Writer Oscar Wilde once said, “A mask tells us more than anything a face. » Throughout history, lies and masks have been a means to achieve the goals of women who are limited in their current situation – social, political or economic. Traditionally, women cannot lash out in times of frustration and anger. The strict ways of behavior of ancient times forbid them from doing so. Instead, they choose the same method of defense through deception that has been used by animals and humans for thousands of years: disguise. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get an original essayWhether verbal, physical, or emotional, these disguises allow women to pursue their plans while deflecting any suspicion of them- same. Medea hides her malicious and murderous intentions behind a shield of tears and emotion like a scorned wife. In the Bible, Judith transforms from a widow into a beautiful seductress to behead the Assyrian general Holofernes. However, it is not her physical changes that bring her success like the women of the Assembly, but rather the lies she generates to enter the enemy camp. and the gentle praise she uses to lure the unsuspecting Holofernes before violently killing him. Praxagora and the women of the Ecclesiazusae literally disguise themselves – as men wearing false beards and thick robes – so that they can bring about a wave of political change, installing women as new rulers and correcting their problematic government in the hope of leading the government. their ship of state in the right direction. Each of these women faces challenges and each of them takes an unconventional path. They craft their disguises into armor and string together webs of deception to solve their problems and lure their unsuspecting enemies into violent traps of vengeance. In Euripides' Medea, The Book of Judith, and Aristophanes' Ecclesiazusae, the various strategies of disguise and deception are used in Medea's emotional mask, Judith's twisted words, and Praxagora's clever physical costumes as a means of achieve their ultimate goals of victory over those who have wronged them. Euripides depicts Medea as a complex character in the way she changes roles throughout the tragedy. His behavior is reminiscent of the way a chameleon changes the color of its skin, adapting to its marriage situation as it changes. Her thoughts, her emotions are multiple, masks and shields as she decides to take revenge on those who took away her family and her position of nobility as Jason's wife. She was mistreated and mistreated, her sacrifices to advance her husband were in vain because the weakness of his character pushes him to marry the princess of Corinth. His reputation for anger and murder is well known among Creon and Medea's staff, who fear his lashes of fury. "She's a very thoughtful person, you know, and she won't tolerate this kind of abuse. I know her and I'm terrified that by silently walking into the house where the bed is, she can thrust a sharp sword into the heart or kill the princess and the one who married her and then suffer a greater tragedy. It will not be easy for an enemy to emerge victorious from a battle against her. (Euripides 37-44) Medea knows she will not find the satisfaction of justice she so desperately needs by throwing a tantrum.blind. Instead, she uses her intelligence, her cold and calculated nature, to construct a surprising facade of emotion. She plays the role of a grieving mother perfectly. She usually replaces anger with crying tears of sadness. “She doesn’t want to eat; she simply gives in to her grief, carrying away all her hours in tears, since she understood that her husband had abandoned her” (Euripides 23-25). Her grief touches the heart of the children's nurse who begins to feel sorry for her situation rather than assuming she will engage in violence. She cries loudly to the gods to kill her rather than suffer her fate. “Oh Zeus, Earth and Light, shoot your fiery lightning straight through my skull. What is life for me? Aah, aah. Let me die and leave this life that I hate” (Euripides 142-146). She never reveals her secret plot. Medea instead gives pathetic speeches, appealing to the women of Corinth. “I’m adrift. I have lost all pleasure in life and I want to die, my friends. The man who was everything to me, try to understand that, turned out to be the vilest man in the world, my own husband. Of all creatures that have life and reason, we women are the most unfortunate group” (Euripides 225-230). Medea reigns in her character and begs Creon to change his ways, even as he expresses fear of reprisals. She becomes like one of his subjects in order to gain his favor. She pretends to agree with his choice and understand his rationale for marriage. “I suffer from the envy of some, and for others I am a rival; but I'm not very intelligent. And then you're afraid of me. What harm can you suffer from me? It is not in my power—do not be afraid of me, Creon—to do harm to the royal family. What harm have you done to me? You married your daughter to the man you chose for her” (Euripides 302-309). She waves a false white flag of peace, telling him that she has accepted her defeat and has no intention of harming her estranged husband. Créon is the only one to see clearly in the act she is performing. He knows she's hatching a secret plan and won't just fight. She cries and begs him but he continues to refuse her requests. Secretly, his refusals only fuel his revenge. "Do you think I would have ever flattered him if I hadn't gotten something or had a plan in mind? I wouldn't have even spoken to him or touched his hands. He has reached such a state of imprudence that, although he could have destroyed all my plans by forcing me to leave the country, he allowed me to stay there this day, when I will transform three of my enemies” (Euripides 367-373). She plots behind closed doors “with deceit and silently proceeds to murder” (Euripides 390) Her evil plot of bloodshed and corpses simmers behind her teary-eyed mask, although it can sometimes be difficult to prevent. anger seeps into her words. Her disguise is not tangible. She uses her emotions to dispel suspicion of a surprise attack on the newlyweds. She creates confusion by going against her reputation. becoming the traditional wife that she actually isn't. Everyone expects her to scream and be angry, not shouty and have tears streaming down her face. His cold, intelligent mind is necessary not only for the brutal murder of his children, but it also makes it much easier to put on the various masks of his personality when the need arises. She skillfully lies to her husband, lulling him into a false sense of security. “Contemplating these things, I realized that I was suffering from delusion and that my rage was in vain. I accept it now. You seem to me to be acting logically in proposing this matrimonial alliance, and I wasstupid” (Euripides 881-884). His inability to recognize the lies that come out of her mouth leads him to believe her and she uses her position as a former wife and their relationship as points of emphasis in her pathetic appeal. He makes the mistake of believing that the emotions it produces are true. Medea's tears, her emotional state, have as much power as the sword she uses to kill her own children. Without her supposed grief, she would not be able to carry out this brutal plot. She adapts her behavior to each interlocutor: she appears submissive and full of praise in front of Creon. She speaks to Jason in a firm but reassuring manner in order to convince him of his support for the new marriage. In front of the important people who have decided and still continue to decide her fate, she presents herself with the sugary smile of the perfect housewife with daggers just out of sight hidden behind her teeth. Her constant changing of speech and feelings makes her a threat to those who have wronged her and, ultimately, they all fall into the trap she has created with her tears and false offers of peace and understanding. Although her physical appearance never changes throughout her play, she displays various emotions in order to mask her keen intelligence and true barbaric nature. Judith, in the Book of Judith of the Bible, arms herself with words. As her fellow Israelites weaken under the pressure of the siege imposed on them by General Holofernes and his army, Judith prays with them in the hope of some salvation. His words, his supplications to God are necessary forces to go to Holofernes and save Jerusalem. “By the cunning of my lips smite the slave with the master, and the master with his servant. Break their pride by the hand of a woman” (Book of Judith. 9. 481-482). When the Israelites faced depletion of resources, famine, and the overwhelming domination of the Assyrian army, they too relied on words and prayers in hopes of protection and salvation. “All the men of Israel cried out to God with the greatest earnestness and humbled themselves before Him. They draped the altar itself with sackcloth, and united earnestly in imploring the God of Israel not to suffer their children to be taken away, their wives distributed as spoils, the cities of their inheritance destroyed, the Temple desecrated and desecrated so that the pagans may rejoice. » (Jud. 4. 143-146). Judith, a pious widow who has mourned her husband for three years, realizes that desperate prayers will not be enough to save her people. She is furious with the faithful, who become frustrated and angry, and reprimands them for believing that demanding help from God is the right thing to do. “You are putting the Lord Almighty to the test! You don't understand anything and you never will. Although he may not have the will to help us in the next five days, he has the power to protect us for as many days as he wishes, just as he has the power to destroy us in front of our enemies . But you have no right to demand guarantees regarding the plans of the Lord our God. For God must not be threatened like a human being, nor be cajoled like a mere human” (Jud. 8. 306-311). She then decides to take matters into her own hands and let her faith be tested by Heaven. “You left their wives kidnapped, their daughters taken captive, and their remains divided among the sons you loved, who had been so zealous for you, had hated the stain placed on their blood, and appealed to you. for help. O God, my God, now also warm this widow; for you created the past, what is happening now and what will follow. What is, what will be, you have foreseen; what was, you designed” (Jud.9. 464-468). Judith is described as very beautiful, but perpetually dressed in mourning robes. She undergoes a transformation that echoes Praxagora's dramatic change in appearance, exchanging her robe and widow's bag for perfumes and jewelry. However, she recognizes that appearance alone will not get her into Holofernes' tent. She knows that she must be “so beautiful of face and so wise of speech” (Jud. 11. 600-601) to kill the general. Judith turns her words into a perfect deception, she disguises herself in lies. There is a biting irony in her words as she praises the Assyrian general and wishes him a long life, but she never once reveals her true intentions: "We have indeed heard of your genius and your address of mind. It is known throughout the world that in all the empire you have no rival in ability, wealth of experience and brilliance in war” (Jud. 11. 565-567). She disguises herself as an ideal submissive woman for a selfish man like Holofernes, "making herself beautiful enough to seduce the eye of every man who has seen her" (Jud. 10. 501) but with an eloquence and sophistication that command respect. The words she exchanges with Holofernes create the perfect mask to reveal her secret plot, more than the seductive beauty. She brushes off his questions about her lack of supplies with gentle irony. “'May your soul live, my lord,' replied Judith, 'the Lord will have used me to accomplish his purpose, before your servant has finished these provisions'” (Jud. 12. 573-574). Her calm, direct manner of addressing the general is as sharp and cold as the curved blade she wears at her neck. Her beauty “captures his soul” (Jud. 12. 747) after she lures him into a false sense of security with her soothing language. “'Who am I,' replied Judith, 'to resist my lord? I will not hesitate to do whatever he wishes, and this will be my joy until my last day” (Jud. 12. 596-597). His handsome face and saccharine words mask his true intentions. It's the perfect defense. As the Assyrian soldiers say: "'Who could despise a people who have women like this?' » (Jud. 10. 538)? Her willingness to cooperate, to provide information to Israel's enemy, made her a desirable asset during the siege. The beauty of her face leads everyone who meets her to automatically assume that she is good and innocent, incapable of such brutal execution. it is the way she weaves her words around the unsuspecting Holofernes, flattering and seducing him, that ultimately leads to the successful decapitation of the Assyrian general. His disguise in the form of lies and manipulation brings him to Holofernes' tent and ensures that he succeeds in saving his people from the army that seeks to lead them to destruction. In Aristophanes' satire, The Ecclesiazusae, Praxagora is a tired Greek woman. of the problematic Athenian government, so she comes up with a rather unusual plan to correct these problems that had not been solved by men until now. She, along with the other women of Athens, takes on literal rather than metaphorical disguises of Judith and Medea. “When this is done, tie up your beards, and when they are arranged in the best possible way, dress yourselves in the cloaks that you have stolen from your husbands; finally leave, leaning on your sticks and singing some old man's song like the villagers do” (Aristophanes 291-294). Praxagora, their leader, counts on the stupidity of men to succeed in these political changes. She knows that they will be easily fooled and will happily comply with her proposal simply because it is a solution they have not yet tried to solve the various problems that litter the Athenian government. The newsappearance gains entry to the assembly and Paxagora can now garner the votes she needs to completely change the Athenian government. Her group of followers pledges to wear masks, abandoning traditional conventions of beauty and cleanliness for the sake of their city. “I started by throwing away my razor, to become quite hairy and no longer look like a woman” ( Aristophanes 61-62). She believes that the women of Athens will do a much better job running the city than men ever did. His disguise is of great importance to his cause. If her true identity were to be revealed, she and her comrades would be subject to severe punishment. “Let us not forget to give ourselves this name and that the name of woman never escapes our lips; woe betide us, if it were discovered that we had hatched such a plot in the darkness of the night” (Aristophanes 304-306). Although the eloquence of her argument will spark agreement among other members of the Assembly, it is absolutely necessary that she and others be treated with respect. Their costumes give weight to their words. Praxagora's speech would otherwise be ignored if she appeared before the Assembly in her usual attire. Praxagora trades her smooth complexion and beauty for power and falsehood, all for the greater good. “Let us drive out these men from the city who stayed at home and chatted around the table” (Aristophanes 314-315). Her clever disguise succeeded in achieving the social and political changes she pursued. She convinces the other men to establish a new system of socio-economic equality, all led and organized by Athenian women. With her talents as an orator, she persuades the government to place the bar of power in the hands of the women of the Assembly. “Let us therefore deliver Athens to them without endless discussions, without worrying about what they will do; let's just hand the power over to them, remembering that they are mothers and will therefore spare the blood of our soldiers; Besides, who will know better than a mother how to transport provisions to the front? I omit a thousand other advantages. Follow my advice and you will live in perfect happiness” (Aristophanes 243-246). Praxagora, in the guise of a man, transforms the traditional submissive role of a Greek woman in a patriarchal society with the same dramatic change in her appearance. Unlike men, Praxagora is skilled at righting the wrongs of corrupt government. She does not encourage rowdy drinking habits. “This is why their decrees breathe drunkenness and madness. And why libations, why so many ceremonies, if wine plays no role” (Aristophanes 153-154)? It focuses on equality and the common good of the Athenian people, unhappy for too long in a corrupt and useless government. and she will do whatever she does in her masculine garb to bring to all the advantages of wealth and success. Rather than remaining a meek and obedient wife, she “will not be easily deceived; she herself understands deception too well” (Aristophanes 247-248) by the strength of her disguise and the arguments she brings to the Assembly to establish a new political order. Medea with her false tears and her sweet praises, Judith with her tongue as sharp as the scimitar she carries at the exposed hollow of Holofernes' throat, Paxagora with her husband's stolen clothes and her false beard. Each of these women does not hide behind the cloak of her husband but rather behind the strength of her plots and the soft masks she wears before attacking those who have behaved unfairly towards her. They make plans with great intelligence, whether their end goal is murder or change of.