Essay on Lysistrata

Peace and Harmony is the central theme in the play. Lysistrata is out to end the prolonged war. After consideration on how to accomplish her wishes, and idea finally arises. Lysistrata holds a meeting with all the women to become rebellious and refuse to have sexual relations with the men. During this meeting between all the women, Lysistrata states, “From now on, no more penises for you” (Line 124). The women first do not know how to react as they have not seen their husbands in months. However,

Lysistrata, visibly upset that the women have not appeared, turns to her friend Cleonice, who reassures her that everyone will come, but “it’s not easy...for women to leave the house. One is busy pottering about her husband; another is getting the servant up; a third is putting her child asleep or washing the brat or feeding it” (Lysistrata). The exposition to the drama therefore tells us everything we need to know: women are trying and failing to remove themselves from their traditional housekeeping role. This is in part forced upon them by men, but also in part by their own will: throughout the play, the women place themselves in a lesser role and act unable to control themselves.  When Lysistrata explains her plan to Cleonice, Cleonice responds that “salvation hangs on a poor thread” if women are in charge. It is therefore not only men who enforce the anti-feminist view that women cannot “perform so wise and glorious an achievement” as ending the

The women in Lysistrata are portrayed as strong and confident. This is seen in the form of the main character of the play, Lysistrata; who is the first one to propose the idea of withholding sex as a measure to stop the war. She demonstrates the qualities of a true leader as she has a well-planned strategy to get her way: “if we would compel our husbands to make peace, we must refrain”. At first this idea is instantly rejected by the women, but Lysistrata manages to convince them with her words of wisdom. This indicates how strong and perseverant Lysistrata is, and this is displayed by her idea of giving up sex. This is likely to be appreciated by the contemporary Greek audiences, as sex is described as the “most beautiful thing in the world” and Lysistrata is giving it up.

The comedy, Lysistrata, is based almost entirely around the theme of lust. The story tells of a war among the Greeks. Lysistrata, whose name means "she who dissolves armies," is the wife of one of the soldiers. She, along with the other wives, is sick and tired of her

Ultimately, she chooses to use manipulation and temptation to her advantage to sway the minds of men. “If we sat there at home in our make-up, and came into their rooms wearing our lawn shifts and nothing else and plucked down below delta-style, and our husbands got all horny…but we kept away and didn’t come to them—they’d make peace fast enough I know for sure” (Aristophanes 80) Lysistrata urges that the women avoid sex by any means, even if they must fight against physical force by their husbands (Aristophanes). By using this tactic of a sex strike applied all over mainland Greece, Lysistrata remains confident that women can persuade men to keep peace as opposed to war. Therefore, evidence suggests in Aristophanes’ play that women such as Lysistrata derives power and authority over men through sex and temptation. Women can only attempt to persuade them due to the fact that men hold too much power to be outright forced to anything.

Lysistrata's whole plan to have a sex strike was clever. She caught the men by surprise as she played on their vulnerability. By requesting that the women use their attractiveness to make the males want them sexually, Lysistrata encourages the women to play to their stereotype and exploit the sexual, romanticized female. Myrrhine is used by Lysistrata to seduce her husband, Kinesias, who is left with his painful erection unsatisfied (pg763-765)

Lysistrata comes to the conclusion that the only way to save Athens from destruction in war comes with defiance of her husband. In her role of rebel within the family, Lysistrata decides to "...compel [her] husband to make peace" by withholding sex from him until he stops his disastrous warring behavior (Lysistrata, 7). She concludes, "...there are a thousand ways of tormenting [him]" that will lead to the ultimate safety of Athens (Lysistrata, 9). Unlike Antigone, Lysistrata realistically considers the possible consequences of her actions. She understands that the consequences of rebellion against her husband could be dire. Lysistrata recognizes that her husband might beat her or even rape her in order to get physical satisfaction, but she also realizes that her husband would, "...soon tire of the game there's no satisfaction for a man, unless a woman shares it" (Lysistrata, 9). Lysistrata acknowledges that defying her husband will have consequences, but she chooses to realistically face those possible consequences, and continues knowing that her actions will benefit Athens. Aristophanes' reveals that a woman's greatest allegiance lies with her polis through Lysistrata's role of rebel within her family to save Athens.

For centuries men have been finding ways to gain control over everything and everyone. One group that has been oppressed by men throughout history are women. Men have placed rules and regulations upon women making them seen as unequal and inferior. Was it fear? Was it the hunger for power? Was is the highness of superiority? Whatever the reasons were, men had to be seen as the highest being next to whom they worshiped. In the play Antigone by Sophocles, the audience is exposed to the roles of men and women in an ancient Greece society known as Thebes. Although ancient Greece was a male-dominant society where women had as much freedom as a slave, Sophocles’ main character in the play, Antigone, is an example of a brave, strong-minded woman who goes against the limitations that were unfairly set upon women during that time to do what she believes is right. In this play, gender roles assists in the process of portraying the story since it affects some of the decisions of the characters and helps lead the story into the climax.

In the excerpt Lysistrata written by Aristophanes, a flock of women gather in order to listen to Lysistrata’s speech of how to stop the war and bring peace back to Greece. “So very dainty because that the salvation of all Greece is actually in the hands of women” (76). In order for peace to be restored the women must work together. Lysistrata makes them feel useful and powerful by these statements, but she also forms doubt in their minds. “But what can women

“Lysistrata” is a tale which is centered around an Athenian woman named Lysistrata and her comrades who have taken control of the Acropolis in Athens. Lysistrata explains to the old men how the women have seized the Acropolis to keep men from using the money to make war and to keep dishonest officials from stealing the money. The opening scene of “Lysistrata” enacts the stereotypical and traditional characterization of women in Greece and also distances Lysistrata from this overused expression, housewife character. The audience is met with a woman, Lysistrata, who is furious with the other women from her country because they have not come to discuss war with her. The basic premise of the play is, Lysistrata coming up with a plan to put an

From the moment Lysistrata explains her plan to the other women, she is immediately met with another conflict. By asking the women to deny their husbands,

Lysistrata's role and her powers of manipulation are very similar to those of Medea. Lysistrata is an Athenian woman who is interested in ending the Peloponessian War and also is upset with the treatment of women in Athens. Lysistrata gathers the women of Sparta and Athens together to solve these problems and uses the art of manipulation to find success and power in her journey. Lysistrata develops a plan to deny sex to the men of Greece and take over the Acropolis, which is the heart of Athenian commerce until they stop the war. She is able to manipulate the women of Sparta and

Despite the lower status of women, the plot of Lysistrata is mainly about all of the women coming together and being powerful enough to stop the men’s war. The women in Lysistrata know that the men love intimacy with them and they use that power by withholding pleasure from their men so as to stop the war, even though the women love sex as well:

In nearly every conflict between man and woman portrayed in Lysistrata, the women emerge victorious. This is especially significant since women can assert themselves and impose their will on man. Traditionally, men are the ones who possess this behavior and force women to be at their ever will. Yet, there are many instances in this play when these roles are opposite occurring, which is further evidence that Aristophanes has switched the characteristics of the genders. One instance from the text is when the men and women choruses are speaking to each other at the Acropolis. “All you fellow citizens, we’ll start to give the city good advice and rightly, since it raised us splendidly… I was born a woman, but don’t hold that against me if I introduce a plan to make our present situation better. For I make contributions to the state—I give birth to men. You miserable old farts, you contribute nothing! (Aristophanes 42-43). Furthermore, this quote portrays the control taken by the women when they take the Acropolis and fend of the chorus of old

Lysistrata formulates a plan in which, women take the Treasury of the city of Athens as hostage. They barricade the gates and bar men from entering the city. Lysistrata claimed that a lot of money is being used to fund the war, but without the money, the men would eventually surrender to their demand to end the war. Women in ancient Greece were not allowed to