Lysistrata is a play written in 411 BC by Aristophanes, who was a satirist. At that time in Greek history, the city-states were constantly warring with one another. Lysistrata is probably the oldest comedy which has retained a place in modern theatre. It primarily deals with two themes, war and the power of sexuality.
At the beginning of the play, Lysistrata (an invented name meaning, She Who Puts an End to War) has summoned the women of Athens to meet her at the foot of Acropolis. She says that she has spent long, sleepless nights agonizing over the solution to the wars. She tells Kalonike, "Only we women can save Greece!" Therefore, she puts before them the easy invitation that they must never lie again with their husbands until the war is ended. At first, they shudder and withdraw and refuse the idea of no sex until, with the help of the women from Sparta and Thebes, they are impelled to agree. The women take an oath and swear t
In Lysistrata, Lysistrata defies the system of the oikos as represented as sex and attacks the privilege of war. Because of the sex strike, the male world is forced to end the war. Therefore, Lysistrata is defined as a woman who enters the world of the man and conquers it. The Lysistrata presents women acting bravely and aggressively against men who seem entangled in destroying their family life with their absence and the prolonging of a pointless war. The woman take on masculine roles to preserve the tradition in community life. Lysistrata emphasizes that women have the intelligence and judgment to make political decisions. Lysistrata is a reactionary, she wishes to preserve the way things were. However, she must be a revolutionary to succeed. Ending the war would be so easy that women could complete the task.
o one another that they will have nothing to do with their husbands until the wars cease. The women seize the Acropolis from which
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