• Join over 1.2 million students every month
  • Accelerate your learning by 29%
  • Unlimited access for just £4.99 per month

The portrayal of Women in The Trojan Women and Medea by Euripides and in Lysistrata by Aristophanes.

Page
  1. 1
    1
  2. 2
    2
  3. 3
    3
  4. 4
    4
  5. 5
    5
  • Essay length: 1454 words
  • Submitted: 28/06/2004
Share this essay:
AS and A Level Classics

The first 200 words of this essay...

In The Trojan Women and Medea by Euripides and in Lysistrata by Aristophanes the harsh and debasing treatment of women is portrayed by the playwrights' use of the chorus's commentary. In all three plays, women are shown, in the conventional attitudes of the time, as beings made for the household and subordinate to men. In The Trojan Women, the captive women become hopeless slaves to the Achaean captors after the fall of Troy and in Medea, the husband appears as the dominant force in marital decisions in a play when Medea murders her children and the new wife of the adulterous Jason. Accordingly, Aristophanes shows that women are unfit to leave the protection and controlling hands of their husbands through Lysistrata whereas the women revolt against the men in a war of the sexes. In general, these three plays emphasize that Greek men are unjustly more important to society as women hold a lower stature.

In the first of the three Greek tragedies, The Trojan Women takes place in front of the sacked city of Troy, which has been defeated by the Achaeans and the husbandless Trojan women are waiting to be enslaved. The chorus in this play

Read more
The above preview is unformatted text

Found what you're looking for?

  • Start learning 29% faster today
  • Over 150,000 essays available
  • Just £4.99 a month

  • "
    You enable students to explore areas of knowledge to improve their writing and at the same time, reduce the risk of plagiarism to balance a mix of student achievement and awareness of education.
    "
    Dean Hil. l Media, Business, ICT, History and Sciences. University Student.
  • "
    Certainly, the advantage of being able to see such a vast collection of examplars which comes with being a member of Markedbyteachers.com is astounding.
    "
    Telim Dars. Chemistry, Physics and English Literature. A Level Student.

Marked by a teacher

This essay has been marked by one of our great teachers. You can read the full teachers notes when you download the essay.

Peer reviewed

This essay has been reviewed by one of our specialist student essay reviewing squad. Read the full review on the essay page.

Peer reviewed

This essay has been reviewed by one of our specialist student essay reviewing squad. Read the full review under the essay preview on this page.