Compilation of the Five World's Most Famous Literatures

Submitted to : Jann Dainver L. Maravilla

Submitted by: Aika C. Malayo

MEDEA

By: Euripides

Genre: Tragedy
Date premiered: 431 BC
Place premiered: Athens
Setting: Before Medea's house in Corinth
Original language: Ancient Greek
Characters:

Medea

Jason

Children

Chorus

Creon

Aegeus

Glauce

PLOT

At the beginning of the play, Medea's in dire straights. For one, her husband, Jason, has married another
woman, Glauke, daughter of Creon the King of Corinth. On top of that, Creon banishes Medea and her
two sons from Corinth. Medea, however, is not the kind of woman to take such mistreatment lying
down. She swears bloody revenge and swiftly sets about finding a way to kill them all.

First, she convinces Creon to let her stay one more day in Corinth. It goes against his better judgment,
but he allows it out of pity for Medea's two sons. This gives Medea enough time to put her plot into
motion. Next Medea has to secure a safe place to retreat to once she's committed the murders. By an
incredibly lucky coincidence, Aegeus, King of Athens, happens by. Medea promises to cure his sterility if
he swears to give her safe harbor. Of course, she neglects to mention she's about to kill a bunch of
people.

Now that Medea has the time and a safe place to retreat to, she can really get to work. She snookers
Jason into believing that she's now cool with his new marriage. Medea begs her husband to ask Glauke if
their two sons can stay in Corinth. Jason is moved and agrees. Medea gives Jason a gossamer gown and a
golden crown to sweeten the deal for Glauke. Jason and the children trot off to the palace with hope in
their hearts. Their hope is misplaced, however, for once again Medea neglects to mention a vital piece of
information: the gifts are cursed.

A Messenger returns and tells Medea all about the horror she has wreaked. When the Princess put on
the gown and crown, she received a rather nasty surprise. Her entire body caught fire and the flesh
melted from her bones. When Creon saw his daughter's flaming corpse, he was so distraught that he
threw his body onto hers and died as well. Medea thinks this is great. Now she only has one thing left to
do, in order to leave Jason totally devastated – kill their sons.

The murder of her children isn't easy for Medea. She struggles with her motherly instincts, but in the
end her revenge is more important. Medea drags the boys inside the house and kills them with a sword.
Jason arrives too late to save his sons. Just as he's banging on the door to stop his wife, Medea erupts
into the sky in a chariot drawn by dragons. Jason curses his wife, and she curses him back. He begs to
have the children's bodies so that he can bury them. She refuses him even this, and takes their corpses
away with her as she flies away triumphant.

OEDIPUS REX

By:Sophocles

Genre: Tragedy

Type Of Work · Play

Date premiered: c. 429 BC

Setting: Thebes

Original language: Classical Greek

Theme: Guilt, Shame

Characters:

Oedipus

Jocasta

Teiresias

Creon

Messenger from Corinth

Herdsman

Priest

Second Messenger

Play Summary

When the play opens, Thebes is suffering a plague which leaves its fields and women barren. Oedipus,
the king of Thebes, has sent his brother-in-law, Creon, to the house of Apollo to ask the oracle how to
end the plague. Creon returns, bearing good news: once the killer of the previous king, Laius, is found,
Thebes will be cured of the plague (Laius was Jocasta's husband before she married Oedipus). Hearing
this, Oedipus swears he will find the murderer and banish him. The Chorus (representing the people of
Thebes) suggests that Oedipus consult Teiresias, the blind prophet. Oedipus tells them that he has
already sent for Teiresias.

When Teiresias arrives, he seems reluctant to answer Oedipus's questions, warning him that he does not
want to know the answers. Oedipus threatens him with death, and finally Teiresias tells him that Oedipus
himself is the killer, and that his marriage is a sinful union. Oedipus takes this as an insult and jumps to
the conclusion that Creon paid Teiresias to say these things. Furious, Oedipus dismisses him, and
Teiresias goes, repeating as he does, that Laius's killer is right here before him -a man who is his father's
killer and his mother's husband, a man who came seeing but will leave in blindness.
Creon enters, asking the people around him if it is true that Oedipus slanderously accused him. The
Chorus tries to mediate, but Oedipus appears and charges Creon with treason. Jocasta and the Chorus
beg Oedipus to be open-minded: Oedipus unwillingly relents and allows Creon to go. Jocasta asks
Oedipus why he is so upset and he tells her what Teiresias prophesied. Jocasta comforts him by telling
him that there is no truth in oracles or prophets, and she has proof. Long ago an oracle told Laius that his
own son would kill him, and as a result he and Jocasta gave their infant son to a shepherd to leave out on
a hillside to die with a pin through its ankles. Yet Laius was killed by robbers, not by his own son, proof
that the oracle was wrong. But something about her story troubles Oedipus; she said that Laius was
killed at a place where three roads meet, and this reminds Oedipus of an incident from his past, when he
killed a stranger at a place where three roads met. He asks her to describe Laius, and her description
matches his memory. Yet Jocasta tells him that the only eyewitness to Laius's death, a herdsman, swore
that five robbers killed him. Oedipus summons this witness.

While they wait for the man to arrive, Jocasta asks Oedipus why he seems so troubled. Oedipus tells her
the story of his past. Once when he was young, a man he met told him that he was not his father's son.
He asked his parents about it, and they denied it. Still it troubled him, and he eventually went to an
oracle to determine his true lineage. The oracle then told him that he would kill his father and marry his
mother. This prophecy so frightened Oedipus that he left his hometown and never returned. On his
journey, he encountered a haughty man at a crossroads - and killed the man after suffering an insult.
Oedipus is afraid that the stranger he killed might have been Laius. If this is the case, Oedipus will be
forever banished both from Thebes (the punishment he swore for the killer of Laius) and from Corinth,
his hometown. If this eyewitness will swear that robbers killed Laius, then Oedipus is exonerated. He
prays for the witness to deliver him from guilt and from banishment. Oedipus and Jocasta enter the
palace to wait.

Jocasta comes back out of the palace, on her way to the holy temples to pray for Oedipus. A messenger
arrives from Corinth with the news that Oedipus's father Polybus is dead. Overjoyed, Jocasta sends for
Oedipus, glad that she has even more proof in the uselessness of oracles. Oedipus rejoices, but then
states that he is still afraid of the rest of the oracle's prophecy: that he will marry his mother. The
messenger assures him that he need not fear approaching Corinth - since Merope, his mother, is not
really his mother, and moreover, Polybus wasn't his father either. Stunned, Oedipus asks him how he
came to know this. The messenger replies that years ago a man gave a baby to him and he delivered this
baby to the king and queen of Corinth - a baby that would grow up to be Oedipus the King. The injury to
Oedipus's ankles is a testament to the truth of his tale, because the baby's feet had been pierced
through the ankles. Oedipus asks the messenger who gave the baby to him, and he replies that it was
one of Laius's servants. Oedipus sends his men out to find this servant. The messenger suggests that
Jocasta should be able to help identify the servant and help unveil the true story of Oedipus's birth.
Suddenly understanding the terrible truth, Jocasta begs Oedipus not to carry through with his
investigation. Oedipus replies that he swore to unravel this mystery, and he will follow through on his
word. Jocasta exits into the palace.

Oedipus again swears that he will figure out this secret, no matter how vile the answer is. The Chorus
senses that something bad is about to happen and join Jocasta's cry in begging the mystery to be left
unresolved. Oedipus's men lead in an old shepherd, who is afraid to answer Oedipus's questions. But
finally he tells Oedipus the truth. He did in fact give the messenger a baby boy, and that baby boy was
Laius's son - the same son that Jocasta and Laius left on a hillside to die because of the oracle's prophecy.

Finally the truth is clear - devastated, Oedipus exits into the palace. A messenger reveals that he grabbed
a sword and searched for Jocasta with the intent to kill her. Upon entering her chamber, however, he
finds that she has hanged herself. He takes the gold brooches from her dress and gouges his eyes out. He
appears onstage again, blood streaming from his now blind eyes. He cries out that he, who has seen and
done such vile things, shall never see again. He begs the Chorus to kill him. Creon enters, having heard
the entire story, and begs Oedipus to come inside, where he will not be seen. Oedipus begs him to let
him leave the city, and Creon tells him that he must consult Apollo first. Oedipus tells him that
banishment was the punishment he declared for Laius's killer, and Creon agrees with him. Before he
leaves forever, however, Oedipus asks to see his daughters and begs Creon to take care of them. Oedipus
is then led away, while Creon and the girls go back in the palace. The Chorus, alone, laments Oedipus'
tragic fate and his doomed lineage.

KING LEAR

By: Shakespeare

Category: Tragedy

Period written: 1605

First known performance: December 26,1606

Characters:

King Lear

Cordelia

Goneril

Regan

Gloucester
Edgar

Edmund

Kent

Fool

Cornwall

Albany

Oswald

Plot Summary

The story opens in ancient Britain, where the elderly King Lear is deciding to give up his power and divide
his realm amongst his three daughters, Cordelia, Regan, and Goneril. Lear's plan is to give the largest
piece of his kingdom to the child who professes to love him the most, certain that his favorite daughter,
Cordelia, will win the challenge. Goneril and Regan, corrupt and deceitful, lie to their father with sappy
and excessive declarations of affection. Cordelia, however, refuses to engage in Lear's game, and replies
simply that she loves him as a daughter should. Her lackluster retort, despite its sincerity, enrages Lear,
and he disowns Cordelia completely. When Lear's dear friend, the Earl of Kent, tries to speak on
Cordelia's behalf, Lear banishes him from the kingdom.

Meanwhile, the King of France, present at court and overwhelmed by Cordelia's honesty and virtue, asks
for her hand in marriage, despite her loss of a sizable dowry. Cordelia accepts the King of France's
proposal, and reluctantly leaves Lear with her two cunning sisters. Kent, although banished by Lear,
remains to try to protect the unwitting King from the evils of his two remaining children. He disguises
himself and takes a job as Lear's servant. Now that Lear has turned over all his wealth and land to Regan
and Goneril, their true natures surface at once. Lear and his few companions, including some knights, a
fool, and the disguised Kent, go to live with Goneril, but she reveals that she plans to treat him like the
old man he is while he is under her roof. So Lear decides to stay instead with his other daughter, and he
sends Kent ahead to deliver a letter to Regan, preparing her for his arrival. However, when Lear arrives at
Regan's castle, he is horrified to see that Kent has been placed in stocks. Kent is soon set free, but before
Lear can uncover who placed his servant in the stocks, Goneril arrives, and Lear realizes that Regan is
conspiring with her sister against him.

Gloucester arrives back at Regan's castle in time to hear that the two sisters are planning to murder the
King. He rushes away immediately to warn Kent to send Lear to Dover, where they will find protection.
Kent, Lear, and the Fool leave at once, while Edgar remains behind in the shadows. Sadly, Regan and
Goneril discover Gloucester has warned Lear of their plot, and Cornwall, Regan's husband, gouges out
Gloucester's eyes. A servant tries to help Gloucester and attacks Cornwall with a sword – a blow later to
prove fatal.
News arrives that Cordelia has raised an army of French troops that have landed at Dover. Regan and
Goneril ready their troops to fight and they head to Dover. Meanwhile, Kent has heard the news of
Cordelia's return, and sets off with Lear hoping that father and daughter can be reunited. Gloucester too
tries to make his way to Dover, and on the way, finds his own lost son, Edgar.

Tired from his ordeal, Lear sleeps through the battle between Cordelia and her sisters. When Lear
awakes he is told that Cordelia has been defeated. Lear takes the news well, thinking that he will be
jailed with his beloved Cordelia – away from his evil offspring. However, the orders have come, not for
Cordelia's imprisonment, but for her death.

Despite their victory, the evil natures of Goneril and Regan soon destroy them. Both in love with
Gloucester's conniving son, Edmund (who gave the order for Cordelia to be executed), Goneril poisons
Regan. But when Goneril discovers that Edmund has been fatally wounded by Edgar, Goneril kills herself
as well.

As Edmund takes his last breath he repents and the order to execute Cordelia is reversed. But the
reversal comes too late and Cordelia is hanged. Lear appears, carrying the body of Cordelia in his arms.
Mad with grief, Lear bends over Cordelia's body, looking for a sign of life. The strain overcomes Lear and
he falls dead on top of his daughter. Kent declares that he will follow his master into the afterlife and the
noble Edgar becomes the ruler of Britain.
LYSISTRATA

By: Aristophanes

Category: Comedy

Period written: 411BCE

Setting: Gateway & Inside Acropolis

Dramatis Personae - Characters:

Lysistrata
Calonice
Myrrhine
Lampito

Ismenia
Magistrate
Kinesias
Baby
Spartan Ambassador
Athenian Ambassador

Comprehensive Summary:

Lysistrata has planned a meeting between all of the women of Greece to discuss the plan to end the
Peloponnesian War. As Lysistrata waits for the women of Sparta, Thebes, and other areas to meet her
she curses the weakness of women. Lysistrata plans to ask the women to refuse sex with their husbands
until a treaty for peace has been signed. Lysistrata has also made plans with the older women of Athens
(the Chorus of Old Women) to seize the Akropolis later that day. The women from the various regions
finally assemble and Lysistrata convinces them to swear an oath that they will withhold sex from their
husbands until both sides sign a treaty of peace. As the women sacrifice a bottle of wine to the Gods in
celebration of their oath, they hear the sounds of the older women taking the Akropolis, the fortress
that houses the treasury of Athens.

In Lysistrata there are two choruses—the Chorus of Old Men and the Chorus of Old Women. A
Koryphaios leads both choruses. The Chorus of Men is first to appear on stage carrying wood and fire to
the gates of the Akropolis. The Chorus of Men is an old and bedraggled bunch of men who have great
difficulty with the wood and the great earthen pots of fire they carry. The men plan to smoke the women
out of the Akropolis. The Chorus of Old Women also approaches the Akropolis, carrying jugs of water to
put out the men's fires. The Chorus of Old Women is victorious in the contest between the choruses and
triumphantly pours the jugs of water over the heads of the men. The Commissioner, an appointed
magistrate, comes to the Akropolis seeking funds for the naval ships. The Commissioner is surprised to
find the women at the Akropolis and orders his policemen to arrest Lysistrata and the other women. In a
humorous battle, that involves little physical contact, the policemen are scared off. The Commissioner
takes the opportunity to tell the men of Athens that they have been too generous and allowed too much
freedom with the women of the city. As the policemen run off, the Commissioner and Lysistrata are left
to argue about the Peloponnesian War. Lysistrata argues that the War is a concern for women especially
and she adds her two cents as to how the city should be run, drawing an elaborate analogy to show that
Athens should be structured as a woman would spin wool. Lysistrata tells the Commissioner that war is a
concern of women because women have sacrificed greatly for it—women have given their husbands and
their sons to the effort. Lysistrata adds that it is now difficult for a woman to find a husband. The women
mockingly dress the Commissioner as a woman.

The next day, or perhaps some considerable time afterwards, the sex-strike devised at the beginning of
the text, begins to take effect on the men. Lysistrata spots Kinesias, husband of Myrrhine, approaching
the Akropolis. Kinesias has a full erection and is desperate for his wife. Myrrhine refuses to have
intercourse with Kinesias until peace exists between Athens and Sparta. Kinesias tells Myrrhine that her
child needs her, he needs her and he loves her and Myrrhine pretends to listen to his frustrated pleas.
Myrrhine hints that she might make love to Kinesias, but delays by going repeatedly into the Akropolis to
fetch things to make the couple comfortable. As Kinesias promises to only think about a treaty of peace
for Athens and Sparta, Myrrhine disappears into the Akropolis and leaves her husband in great pain.

A Spartan Herald approaches the Akropolis and he, like Kinesias, suffers an erection. The Spartan
describes the desperate situation of his countrymen and pleads for a treaty. Delegations from both
states then meet at the Akropolis to discuss peace. At this point, all of the men have full erections.
Lysistrata comes out of the Akropolis with her naked handmaid, Peace. While the men are fully
distracted by Peace, Lysistrata lectures them on the need for reconciliation between the states of
Greece. Lysistrata reasons that because both Athens and Sparta are of a common heritage and because
they have previously helped one another and owe a debt to one another, the two sides should not be
fighting. Using Peace as a map of Greece, the Spartan and Athenian leaders decide land rights that will
end the war. After both sides agree, Lysistrata gives the women back to the men and a great celebration
ensues. The play ends with a song sung in unison by the Chorus of Old Men and the Chorus of Old
Women while everyone dances.
Vagina Monologues

By: Eve Ensler

First Produced: 1996

Year Performed: 1998

Category: Play

Genre: Dark Comedy

Casting Notes: Mostly female casts

Topics: sex, relationships, sexual violence, sex work, menstruation

Synopsis

The play explores consensual and nonconsensual sexual experiences, body image, genital mutilation,
direct and indirect encounters with reproduction, vaginal care, menstrual periods, sex work, and several
other topics through the eyes of women with various ages, races, sexualities, and other differences.This
small but dramatically funny, tender, provocative and ultimately political book is a series of interviews
with a diverse group of over 200 women about their vaginas: young and old, married and single;
heterosexual, bisexual, and lesbian; working class women, professional women, and sex workers; women
of various races. As the author points out, some of the monologues are verbatim, some are composites,
some are her invented impressions. The subjects, which all have to do with vaginas, include such topics
as what a vagina looks like, what goes in and comes out of vaginas, menstruation and birth, and more
playfully, "If your vagina got dressed, what would it wear?" or "If your vagina could talk, what would it
say, in two words?"

It is made up of various personal monologues read by a diverse group of women. Originally, Eve Ensler
performed every monologue herself, with subsequent performances featuring three actresses, and more
recent versions featuring a different actress for every role. Each of the monologues deals with an aspect
of the feminine experience, touching on matters such as sex, sex work, body image, love, rape,
menstruation, female genital mutilation, masturbation, birth, orgasm, the various common names for
the vagina or simply as a physical aspect of the body. A recurring theme throughout the piece is the
vagina as a tool of female empowerment, and the ultimate embodiment of individuality.

Summary

The book opens with a series of introductions. The first is by the author, introducing the book as
a central component of the Tenth Anniversary celebration of the creation, publication, and
performance of her original play. She describes how her original intention (to simultaneously
celebrate womanhood and awaken awareness of violence against women) has expanded into a
worldwide movement manifesting the same dual intention. Introductions to the original published
edition of the play (by noted feminist Gloria Steinem and by the author) highlight the need for
such a movement, and the value it has in women's individual lives and in the place women
have, can take, or in some cases are forced, in society.

The main body of the book consists of the original Vagina Monologues as well as subsequently
written material. At the outset, the author comments that the content of the monologues is, for
the most part, based on interviews she conducted with a number of women, material she
distilled and shaped to varying degrees. Some of the monologues, she writes, are practically
verbatim transcripts of what she was told. Others, she adds, are compilations and/or
summaries.

The subjects of the monologues vary widely - from a serio-comic consideration of pubic hair to
an elderly woman's description of her lifelong perceptions of and/or experiences with her vagina
to a young girl's responses to the standard questions the author asks in her interviews. These
questions range from "If your vagina got dressed, what would it wear?" to "If it could speak,
what would it say?" to "What does your vagina smell like?" Summaries of answers to all three of
these questions make up three of the monologues.

Many of the monologues are introduced and/or commented on by the author. Several times, she
suggests that as she continued her interviews and gathered more and more vagina-related
experiences, she made realizations about her own perspectives and attitudes. At one point, for
example, she describes her realization that in the original play, she had not included any
discussions about birth, and then includes a monologue communicating her sense of wonder at
being present for the birth of her grand-daughter. At another point, she incorporates her
discomfort with a discussion of lesbian sexuality into a monologue spoken by a sexually
satisfied lesbian prostitute.

This section also includes several monologues inspired by, and incorporating, the experiences
of women from around the world. A section entitled "The Spotlight Monologues" contains stories
distilled from the experiences of, among others, Bosnian, Mexican, Pakistani, and Japanese
women. This international broadening of perspective echoes, and perhaps is a manifestation of,
a broadening of the author's personal perspective.

The final section of the book is a summary/documentation of the way the author's original
intention has evolved into the world wide movement known as V-Day, a social activism aimed at
increasing awareness of the pervasiveness of violence against women and ending such
violence for good. This section includes a year-by-year summary of activities in North America
and around the world, and lists ways in which lives of both individuals and communities have
been changed by alignment with V-Day's objectives and actions.