Preview

How Does Aristophanes Use Language In Lysistrata

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
712 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Does Aristophanes Use Language In Lysistrata
"Woman is the most shameless beast of all the beasts that be" (Aristophanes). This is a direct correlation of how a woman was thought of in Ancient Greece. In its simplest terms, the Lysistrata is a tale that centers around an Athenian woman named Lysistrata and her comrades who have taken control of the Acropolis in Athens. They are protesting against the endless wars that men are fighting and refuse their husbands sex unless they cease their battles. This revolutionary due to the views of women at the time and how little dominance women had. The woman faced a lot of tyranny in order to weep the benefit of peace. This play by Aristophanes is a comedy and exaggerated in order to show the power of sexual desires that Lysistrata manipulates, …show more content…
In Ancient Greece, it was more than okay to strike a woman especially if she was your wife. Arisophanes gives these women more credibility then what is real. Though Lysistrata is a powerful and a leader, by being a woman she would be killed for the disrespect she expressed. "I laughed at them. Neither threats nor flames shall force our doors; they shall open only on the conditions I have named' (Aristophanes 14). This shows how much power that Lysistrata had over the men and women of Athens. At this time, if men didn't get sexual satisfaction fro their wives then there would be prostitutes to fulfill their needs. Yet in this play, Aristophanes puts the power in Lysistrata as she rallies all the women and money of Athens. Lysistrata, using her smarts to manipulate the troops, takes control of Athens Acropolis and nation through the mens desire for money and …show more content…
Lysistrata was the director and the head of the sex-strike, she convinced Myrrhine to seduce her husband. Her direct orders is what created the climax of satire in the play. Myrrhine teases her husband beyond belief and by the end of her seduction she leaves him. Aristophanes uses humor in this scene to show the power of seduction. The sexual desires of a man can make some one crazy a lot like this scene. "Yes you’re loyal but to what, my sister? You’re loyal to the war what bleeds us white, that ruins Attica and ruins Greece, that maims our husbands and destroys our city. Do you doubt I’m loyal, Myrrhina, loyal to peace and to the good of Athens"(Aristophanes). This once again is a quote by Lysistrata scheming in order to manipulate the men. She changed the nation and caused an end to the Peloponnesian

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In ancient Greece, women were virtually invisible to those outside the home and their reputation was best when there was “the least possible talk about you among men, whether in praise or blame” (Thucydides 1.45.2). There was a Greek Proverb that said “a woman knew two great moments of her life: her marriage and her death” (Powell, 40). In ancient Greek culture, women were normally seen as objects for marriage and childbearing and in literature were often depicted with an uncontrollable sexual appetite causing them to lie and scheme. The Pandora myth affirms the gender dynamics of ancient Greek culture. This is shown by the way Hesiod describes Pandora, his attitude toward women, and his opinion about women’s roles and work.…

    • 267 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Lysistrata's Boycott

    • 671 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Peloponnesian war has been going on for eighteen long years and the beautiful Lysistrata in common with the other wives of Athens, is tired of the absence of their warrior husbands. She decides that it is time to bring an end to this situation by boycotting their husbands from their wives love. Lysistrata gathered the women of Athens and told them about her plan of how she’s going to end this situation and some of the women argued over and over, but the beautiful Lysistrata managed to persuade the women to be on her side.…

    • 671 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Now Aristophanes wrote two plays called the Ecclesiazusae and The Cloud. In these plays, he also uses the Socrates character where he tries to make Socrates look foolish in his ideas of a just political state. In the Ecclesiazusae (woman in assembly), it tells a story a story about women…

    • 1033 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lysistrata Gender Roles

    • 530 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Recently I had the opportunity to attend to a Greek comedy called the lysistrata at Whatcom Community College. The show really connected to similar themes in our curicculum of IDS 161. In the opening scene of Lysistrata, it enacts the stereotypical and traditional characterization of women in Greece and also distances Lysistrata from this clichéd, housewife character. Lysistrata is not only angered because the women won't prioritize war and the peace of their country, but she is ashamed that the women won't stand up to the stereotypes and names that their husband's give them. Lysistrata tells Kleonike, "I'm positively ashamed to be a woman", and Kleonike proudly admits, "That's us!" As the play procedes and lysistrata puts her mind to work, she requests 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, idealized female. Like a man, with her plan for a sex strike in mind, Lysistrata examines women for their sexual potential.Therefore, women not only begin to see each other with male…

    • 530 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A big part of democracy is the freedom of speech and at this point in time of history, women stand in the shadows of their husbands especially when political discussions arise. In Lysistrata the main character, Lysistrata is all for democracy and the defense of democracy. The Greek culture was very focused on war and a lot of the economy was focused solely on producing resources for the war, all the revenue it would receive from the war and many even many of the Greek gods were related to war. Soldiers would pray to their gods during, before, and after and a victory was a gift from the gods and a loss was a punishment from the gods. War seemed to be the only thing that had any intention of the husbands and men of Greece, and Lysistrata along with her colleagues had enough of that. Although Aristophanes was secretly undermining the minds of high officials in Greece, he got away with it by incorporating his ideas for change with short…

    • 1653 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lysistrata Research Paper

    • 697 Words
    • 3 Pages

    To remedy this situation, Lysistrata told the women about her plan. “Well then, we must abstain utterly from the prick,” she tells them (Aristophanes 193, ln.121). In other words, she is telling the women to follow her and have a sex strike because, of how much it would impact the women’s husbands. Lysistrata tells them that she knows that the men will eventually give up when she says, “If we should sit around, rouged with skins well creamed, with nothing on but a transparent negligee, and come up to them with our deltas plucked quite smooth, and, once our men get stiff and want to come to grips, we do not yield to them at all but just hold off, they’ll make a truce in no time. There’s no doubt of that,” (193, ln. 148- 152). This mean that if they weren’t gettin sex, then would surely follow their wives orders in order to have sex again. In addition, the women would also go take over the Acropolis so, these soldiers wouldn’t be receiving any more money to continue fighting. Lysistrata tells Lampito not to worry about the…

    • 697 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lysistrata Gender Roles

    • 708 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Athens terrible war with Sparta has been going on for years and Lysistrata, a middle-class housewife from Athens, organized a meeting with women from Athens and other cities, including Sparta, that the women should all refuse to have sex with their husbands until their husbands end the ridiculous war. After convincing the women, Lysistrata also explains that she's sent women to occupy the Acropolis, the government center of Athens, therefor hoping to gain control of the treasury, and be able to cut off the money supply for the war. The women swear an oath that they will follow Lysistratas’ plan, and the women join together at the Acropolis. The Chorus of Men met them there from Athenian, chorus referring to “a group” in the play who advise one another, they have come with fire to smoke the women out of the Acropolis; however, the Chorus of Women shows up carrying buckets of water. After the Women's Leader drenches the Men's Leader, the group of men leave embarrassed, showing the first bit of power that the woman obtained over the men. Lysistrata then emerges from the Acropolis to complain that she is worried that the women are all going against the oath, and trying to have sex with their husbands. This is a huge conflict because the women need to stick together, and fight together against the men if they wanted any change. An…

    • 708 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    lysistrata

    • 576 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Lysistrata - Lysistrata is an Athenian woman who is sick and tired of war and the treatment of women in Athens. Lysistrata gathers the women of Sparta and Athens together to solve these social ills and finds success and power in her quest. Lysistrata is the least feminine of the women from either Athens or Sparta, and her masculinity helps her gain respect among the men.…

    • 576 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In most Greek mythology there is a general hostility towards the female sex, which relays that most poets and writers themselves were sexist. Throughout Hesiod’s Theogony and Works and Days, women are portrayed in a very subservient manner, placing them far below men and are almost despised. However, in more than one instance, manipulation, women’s true power, is shown. They are constantly described as beautiful temptresses, which could be thought of as the weakness of many men. When Theogony and Works and Days are looked at as a whole it is obvious that Hesiod’s opinion of women, most likely shared by the Greeks themselves, is that they are inferior and subordinate to men.…

    • 736 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In many literary works from the times of the ancient Greeks, women have played a relatively minor role. This is particularly due to how women where viewed during this time period and in this particular culture. In the stories the Odyssey and Orpheus and Eurydice the female characters are examples of how women were expected to behave during the time period.…

    • 243 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Antigone

    • 1343 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Although ancient Greece was a male-dominate society, Sophocles' work Antigone, portrays women as being strong and capable of making wise decisions. In this tragedy, Sophocles uses three main characters who are women to represent different models of female behavior. Traditionally women are characterized as weak and subordinate as Ismene is portrayed in this way. But Sophocles uses the character of Antigone to allow women to present realistic viewpoints about their character.…

    • 1343 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    The different portrayals of female characters Antigone and Lysistrata illustrate the fundamental nature of the proper Athenian woman. Sophocles' Antigone allows the reader to see that outrage over social injustices does not give women the excuse to rebel against authority, while Aristophanes' Lysistrata reveals that challenging authority in the polis becomes acceptable only when it's faced with destruction through war. Sophocles and Aristophanes use different means to illustrate the same idea; the ideal Athenian woman's ultimate loyalty lies with her polis. This Greek concept of the proper woman seems so vital when considering Athenian society because both a tragedy and comedy revolve around this concept. The differing roles accorded to Antigone and Lysistrata through their relationships with their families, other women, and society reveals the Athenian idea of the proper woman.…

    • 1461 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Madea and Marriage

    • 2052 Words
    • 9 Pages

    “We women are the most unfortunate creatures” (Euripides 695). This worn-out grievance has poured through the vocal chords of all women since the first pains of childbirth, but more importantly the atrocious day men began to pervert the customs of marriage. Prominence and provocation clothe the declaration as Medea, a forlorn woman abandoned by her husband, explains the status and circumstances women of ancient Greece were subject to desolately endure. Scholars are blinded by the era of great philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, but the institutions and governments built by these “great men” denied the admittance of women into their institutions and therefore closed the door to potentially incredibly intelligent minds. All women, even those leading satisfactory lives, were subject to the unfair laws and barriers men created. Although women have been cast into the depths of submission through out the course of history, Medea daringly broke the ideal perception of weak and ignorant women in the Greek tragedy, Medea, where she made an aggressive speech by mournfully proclaiming,…

    • 2052 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the Symposium, there are many people who make speeches about their belief in the definition of love is. There are many philosophers at the party, such as: Phaedrus, Pausanias, Aristophanes, Agathon, and of course, Socrates. All of whom are very wise and make very good points about love. Aristophanes speaks about how he believes that long ago humans used to be one being, and that we were separated from our other half. Now we all are searching for the other half, to make us whole again.…

    • 898 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Lysistrata, the main character channels the modern woman in many ways. Like the modern woman, Lysistrata exuded confidence, courage and leadership. Confidence, by having the audacity to organize a sex strike in a time when men ruled. Like a confident modern woman, she says, “Our country’s fortunes depend on us-it is with us to undo utterly the Peloponnesians.” Knowing the possible obstacles that lay ahead, she still pushed forward.…

    • 453 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays