Download Sociohist context Frogs Odyssey

Homer & Aristophanes
An introduction to the socio-historical
context of Odyssey and The Frogs.
Odysseus blinding the Cyclopes
What does ‘Socio-historical’ mean?
• The Classical Studies study design defines
socio historical as: “ the world in which the
classical work was produced.”
• It means you need to understand the
significance of specific events from the
Classical era as well as the structure of the
social, cultural and political environment.
Homer
• There is no certain
knowledge about Homer
• He may have lived in the
8th Century BCE
• Some say he was a blind
poet from Chios
• Some say he was a court
singer
• Modern scholars don’t
agree about who actually
wrote Iliad and Odyssey
Bust of Homer from The British
Museum
• However, these works
and the later Homeric
Hymns are attributed to
Homer
• Both Iliad and Odyssey
draw on the oral tradition
• All scholars are in
agreement that these two
works are the foundation
of Greek literature
• Some go as far as to say
that they are the
foundation of Western
literature
Odysseus and the Siren
An age of transition
• At the time Homer ‘wrote’ Odyssey, Greece was
emerging from the Dark Age
• Trade was expanding in the Mediterranean
• Colonization had begun with Greek trading stations
in Italy and Sicily
• New settlements developed, with a growing trend
towards oligarchic rule
• Common religious practices, sacred sites and
festivals began to develop the Greek cultural identity
• The Greeks of Homer’s time respected bravery,
endurance, the rules of hospitality and the Gods
• They were curious about distant places and valued
a man who was intelligent, resourceful,
courageous, honourable and hospitable
• They were proud of their ancestors and enraptured
by stories of heroes
Odysseus and Kirke
Aristophanes
• Aristophanes was a comic poet born around 445
BCE
• He died in the 380s
• Aristophanes used the unique power of comedy
to freely criticize political leaders without fear of
retribution
• He urged through his work a return to the
honour and courage of the ‘Men of Marathon’
• By 405 BCE when The
Frogs was written Athens
was on the brink of losing
the Peloponnesian war
• Since the death of
Pericles in 428 BCE
Aristophanes had
watched the leaders of
Athens blunder from one
disaster to another
• In 413 BCE the assembly
made a disastrous
expedition to Sicily that
resulted in a crushing
defeat
Hades and Persephone in the
Underworld
• In 411 BCE a coup tried to overthrow the
power of the popular assembly, but they failed
and lost their citizenship
• The democrats became more self important
than before, and led by Cleophon they
spurned a peace offer from Sparta after a
victory at Arginusae in 406.
• Lysander blockaded Piraeus and the Spartan
force massed at Decelaea
• The situation for Athens was dire
Hades and Persephone in the Underworld
• The sense of impending
threat is never far from
the audience’s mind in
The Frogs
• Aristophanes is urging
that the Athenians need
a leader to save them
• Aeschylus, another
writer who lived
through turbulent times
is chosen, though it is
uncertain if rescue will
actually follow
• The Greeks of Aristophanes’ time are vastly
different to those from the time of Homer.
• Athens at this time is a sophisticated, urban
community and its members are actively engaged
with the world around them
• The threat of defeat is obvious and pressing
• Aristophanes voices the need for the leaders and
citizens of Athens to return to the values
expressed by earlier writers like Aeschylus and
Homer, implying strongly of impending disaster if
they do not
• In 404 BCE Athens fell.