Friend or Foe? Maybe We’ll Never Know

      Friendship can be generally defined as a relationship of mutual affection between people. Friendship must include mutual respect, trust, and appreciation while mostly disregarding selfish desires for the sake of the other person. A base person, a person of low character, is incapable of having true friendships according to Aristotle; it cannot wish goodwill on another person because of an overabundance of egocentric characteristics and tendencies. Aristotle divides friendship into three kinds: those based on utility, those based on pleasure, and those based on goodness. The first two types of friendship rely on manipulation, while the final type relies on mutuality. In books eight and nine of Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle says that base people cannot have true friendships because they cannot give up their selfishness and genuinely care for another person. 

Aristotle defines true friendship as a mutual respect between two people. He says, “For friendship is a certain virtue or is accompanied by virtue;” (1155a4), and “Without friends, no one would choose to live, even if he possessed all other goods;” (1155a5-6). Friendship is an essential aspect of life because humans are social creatures that thrive on interactions. True friendship holds people together and is capable of holding entire cities together and is based on equal exchanges between both members. It is strong and powerful and both parties must put an equal amount of energy into the relationship. True friends never try to harm one another. Aristotle says, “But complete friendship is the friendship of those who are good and alike in point of virtue.” (1156b7-8) , which solidifies the point that true friendship relies on a degree of mutuality. Friendship requires some level of like-mindedness to drive out what could cause hatred and enmity between the friends.  

     The first type of friendship, the one based on utility, relies on both people using the other to fulfill their wants and desires. Both parties only think of themselves. Aristotle says, “Those who love each other on account of utility, then, do not love each other in themselves, but only insofar as they come to have something good from the other” (1156a10-12). This friendship exists solely to get what each person wants from the other and solely for personal gain which is excessively selfish. Aristotle uses the example of a borrower and a lender to illustrate his point. The lender only wants friendship with the borrower so the borrower can pay back what is owed to the lender. Friendship cannot exist like this because There is no mutual affection and love, only selfishness. The “friends” love for the sake of their own good and what they can gain for their selfish betterment with no regard for the other person. This type of friendship cannot last very long because one or both people will get tired of not being truly appreciated for being himself -- only what he can give to the other person and not receive anything in return. 

     The second type of friendship, the one based on pleasure, relies on both members entering into the relationship solely for the fact that the other has some attractive quality, whether that be physical attractiveness or attractiveness of wit. They draw pleasure from that quality and nothing else. Aristotle writes, “But the friendship of the young seems to be based on pleasure, for they live according to passion and most of all pursue what is pleasant to them and at hand. (11156a32-34), and both only care about appearances and what others think about them. They have no care for the other person as a whole, the only care about the attractive quality of that person. These friendships tend to be quick and can change quickly because pleasure is swift and fleeting.  

     The last type of friendship, the one based on goodness, is the true and perfect friendship. Aristotle says, “For such people wish in similar fashion for the good things for each other insofar as they are good, and they are good in themselves” (1156b9-10). This friendship revolves around support and constant communication and is truly good. Each person appreciates the other for who they truly are. They are not in it for selfish gain or purely or appearances, they are in it for the deep and meaningful connection. 

     True friendship does come from selfish desires but from the genuine appreciation of another person. There cannot be true friendship without mutual trust and respect between both parties. Genuine friendships do not happen often, but when they do, they usually last a lifetime. Aristotle says that base people cannot have true friendships because of an overabundance of selfishness. Base people cannot put aside their own feelings for the sake of another person, and that is not what true friendship is. True friendship willingly denies oneself for the sake of another person.  

Gender Roles Turned Upside Down

Gender Roles Turned Upside Down

     A gender role is a social construction of behaviors that are considered acceptable based on sexuality. Typically, women clean, cook and raise children while men endure hard work and make the funds necessary for living. In Euripides’ Bacchae, gender roles are reversed through Dionysus’ hypnotism of the women, the maenads’ predator-like behavior, and Pentheus’ decision to dress like a woman. Not only are women thrust into masculine roles, but Pentheus, a man, is thrust into a feminine role as well.
     Dionysus has an intoxicating effect on women, and he uses his power to his advantage. Through the use of his enthralling power, he calls the Theban maenads to leave their work. Euripides says, ”There waits a throng of women-born/now stung to leave their work/at loom and shuttle, stung by Dionysus.” (116-118) , which solidifies the idea that women change their roles. Instead of working in the house and making clothes, the maenads now take on a masculine quality because they are free to do what they want. Even under an enchantment, the maenads still manage to dance to “the beat of a swift Bacchic dance” (126).
     The abandonment of daily household activities disrupts the lives of the entire village and Pentheus, the King of Thebes, violently protests the change because it threatens to unbalance his entire’s city’s social structure. Girls are supposed to be unyoked before marriage and bound to their husbands and household duties after marriage. He cannot fathom the idea that women are behaving immorally instead of behaving subserviently in their houses. He says,” These women of ours have left their homes/ and run away to the mountains, pretending/ to be Bacchants.” (217-219) , and through the use of “pretending”, he refuses to believe that the women left the homes of their own accord. Running back to the wild to perform rituals likens them once again to unyoked wild animals.
    Even though Pentheus initially refuses to believe in the maenad’s lifestyle, he eventually comes to see it as truth. The maenads are ferocious creatures when need be. They “tore the towns to shreds, stole children from the houses,/ put booty on their shoulders.” , which describes the maenads acting in a beastly manner. They tear entire towns to pieces with their own bare hands. This is entirely unheard of! Agavê, Pentheus’ mother, calls the maenads “running dogs of mine” (731), and the maenads chase after the men chasing them. Instead of men chasing women, women chase men. It is an instant role reversal.
    After the maenads rip Pentheus to shreds, Agavê demands to be recognized for her prized kill. In regards to the first blow of the kill, she says,” Mine. It was a privilege.” (1179) , and she also says,” And I brought you this with my own arms —/ Do you see? It’s the hero-trophy I captured,” (1238-1239) which reinforces the idea that the maenads present a predator-like behavior. Like an animal, Agavê prides herself on her kill.
    Gender role reversal does not only happen to women; Pentheus also demonstrates feminine qualities. In order to witness the maenads’ behavior for himself, Pentheus enlists Dionysus for advice. Dionysus’ suggests to Pentheus that he dress in women’s clothing and wear a wig of long hair. At first, Pentheus detests the idea. Dionysus says, ”Just step inside your house and I’ll fit you out.” (828) , and Pentheus replies,” How? As a woman? That’s disgusting!” (829). To Pentheus, nothing could be more humiliating than being seen in a woman’s clothes. However, Pentheus eventually agrees to Dionysus’ plan. The feminization of Pentheus not only serves as an example of gender roles reversed but also Dionysus’ overpowering power.
    Gender roles are nothing more than a construction of behaviors that are viewed as socially acceptable. Men work hard and make money while women stay in the house and raise children. In Euripides’ Bacchae, gender roles are reversed. Dionysus hypnotizes the Theban women to abandon their lives and join him, the maenads’ predator-like behavior, and Pentheus’ reluctant willingness to dress in women’s clothing.

  

Women are People Too!

   Imagine a world where women are nothing more than pleasant decoration and daft emotion. Women have no value, and they have no role in society except to be subservient to the men in their lives, especially their husbands. This is especially true in the time of the ancient Greeks and Romans when Agamemnon by Aeschylus is written. However, Clytemnestra rejects the societal customs for women through her manly qualities in action and speech and her willingness to take matters into her own hands. Katharine Hepburn says, ”If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun,”, and Clytemnestra hangs on to this sentiment with every fiber of her being.
   Clytemnestra is not your typical woman; she is a fierce, warrior-like queen. Her husband, Agamemnon, leaves his kingdom to fight and conquer the Trojans, and Clytemnestra takes his place as the ruler of Mycenae. In the first page, the watchman says “So she commands, full of her high hopes. / That woman — she maneuvers like a man.” (Ag.,12-13), which introduces the idea that Clytemnestra does not conform to society’s view of women’s roles. Also, Clytemnestra is likened to a commander or warrior through the use of the word “commands”. The Leader also tells Clytemnestra “Spoken like a true man, my lady, loyal, / full of self-command.” (Ag., 354-355) after she talks about their victory over Troy. Unlike the typical, delicate women of the time, she knows the outcome of the war and she knows what events transpired to achieve the victory.
   Clytemnestra is a force to be reckoned with. She does not speak like a woman; she does not speak submissively or modestly. Instead, she says, “Here I stand and here I struck / and here my work is done. / I did it all. I don’t deny it, no. (Ag.,1398-1400) , and this solidifies the role reversal at play. Instead of denying or refusing to admit to the murder of her husband, she blatantly proclaims what she has done. Also, she says, “And you, / you try me like some desperate woman. / My heart is steel, well you know.” (Ag.,1424-1426) which denies her femininity to a certain extent. Biologically, she is a woman, but she acts like a man. Through her use of masculine language, describing herself the way a man would describe himself, she adopts some characteristics of men, the dominant sex.
   Typically, women do not murder men. They do not commit murder in general! However, Clytemnestra turns the tables and acts in an unladylike way. Through the murder of her husband, which she committed with her own hands, she seals the idea that she is not a typical woman. The chorus says, “Woman! — what poison cropped from the soil / or stained from the heaving sea, what nursed you, / drove you insane?” (Ag., 1432-1434) , and this blatantly says that she killed her husband. She has a co-conspirator, yes, but this is her idea, and she carries it out on her own.
Clytemnestra wants her husband out of the picture forever, and she does whatever it takes to carry out what she wants. She will not wait around for a man to kill Agamemnon; she does it herself. The murder of Agamemnon is a catalyst for change in her household. Little does she know, her actions sparked an earth-shattering divide between herself and the other members of her family. She is a powerful woman, but that may be her downfall in the end.
   Women are supposed to be delicate, porcelain dolls meant for decoration, nothing more. However, Clytemnestra has other plans. She will not be cast aside; she is the queen. She is not a typical woman, and we see that through her manly qualities in her actions and speech, and her willingness to achieve her ultimate goal: murder her husband and become the ruler of Mycenae. Women are not as delicate as the world, especially men, make us seem. We are powerful warriors capable of anything men can do, and most times we do it better.

Having a Goddess as a Mother: The Struggle is Real

    In her book The Way Back Home, Elle Woods says “All the forces on this planet, will never beat that of a mother's love.” Venus, the mother of our hero, Aeneas, embodies this perfectly. She cares so deeply about her son and because of her mother’s love she defies the great and mighty Juno. She advises her son as he makes his way to fulfill his destiny, and she casts an arrow upon Dido, ensuring her love for him, to save Aeneas from Juno’s wrath. A mother will go to crazy extremes for her son, including putting herself in danger.
   We first see the relationship between Aeneas and Venus at the beginning of the first book. Juno is enraged by Aeneas because his destiny his to be the father of the Romans. But that contradicts and threatens her plan. First, Venus asks Jove “what crime could my Aeneas/ commit against you, what dire harm could the Trojans do” (1.273-274), and she is trying to persuade the husband of Juno to spare the Trojans, the race of her son. She wants her son to be spared from a heartless end, and rightly so. She yearns for her son to fulfill his destiny and become the man he was destined to be, so she begs Jove to spare her son. Jove believes in Venus’ son and keeps Aeneas safe. Jove then reassures Venus by telling her about the purpose of Aeneas’ existence. He says “Aeneas will wage/a long, costly war in Italy, crush defiant tribes/and build high city walls for his people there/and found the rule of law”(1.314-317) and Venus seems to be relieved and reassured in her son’s safety. However, you can never be too careful when your son has such an important fate. And being a goddess helps too.
   Aeneas continues on his journey and when he gets to Carthage he meets the woman he was destined for from the start. Or so Venus thinks.
   Venus yet again intervenes in Aeneas’ life. She cannot trust her son to charm a widowed queen on his own, and she ropes Cupid, her other son, into firing an arrow at Dido to ensure that she falls in love with Aeneas. She can’t stop meddling in her son’s life! Cupid “blots out the memory of Sychaeus bit by bit/trying to seize with a fresh, living love/a heart at rest for long--- long numb to passion” (1. 861-863) because his mother fears that Aeneas will never be able to fulfill his fate without marrying Dido. Dido, to her credit, falls head over heels in love with Aeneas which fulfills Venus’ plan. Venus has saved her son! Or has she?
   Poor Venus. Despite her efforts to save Aeneas, her beloved and dutiful son, she still falls a bit flat. Her aiding Aeneas in the early stages of his journey did bring forth the results she desired, but sadly her matchmaking skills need some work. Dido and Aeneas seem like the perfect couple, except for the fact that Dido’s love may be fake. Also, it doesn’t help anything that Dido kills herself at the end of the fourth book. Ouch.
   Venus is the epitome of the quote mentioned above. She is determined to move heaven and earth if that is what is required to keep her son safe. Aeneas is the founder of the Romans, chosen by the Fates. She must do all she can or else face the wrath of the Fates. And nobody wants that. Despite her best efforts, Venus’ final plan falls flat. She should have factored in the humanity and fragility of humans. Dido committed suicide, and I bet Venus did not expect that to happen.
   Even after the spectacular fails and successes, Venus never left her son. She continued to stick by Aeneas, guide him on his crazy journey, and spur an important relationship with Dido.

Bonjour!

Hi there! I'm Alison and I'm a freshman at Faulkner University. I'm currently studying clinical psychology and aspire to work either in an inpatient mental health facility or on a psychiatric ward of a hospital. I'm a major advocate of mental health and mental health awareness. Anyways, I love reading (mostly fantasy), writing (mostly poetry), music, driving around with the windows down, and traveling. I'm from Prattville, Alabama and I am an only child. No, it's not all great and I promise you don't want to get rid of your siblings. I am so grateful to be in Great Books and have the opportunity to dive deep into the books we read. Enjoy this adventure!