Lysistrata(s)
Aristophanes and Spike Lee
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12936600 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Caroline Stark (Howard University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Publication date | 2018-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Classical Receptions Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1759-5134 • E-ISSN: 1759-5142 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1093/crj/cly003 |
| OpenAlex | W2801125206 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 51 |
Cinematic reworkings and performances of ancient drama offer a valuable interpretative lens for rethinking issues and themes in the source text. Using Spike Lee's cinematic reworking of Aristophanes' Lysistrata in Chi-Raq (2015) as a case study, this article demonstrates that Lee's film reveals the ritual nexus of societal renewal underlying Aristophanes' play through the characterization and transformation of the film's two central characters: Lysistrata and Chi-Raq. In his characterization of Lysistrata and reworking of the Reconciliation scene, Lee shifts the focus of the ritual away from Lysistrata as the presiding goddess/priestess to the ritualistic transformation of the central oikos and the cathartic effect that it brings to the whole community (polis) riven by the conflict. In the face of civic dysfunction and communal self-destruction, Lee and Aristophanes' Lysistratas argue that the salvation of the community is achieved first through domestic and then through collective accountability. By casting this ritual transformation in heroic terms, Lee argues for satire's efficacy to inspire and engender social and political change
Art · Spike (software development · Cinema and Media Studies · Engineering · Shakespeare, Adaptation, and Literary Criticism · Theater, Performance, and Music History
Comedy and Athenian festival culture
Polytheism and Society at Athens
Redeeming the text
Interpretations of Greek Mythology (Routledge Revivals)
Myth and Ritual in Comedy
The Cambridge Companion to Greek Comedy
Black Feminist Thought
Afterword
Cinematic receptions of antiquity
Myth and the Polis
Notes on attic Inscriptions (II)
Inconsistencies in Greek and Roman Religion, Volume 2
Miasma
Interpretations of Greek Mythology
Athenian Myths and Festivals
Landscapes, Gender, and Ritual Space
Portrait of a Priestess
Aristophanes
Brill's Companion to the Study of Greek Comedy
The sacrificial calendar of Athens
A Companion to Classical Receptions
Athenian Religion
The Language of Greek Comedy
The Oxford Handbook of Greek Drama in the Americas
The Languages of Aristophanes
On Greek Religion
The Sacred and Civil Calendar of the Athenian Year
Worshipping Athena
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,17 |
| Citation span | 2020 - 2020 (1) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |