Essay on "Iliad and Lysistrata Honor and Respect"

Essay 6 pages (2086 words) Sources: 1+

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Iliad and Lysistrata

Honor and Respect: the Ends of Iliad and Lysistrata

It should not be possible to speak of the ends of things without speaking of their beginnings. Homer's Iliad and Aristophanes' Lysistrata are two war-themed works whose tones are dissimilar but whose endings are revealing of a common bond -- despite the centuries and structures that separate them. The ending of Homer's Iliad depicts the death of Hector, the abuse of his corpse by Achilles, the begging of mercy by Priam, and the burial of Hector's bones following the consummation of his body on the funeral pyre. The ending of Lysistrata is a jubilant celebration of peace in song as Athenians and Spartans end their war thanks in large part to the influence of their women. The common bond is this: both works end with attention focused not on those who begin the work (Lysistrata of Athens, or Achilles of the Argives) but rather on the enemy -- the Spartans in song, and Hector of the Trojans. The sense is that both works are neither pro-war nor anti-war in the extreme, but may be read rather as artistic attempts to understand the enemy through identification and honor. They are, in other words, works of respect. This paper will show how the ends of both The Iliad and Lysistrata reflect a kind of respect that any honorable man (or woman) of ancient Greece might have done well to cultivate for the enemy -- and which we today may likewise do well to cultivate as our nations embark on a foreign policy of total war.

"Anger be now your song" is Robert Fitzgerald's opening translation of Homer's epic -- and it refers to Achilles' anger at Agamemnon, the leader of the Greeks, who has insulted Achilles by stealing from him his woman and spoil of war. Although Achilles' anger is not the primary focus of the narrative, it does introduce from the very beginning the theme of honor -- and it is the same theme that will close out the narrative, although a transition will be made from that of Grecian honor to that of Trojan honor. The whole of the narrative may be summed up tersely: Achilles is offended by Agamemnon, refuses to fight the Trojans any longer, whereupon the Trojans (realizing that their greatest foe is no longer a threat) attack the Greek camp and cause massive destruction; Achilles' friend then steps out disguised as Achilles, causes the Trojans to flee in panic; but Hector realizes the dupe, and slays the friend of Achilles -- whose anger is then turned from Agamemnon to the Trojans; Achilles does battle with Hector, slays him, and drags his corpse from the back of his chariot, insulting the Trojans as he does so; whereupon the father of Hector, King Priam, then humbles himself before Achilles and begs the body back so that it may receive an honorable burial. Honor is the over-arching theme -- and the sense, here, is that honor is a noble idea -- one that, if it were held by men at all times, would surely go a long way to eliminating the kind of destruction that war brings. The Iliad begins with the dishonor of Achilles and ends with the honor of his equal Hector (following upon, of course, his dishonor at the hand of Achilles).

Lysistrata is also, one realizes upon its completion, a play about honor. Comedic in tone, it tackles the subject in a very different fashion -- but, nonetheless, the conclusion is similar in idea to that of the Iliad. The women of the warring city-states, Athens and Sparta, agree to a solution that will convince the men to stop their warring and dissolve their differences for the sake of peace. Respect is shown on both sides, and neither city-state is treated derisively -- but on the contrary, the Athenians mark the occasion by celebrating with a Spartan dance -- a tribute of honor to the enemy with whom they have warred. The idea is noble to the core.

The manner in which Aristophanes treats the idea, however, is quite striking when compared to Homer, whose Iliad is serious in tone. Aristophanes' comedy is bawdy, raunchy, and absurd -- and yet it retains a kind of realism that emanates from the very fact that what the playwright has at heart is the idea of nobility, which is manifest not only at the end of the play but also at the beginning (just as is done in The Iliad):

Calonice: Tell me, Lysistrata dear, what is it you've summoned the meeting of the women for? Is it something big?

Lysistrata: Very.

Calonice: Not thick as well?

Lysistrata: As a matter of fact, yes.

Calonice: Then why on earth aren't they here?

Lysistrata: No, not that kind of thing -- well, not exactly. […] No, I've had an idea, which for many sleepless nights I've been tossing to and fro

Calonice: Must be a pretty flimsy one, in that case.

Lysistrata: Flimsy? Calonice, we women have the salvation of Greece in our hands.

Calonice: In our hands? We might as well give up hope then. (181)

The humor is apparent (Calonice assumes Lysistrata's "something big" refers to a male erection), but so too is the nobility of the dream of the woman for whom the very play is named. Lysistrata's "something big" is not, as Calonice suspects, a reference to a portion of the male anatomy, but rather a reference to an idea she has developed -- a way to end the Peloponnesian Wars.

What Aristophanes is able to achieve is a delicate balance between the human and the ideal. The social nature of the comedy revels in an earthy humor -- a constant stream of jokes that reminds us of our human natures. Yet it also reaches for a noble idea -- as Browning suggests: "A man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?" (98). Lysistrata is a comedic attempt to reach for heavenly peace -- and it succeeds in a way that is much different from the Homeric.

Homer's epic poem relies on the dramatic much more than the comedic. It reinforces human nature, not through social satire, but through empathy and sympathy -- or, in other words, through catharsis. The Iliad purges the emotions of impurities, and raises the heart and mind to a heavenly kind of nobility. When one reflects on the serenity and trust in Priam's words when he commands his people to bring wood for the funeral pyre ("No need to fear an ambush of the Argives. / When he dismissed me from the camp, Achilles / told me clearly they will not harass us, / not until dawn comes for the twelfth day") (443), one perceives that respect has been shown between Greek and Trojan -- that honor has been paid.

There is, of course, a price that comes with paying it. That price may be tallied in the loss of Troy's favorite son -- or it may be tolled in the humiliation of Priam before Achilles. Indeed, Priam's obeisance before Achilles brings the entire work into focus -- it evokes, as Aristotle judged a drama should, pity and fear: says Priam: "Achilles, / be reverent toward the great gods! And take / pity on me, remember your own father. / Think me more pitiful by far, since I / have brought myself to do what no man else / has done before -- to lift to my lips the hand / of one who killed my son" (435). Priam's supplication strikes right at the heart of the proud Achilles -- and Achilles' wrath is finally allayed: "When Achilles' heart / had known the luxury of tears, and pain / within his breast and bones had passed away, / he stood then, raised the old king up, in pity / for his grey head and greybeard cheek, and spoke / in a warm rush of words: 'Ah, sad and old!'" (435). It is the pain of human suffering and the common loss of loved ones that the two proud men now share. They are meeting, not as warriors on the battlefield, but as equals under one roof.

Yet, if pain and suffering unite the two warring camps in The Iliad, joy and humanity unite the two warring camps at the end of Lysistrata. Lysistrata's plan for the women to withhold sex so that the men might get so fed up that they make peace and return home for good is met with a chorus of "boos" at first -- but the plan pays off in the end -- and here the price has not been death (as it is in The Iliad) but pleasure -- sexual pleasure. Lysistrata's heroic effort (the sacrifice of sex) for peace brings about a happy conclusion to the war between the city-states. The men are become so sex-starved that they cannot conclude their treaty fast enough -- a treaty whose phrasing… READ MORE

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