Adaptations, on the surface, seem like a way to better understand works of art, for example a dance routine or modern film. It gives the confused a chance to comprehend and the clear an opportunity to enhance what they already knew. Not only does this take place within generations, but adaptations can also give separate generations an attempt at connecting and understanding each other. In other words, someone from the 21st century can experience the perspective of an 18th century man/woman simply by means of an adaptation to a playwright or even painting. With this being said, Spike Lee’s Chi-Raq is the modern version movie of the play Lysistrata Aristophanes and when looked at through a reflective lens, both the modern film and ancient Greek…show more content… Historically speaking, around 400 BCE, Athens was at a major turning point in the Peloponnesian War. After a defeat at Sicily where there were a great deal of Athenian casualties, Athens started to rebuild the naval power it was, and rightfully so; Athens knew if they had any chance of beating Sparta in this Greek civil war, having an advantage on water would greatly benefit them. “In Lysistrata, Aristophanes captures the tension between a rekindled confidence in Athens’ ability to win the war or to secure favorable terms and weariness over the toll the war was taking” (Stark). Whether it was a new energy brought to the war by Athenians or the overall toll it had on men, women, and children, the end of the war came from an unexpected source: women. Similarly, Lee adopts Aristophanes’ idea of a sex-strike to put an end to violence in the south side of Chicago. However, in contrast to Aristophanes, Lee purposefully “avoids allowing his audience to escape the emergency of the situation by interweaving into the Aristophanic drama a narrative thread that constantly pierces the fantasy and draws the audience back to reality” (Stark). Throughout Chi-Raq, Lee does not spare any violence, gore, or sexual situations, leading his audience to potentially…show more content… This could be due to the sad fact that women were not as respected as men during ancient times, and the enormous time gap between both works results in the different perspectives on gender. Lysistrata’s persona is shown in how she was able to use her work ethic and attitude to end gang violence. Lysistrata is shown as a more determined and powerful woman in Chi-Raq than in Lysistrata. For example, in Chi-Raq Lysistrata leads a meeting with the older women in her town so she can present to them the idea of the sex strike. She is being proactive instead of reactive (not to say the main character in Lysistrata is reactive), and this is seen in her actions taken towards putting an end to gun violence. However, in both the film and play, Lysistrata’s physical appearance plays a significant role: “She uses her beauty to her advantage to further her success in the sex strike” (Stark). This may be true but only in the movie is where Lysistrata’s true beauty is shown. From the gold jewelry, to the urban styled clothing, it clear that Lysistrata is not only beautiful but also very confident; as Dolmedes said at the end of the film: “Lysistrata built an empire more powerful than the Roman empire”
