In Aristophanes’ “Lysistrata,” women refused to engage in any sexual activity with their husbands in order to demand that the warfare between Sparta and Athens be brought to an end. The reader cannot help but smile when Lysistrata demands the women repeat the oath: “To husband or lover I’ll not open my thighs though he bring proof-of-love of monstrous size” (Lysistrata 260-264). The oath becomes increasingly threatening to the men with the women swearing they will not “wiggle with my toes stretched at the roof” (277) and “nor crouch like carven lions with arse in air” (279).

“Lysistrata,” demonstrates the depth of loathing for the war that was pr

It was important for the audience of Aristophanes’’ time to be able to discern the message within the message and the more subtle aspects of the stories being presented. Characters were presented in ways that demonstrated their larger qualities as well as representing the ways in which Aristophanes wanted a certain aspect of a social class or group of people to be represented. For example, some characters would speak with a certain accent so that the audience understood that these were uneducated or country people compared to other characters that were of the aristocracy. Even though there have been critics throughout history who have thought of: Lysistrata” as outrageously illogical, the fact remains that it is still a delightful premise. Aristophanes obviously understood that and, in modern parlance, milked it for all it was worth in the common tradition of dramatists.

Although presented as a humorous tale, the play on the whole is quite sad. The story still gives voice to the constant male versus female battle of ideologies and sensibilities. Athens was not simply a democracy, as most modern students understand that concept. Instead, it was a patriarchy in its most extreme form. All the benefits of citizenship were reserved for men. Women could not vote, own property, testify in court, perform in the theater or attend the assembly. Numerous social theorists and cultural anthropologists have assumed that women were more than likely banned from attending major “community “ events such as the theater festivals or other “male” events such as the Olympic g

Some topics in this essay:
Apollo’s Apollo's, Peloponnesian War, Sparta Athens, , Athens Sparta, Greeks Aristophanes’, Alkmeonidai Spartans, sparta athens,