Lysistrata Themes

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.

The birds may represent the general Athenian populace and their plight for freedom from the war. From the beginning of the play and onwards the birds are treated as fools who can be easily tricked and persuaded, for instance Euelpides and Peisthetaerus both try to convince the footbird that they are birds and not men (Aristophanes 414 BC) . Without a leader the birds are useless, until Peisthetaerus takes it upon himself to become their leader and they begin to create the eutopian city in the sky. I believe that what Aristophanes is trying to convey here is that the majority of Athenians are useless without a leader because they are too easily manipulated by the few members of the populace who want to prolong the war for their own selfish profit

Consistent with the textbook, The Compact Bedford Introduction to Drama, the play Lysistrata by Aristophanes contains the elements of satire with its notable humors that ridicule his contemporary time’s politicians. Simply, he used his contemporary political figures, who caused the war and unable to stop the war, and the situation in war of his time as important factors for his humors that he is famous for. Consequently, his play Lysistrata aims to mock satirically his contemporary public figures, many of whom people in modern era do not recognize but contemporary Athenians know. That is, Lysistrata actually tries to make fun of the politicians by women, who were not even humans in eyes of Athenians, win over them in the play, describing their incompetence even below women who were thought to be unable to politically rule. Yet, do the men in the play signify all men in Athene? Simply, the textbook explains, “[t]he men encountered by the heroine Lysistrata (whose name means ‘disband the army’) on the Acropolis—men who guard the national security and the national treasury—are old and decrepit. The young men are in the field” (p.81). That is, the powerless men in the play

In Aristophanes’s Lysistrata, the role of the women in the ancient Greek society emanates and is represented by Lysistrata. Although from the outside the women are oppressed and ignored, they are attached to the central argument and theme in Lysistrata. The war in Lysistrata is getting out of hand and hence, the women discover that they have the power to bring the war to an end. In the beginning of the Play, Lysistrata speaks to Kleonike a fellow woman and explains that it is only the women that could end the Athens versus Spartans war. Even Kleonike who is a woman seems to be in doubt and explains to Lysistrata that the only role that the women have is to dress up and look gleeful for their husbands. In discontent, Lysistrata tells Kleonike that, “I'm positively ashamed to be a woman" an indication that being a woman in the ancient Greek culture entailed a lot of stereotypes (Aristophanes & Ewans, 52). Just like in Lysistrata, in the Iliad the women from the central reason for the aggravation of the war between the Achaeans and the Trojans. The capture of Chryseis and Briseis from the central argument of the Iliad. The two women were the reason that a plague struck the Achaean army and killed many soldiers necessitating Agamemnon the Achaean King to return Chryseis but took Briseis who was Achilles’s. The conflict brought by the

In Antigone and Lysistrata the tension between the polis and oikos is reflected in different ways. Antigone prioritizes oikos over polis, while Creon prioritizes polis over oikos. The men in Lysistrata favor fighting for the state over being at home while the women want their husbands with them instead of being at the war. We find ample evidence of different conflicts and similarities in both plays, but the male's prioritizing polis over oikos and the female's prioritizing oikos over polis causes the central tension in Antigone and Lysistrata.

Lysistrata Essay Response The play Lysistrata written by Aristophanes, is based around strong women coming together to end a war also of course involving great comedic flare. This story takes place in an ancient time where Athens and Sparta are at war with each other and the women are seen as weak standbys until the decide to take a stand. This is a great example of how the weak can be strong when their cause is just.

Aristophanes paved the way for comedy and how it would be viewed by citizens in ancient Greece. By incorporating satire and comedy, Aristophanes portrayed the social and political climate of the time. More specifically, Lysistrata, a play by Aristophanes, gives insight into the role women have in the Athenian society. The theme of gender roles in the play, Lysistrata, has evolved to parallel the social norm of feminism by women today. Lysistrata is a satirical comedy and portrays the women are at odds with man regarding several different matters, most notably the waging war on itself. The role Aristophanes embellishes within the characters are reversed between man and woman. The women, who were largely subservient to the needs and whims of

“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

The poetic tone of Aristophanes' Lysistrata differs greatly from the poetic tone of the Greek tragedies we have read in class. However, after analyzing this Greek comedy, it seems to share some of the main characteristics of Euripides' Medea. Within these plays, we meet shrewd, powerful masculine women who use the art of manipulation to get what they want from others and to accomplish their goals. This theme of manipulation is employed through various means and techniques. The women of these plays also seem to contradict the stereotypical woman and have characteristics similar to the Homeric Greek warrior.

Compared to the way Athenian women were presented in Lysistrata, Aristophanes sticks to the now known facts of their lifestyle fairly closely. In the play’s opening, Lysistrata, our female protagonist, calls women from not only her home of Athens, but as we all the Spartan enemy and other places to meet in and is upset at their untimely arrival. Her neighbor Calonice appears and reassures her they will come eventually, but they are simply delayed due to having to care for their husbands, household, and children. In contrast, Spartan women were educated, participated in sports, and had little to do with the upbringing of their children. In fact, they only had contact with their husbands for sexual relation purposes. When the women finally arrive, Lysistrata inquires how many of their husbands are gone away to war. Some of the women reply their husbands have been gone for months. Lampito, a beautiful Spartan girl, expresses she is unhappy because her husband comes home and no sooner grabs his shield and chargers off again. Though according to our textbook, Spartan women were free to remarry if her husband was gone away to war for too long. Thus begins the flaws in Lysistrata’s plan of how the women will force the men to claim peace.

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.

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

While not directly seen, the driving motivator behind all the actions of the characters in the story is in the major conflict of war. This conflict between rival city-states is portrayed as not simply being dangerous for the men who are fighting and dying, but it has a direct effect on the women as well. At one point it is mentioned that the women fight the war twice, “it’s we who give the hoplites life, and then we send them off, for you” (Puchner et al. 801). This occurs once when the woman has to bear the children in birth and then yet again when they send them off to war. It is the driving desire stopping this conflict that lead Lysistrata to concoct and enact her plan.