Greek and Roman Lit There are a few things I would like you freshmen to know. One is that you only have to know the italicized stuff. The rest is for your own time and is partially for my own benefit. Also, if you have some time I would read the plot summaries for the major works. I have summarized them pretty well, but it can’t hurt to read something directly from the source (Wikipedia/Sparknotes)WIKIPEDIA AND SPARKNOTES ARE NOT DIRECTLY FROM THE SOURCE!!. And don’t worry if you think you can’t pass the quiz. Just make a quizlet and study every night. Greek Aristophanes ­He is a proponent of the Old Comedy ­The Father of Satire ­He is often contrasted with Menander, a proponent of the New Comedy ­He often attacked Cleon, an Athenian statesman ­Lysistrata ­The play opens with Lysistrata and the representative of women, Calonice ­They are also supported by Lampito, the Spartan ­Together, the three swear to withhold sex to get the men to stop fighting ­At this point in time, the Peloponnesian War is going on ­They decide that swearing over a shield would be inappropriate ­So they swear an oath over a bowl of wine to withhold sex ­They even swear to not use The Lioness on The Cheese Grater ­Then the women also revolt, seizing the Acropolis and its treasury ­Old men appear, intent on burning down the door to the Acropolis ­However, a group of old women appears and douses them with water ­Then a group of Scythian archers tries to get the door open ­They are overwhelmed by a group of women ­Lysistrata then decides to reason with the magistrate ­She compares ideal government policies to wool ­After he does not listen to her, she dresses him like he’s dead and tells him he’s dead ­She goes back to the Acropolis, where the women are getting desperate for sex ­One of them deserts under the pretext “she needs to air out her fabrics” ­But Lysistrata rallies them and they continue to wait in the Acropolis ­Then a man appears; it is Kinesias, who is desperate for sex with his wife Myrrhine ­Myrrhine agrees if he agrees to end the Peloponnesian War ­He agrees, but he is obviously lying, so Myrrhine taunts him some more ­She goes off stage again and again, fetching things like a bed, pillow, perfume, oil, etc. ­Then two more men appear, a Spartan herald and the Magistrate ­They are both sporting massive erections, and they decide to agree to peace ­To make the negotiations go quickly, Lysistrata introduces them to Reconciliation ­Sometimes Reconciliation is also called Peace ­She is a gorgeous woman, and she is naked ­With her there, the peace talks go quickly and everyone celebrates ­The Frogs ­Dionysus travels to Hades to bring back Euripides from the dead ­He brings along his slave Xanthias ­Dionysus shows up at Heracles door wearing a lion skin and holding a club ­Heracles tells Dionysus he can hang himself, drink poison, or jump off a tower ­Dionysus opts to go across a lake to get to Hades ­As Dionysus is going across the lake, the frogs sing Brekekekex koax koax ­Xanthias had to walk around instead of taking the ferry ­When he got to the other side Xanthias claimed to have seen the monster Empusa ­Aeacus mistakes Dionysus for Heracles ­Aecus is still angry over Heracles theft of Cerberus, so he tries to attack Dionysus ­Frightened, Dionysus trades clothes with Xanthias ­However, a maid invites Heracles (Xanthias) to dance with virgin dancing girls ­So Dionysus changes back ­But then, Dionysus sees more Heracles­haters and trades back with Xanthias again ­Then both Xanthias and Dionysus are whipped after Aeacus finds out who they are ­The next scene sees Dionysus judge Euripides, who had challenged Aeschylus ­They are both competing for “Best Tragic Poet” ­Aeschylus will interrupt Euripides with the phrase “lost his little flask of oil” ­Finally Dionysus judges on whose lines literally have the most weight ­Aeschylus wins that, but Dionysus decides to revive the one who offers the best advice ­Aeschylus wins that also, and he is revived to help save Athens ­As Aeschylus leaves, he declares that Sophocles, not Euripides, should have his seat ­The Clouds ­The Clouds make up the chorus ­They complain about the failure of the play to the audience ­Strepsiades enrolls his son Pheidippides at the Thinkery of Socrates ­Strepsiades has a problem wasting money on horse races ­Right Logic loses a debate to Wrong Logic ­Socrates appears in a hot air balloon ­The Birds ­Is about the construction of Cloudcuckooland ­ Pisthertaerus ­Goodhope and Makedo ­A king named Tereus gets turned into a Hoopoe ­After this, he goes by the name Epops ­Melos Island ­The Knights ­Agoracritus, a sausage seller, fights with Cleon to win the approval of Demos ­Demos means “the people” in Greek ­Peace ­It was staged just a few days before the Peace of Nicias ­Peace is the title character ­War imprisoned her in a deep pit covered with stones ­Trygaeus flies a dung beetle up to Olympus to free Peace ­The Wasps ­Procleon and Anti­Cleon ­Procleon challenges three crabs to a dance­off ­The Acharnians ­Dikaiopolis obtains a private peace with Sparta ­The Acharnians are charcoal burners ­Ecclesiazusae (The Assemblywomen) ­Praxagora is the leader of the group of women ­Thesmophoriazusae (The Women Celebrating the Thesmophoria) ­The women plot to kill Euripides at the festival of Thesmophoria ­The Frying­Pan Men ­The Babylonians ­The Storks ­Wealth ­Merchant Ships Aeschylus ­The Father of Tragedy ­The Oresteia ­ fourth play entitled Proteus that didn't survive ­Agamemnon ­Agamemnon, King of Argos, is currently coming home from the Trojan War ­His wife, Clytemnestra, is planning his murder for two reasons ­One is because he had sacrificed Iphigenia for success at Troy ­Two is because she had started an affair with Aegisthus ­She waits for him, using mountain signals to tell when he returns ­When he does, she tries to get him to step on a purple rug, signaling hubris ­After he does, she kills him in his bath ­Cassandra ­Herald Talthybius The Libation Bearers ­Orestes and Pylades, son of the king of Phocis, go to Agamemnon’s grave ­Orestes place two locks of hair on the grave ­Electra appears, and Orestes and Pylades hide ­Electra pays libations to the grave by request of Clytemnestra ­This is because Clytemnestra had a dream of a snake breastfeeding from her ­The snake draws both blood and milk, which she perceives as wrath of the gods ­After the libations are over, Orestes comes out and convinces Electra who he is ­Electra and Orestes then decide to kill Clytemnestra and Aegisthus ­Orestes and Pylades travel to Argos posing as travelers from Phocis ­The convince Clytemnestra Orestes is dead ­The servant Clissa brings Aegisthus without his guard ­Orestes then reveals himself and kills Aegisthus ­Clytemnestra reveals her breasts before Orestes kills her The Eumenides ­It is said that a woman died of a miscarriage when seeing the Furies of this play ­Orestes is tormented by the Erinyes (Furies) ­They are avenging his crimes of matricide and patricide ­Orestes tries to take solace in Apollo’s temple at Delphi ­However, the Furies still torment him ­So Apollo sends him to Athens, making the Furies drowsy slowing them ­The ghost of Clytemnestra appears to the sleepy Furies, urging them to pursue ­They hum together and wake up and smell the blood of Clytemnestra on Orestes ­This is how they track him, eventually seeing individual droplets of blood ­As they surround him, Athena intervenes ­She calls 11 other Athenians together to try Orestes at the Aeropagus ­Apollo acts as counsel to Orestes ­The Furies act as advocate for the dead Clytemnestra ­Apollo says that man is more important than women, making Orestes crime okay ­He does this by saying Athena was born of Zeus without a mother ­The jury takes a vote, and it ends in a tie ­As previously determined, the tie gets Orestes acquitted ­The Furies accept this verdict and are then called Kindly Ones The Persians ­Takes place in Susa, Iran, which at the time was a Persian capital ­The Queen Mother Atossa awaits news of Xerxes conquests ­She learns of his defeat and subsequent fleeing at Salamis ­She then summons the ghost of Darius ­He condemns Xerxes hubris, especially for building a bridge across the Hellespont ­He also prophecies a Persian defeat at Plataea ­Prometheus Bound ­Prometheus defies Zeus by stealing fire for humanity ­For this, he is chained to a rock by Kratos (Strength), Bia (Force), and Hephaestus ­Prometheus is visited by Io, one of Zeus’s flings ­She had been turned into a cow and chased by a gadfly sent from Hera ­Prometheus tells Io that her troubles will end in Egypt ­He says this is where she will have a son Epaphus ­One of his, and therefore hers, descendants (unnamed Heracles) will eventually free him ­Zeus demands Prometheus tell him who will overthrow him ­Prometheus refuses, causing Zeus to hit him with lightning sending him into the abyss ­The Seven Against Thebes ­Eteocles and Polynices are the sons of Oedipus ­Oedipus had cursed them to divide the kingdom by the sword ­After Oedipus leaves Thebes, they agree to alternate ruling every year ­However, Eteocles does not step down after a year ­So Polynices raises an army, led by the Seven Argive Captains, to take Thebes ­The seven captains are the title seven against Thebes ­The attackers are repelled from Thebes, but Eteocles and Polynices kill each other ­They do this in single combat, fulfilling Oedipus’s curse ­The Suppliants ­Don’t buzz on this unless you can keep this one and the Euripides one ­To solve that problem, here is the summary and some