The Thorn Birds is a romance novel set primarily on Drogheda, a fictional sheep station in the Australian Outback. The story spans from 1915 to 1969 and focuses on the Cleary family, particularly Meghann 'Meggie' Cleary and her doomed and tragic relationship with Father Ralph de Bricassart, a Catholic priest. The novel explores themes of love, sacrifice, and the struggles of ordinary people against the backdrop of historical events such as two world wars and the Great Depression. The title is derived from a myth about a bird that sings a beautiful song once in its life before dying, symbolizing the sacrifices made by the characters in the story.
While not explicitly discussed in this transcript, Aristophanes' Frogs is another of his well-known comedies. It's a satirical play featuring a journey to the underworld where Dionysus, the god of theatre, seeks to bring back a great tragic poet. The play is known for its witty dialogue, clever wordplay, and its exploration of the nature of tragedy and comedy. It also features a comedic contest between Aeschylus and Euripides, two prominent tragic playwrights of the time. The play's enduring relevance lies in its exploration of artistic merit and the enduring power of theatrical performance.
Aristophanes' Lysistrata is a classic example of ancient Greek comedy, known for its satirical portrayal of the Peloponnesian War and its exploration of gender roles. The play centers on Lysistrata, a woman who rallies other Athenian women to withhold sexual relations from their husbands as a means of ending the war. Lysistrata's wit, her determination, and her unconventional approach to conflict resolution make her a memorable and powerful character. The play's humor is often bawdy and irreverent, reflecting the social and political climate of ancient Athens. Lysistrata's enduring popularity stems from its clever satire, its memorable characters, and its exploration of timeless themes of war, peace, and gender dynamics.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Aristophanes' comedy in which the women of Athens and Sparta, led by Lysistrata, secure peace in the long-running war between them by staging a sex strike. To the men in the audience in 411BC, the idea that peace in the Peloponnesian War could be won so easily was ridiculous and the thought that their wives could have so much power over them was even more so. However Aristophanes' comedy also has the women seizing the treasure in the Acropolis that was meant to fund more fighting in an emergency, a fund the Athenians had recently had to draw on. They were in a perilous position and, much as they might laugh at Aristophanes' jokes, they knew there were real concerns about the actual cost of the war in terms of wealth and manpower.
With
Paul Cartledge
AG Leventis Senior Research Fellow of Clare College, University of Cambridge
Sarah Miles
Associate Professor in the Department of Classics and Ancient History at Durham University
And
James Robson
Professor of Classical Studies at the Open University
Producer: Simon Tillotson
Reading list:
Aristophanes (ed. Jeffrey Henderson), Lysistrata (Oxford University Press, 1987)
Aristophanes (ed. Jeffrey Henderson), Three Plays by Aristophanes: Staging Women (Routledge, 2010)
Aristophanes (ed. Jeffrey Henderson), Birds; Lysistrata; Women at the Thesmophoria (Loeb Classical Library series, Harvard University Press, 2014)
Aristophanes (ed. Alan H. Sommerstein), Lysistrata and Other Plays: The Acharnians; The Clouds; Lysistrata (Penguin, 2002)
Aristophanes (ed. Alan H. Sommerstein), Lysistrata (Aris & Phillips, 1998)
Paul Cartledge, Aristophanes and his Theatre of the Absurd (Bristol Classical Press, 1999)
Kenneth Dover, Aristophanic Comedy (University of California Press, 1972)
Germaine Greer, Lysistrata: The Sex Strike: After Aristophanes (Aurora Metro Press, 2000)
Tony Harrison, The Common Chorus: A Version of Aristophanes’ Lysistrata (Faber & Faber, 1992)
Douglas M. MacDowell, Aristophanes and Athens: An Introduction to the Plays (Oxford University Press, 1995)
S. Douglas Olson (ed.), Ancient Comedy and Reception: Essays in Honor of Jeffrey Henderson (De Gruyter, 2013), especially 'She (Don't) Gotta Have It: African-American reception of Lysistrata' by Kevin Wetmore
James Robson, Aristophanes: Lysistrata, Bloomsbury ancient comedy companions (Bloomsbury, 2023)
James Robson, Aristophanes: An Introduction (Duckworth, 2009)
Ralph M. Rosen and Helene P. Foley (eds.), Aristophanes and Politics. New Studies (Brill, 2020)
Donald Sells, Parody, Politics and the Populace in Greek Old Comedy (Bloomsbury, 2018)
David Stuttard (ed.), Looking at Lysistrata: Eight Essays and a New Version of Aristophanes' Provocative Comedy (Bristol Classical Press, 2010)
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