women decide to strike back at the play-write for his depictions of villainous women throughout history and mythology. In real life, this section of society that did not have all that many rights to begin with were most likely none to thrilled at the prospect of having that fact that women like to cheat on their husbands and have a darker side revealed. In the play, things are taken a step farther as the women decide to kill Euripides. This all takes place at the Thesmophoria festival, which as you might recall, does not allow men to enter. How convenient.
Drag queens. Everywhere. That is what happens in this play. Euripides gets his father-in-law, Mnesilochus (good luck pronouncing that) to go to the festival dressed as a women to spy on him. Physical humor depicting the hiding of a penis, the raunchy humor that occurs when the man tries to talk about the scandalous ways of women (he must suppose this is what happens when women are alone together), and stabs against country bubkins all make their appearances in this play. Most strikingly, however, are the references to homosexuality and the humor of gender role violation. At least three characters go in drag during the course of this play, and numerous references are made to well-known homosexuals in the Greek community. The only political issues that are brought to light are in terms of individuals that Aristophanes bothers to mention by name. There is the secrecy of the Thesmophoria festival as well, and some gender role discussion to boot. This is not one of the most famous of Aristophanes' plays, but it does have some gems of wisdom. To surmise my findings from this play, it is obvious that jokes against sexual minorities such as homosexuals have been around since Greek times; cross dressing and the violation of gender roles have long been sources of comedy, as well as such shocking physical humor as the hiding of a penis between an actor's legs, and others on stage commenting as to the quality of it. If you are looking for a break from politics in Greek drama and an extremely early observation of how men and women interact as antagonistic forces, this is most certainly the place to look!
To end here, my favorite quote from this play!
"Mishaps must be faced and squarely tackled, not wriggled out of"