Make Mine Aristophanes Page 9

Air Raid Robertson on March 18, 2012

Since Eirene is the personification of Peace, I decided to color her skin with a cool, calming mixture of blue and lavender. It seemed natural to contrast this with warm hues of orange and yellow.


Interestingly enough, the translations of Peace that I've read do not refer to Eirene or Ares by their actual names. Instead, they are simply called “War” and “Peace”. I'm sure there are many theories about why this is, but I'll leave that to a more academic setting.


Traditionally, Eirene is portrayed by a statue in most productions of Peace. Naturally, this makes her part mute. I decided to go against this and give Eirene a few lines though. It seemed weird for me to have a storyline with only one female character. It would be doubly weird if she didn't have a speaking part.


Air Raid Robertson's comment about the dung beetle getting distracted by flatulence is a reflection of Aristophanes' writing. Tyrgaeus, in an early part of Peace, laments the prospect of his beetle losing control mid-flight should it pick up the scent of a fart.