Similarities Between Oedipus And Lysistrata

Typically in Athenian society, women took care of the things in the household while men, although still retaining the final say over matters of the household, focused most of their attention on the world outside the home. In the plays Assemblywomen and Lysistrata, Aristophanes explores roles of men and women in society, specifically what would happen if women were to take on the roles of men. Looking at these two plays about Athenian society as metaphors for marital life, it shows that men and women were incapable of having balanced power in their relationships. In both of these plays, the men were unable to keep their own sense of power when the women took over politics, and

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.

Her character came across in almost a slight masculine demeanor which assisted in drawing the difference in the women who were beneath her lead. On occasion, she seemingly frowned upon her own kind almost demonstrating the weaknesses women portray, “Yet, look you, when the women are summoned to meet for a matter of the greatest importance, they lie abed instead of coming.” As she expresses her disappointment in her own kind, her friend Cleonce` demonstrates understanding towards the stereotypical woman by stating, “Oh! They will come, my dear; but 'tis not easy, you know, 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.” This statement enables the idea of women only having the time to stick to what they are good for. However, due to Lysistrata’s character, she does define the strength and the choice a woman is capable of

Ancient Greek theatre is famed for hosting many playwrights that have stood the test of time, nevertheless concepts and ideologies present in traditional Greek theatre have become outdated. Strict gender roles were ever-present in society and a person was judged in relation to his or her compliance with these standards. Ancient Greek theatre hosts many misogynistic examples of the conformity to the gender roles of the time as well as the consequences of rebelling against the gender protocol. Women were to remain invisible, obedient and subordinate and to rebel against these restrictions would condemn women to be seen as psychotics, liars, and traitors. Even so many female playwrights recreate these plays today in a modern light to

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

Set in Athens, Greece in 411 BC, Lysistrata depicts the typical role of a woman in a society where she has no power. However, these women see the war between Sparta and Athens for what it truly does to Greece, and realize the power they have in ending it. In the ancient Greek culture, it was a woman’s duty to have sex with her husband and ultimately produce a legitimate heir to which the father could pass his inheritance. Men considered women inferior, and women possessed no role in government. Yet in this play, women do obtain power. The gender role reversal really begins when Lysistrata convinces the other Greek women to take an oath to “renounce sex” (pg 145). Based on our knowledge of Greek culture, the men would have been appalled to see women taking an oath, because it was an act entitles only to men. Lysistrata uses an earnest tone when she tells the Magistrate that the women will “take charge” (pg 160) of the money, and the Magistrate is infuriated. The irony comes into play when Lysistrata states: “We’ve always been in charge of all your housekeeping finances” (pg 160). Lysistrata is asking the men why they refuse to allow the women to help run the country when the women run a whole estate when the men depart for business or war. Additionally, when the women lock the men out of the Acropolis, their center of government, the men’s leader proclaims the action is “anti-democratic” (166). Ironically, for years, the women were not permitted in the Acropolis, yet when the men are shut out it is suddenly anti-democratic. Once the women gain

“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

First, she calls for the first meeting in the play in which she calls out for an end to the war. In fact, she has sufficient clout to reach women from all the city states in ancient Greece. She not only leads the anti-sex drive but also lead the women in seizing the Acropolis, the treasury. Her actions thus cut the much-needed finances to support the war. Lysistrata’s fight for the rights of the young suffering and childless women left destitute during endless wars.

There are no female roles in Mankind but there are many in Lysistrata. It is thought that there were no women in the audience during a Greek play and this drastically changes the way the characters of women should be viewed in the play. At first it could seem that Lysistrata is about empowering women but it is a comedy and the men in audience would find it funny that a woman is being portrayed having an opinion an doing things for herself. In the religion of the time women played an integral part because some of the gods were women. This makes it strange that women are not put into a higher place in ancient Greek society.

The first role of women that is displayed through the plays of Euripides is their submissiveness. This most often occurs in the plays of Hecabe and Trojan Women. The women depicted seem week and unable to fend for themselves. More specifically, the women in these plays seem more accepting of their fates.

On the other hand, Aristophanes exaggerates the strength of women, “I've thought the whole thing out till there's no flaw/ We shall surprise the Acropolis today:/That is the duty set the older dames/While we sit here talking, they are to go/ And under pretense of sacrificing, seize it.” (Aristophanes). As seen in his overview, Martin demonstrates that during the Peloponnesian war women, although not a part a major part of politics, were becoming somewhat engaged with the public instead of sticking to the basics of what a women should do; this concept is exaggerated in Lysistrata by having the women “seize” the city while the men are

Lysistrata by Aristophanes is a prime example of Athenian old comedy from the prologues to the exods as it not only fills the audience with laughs through a wide range of comedic techniques such as double entendres, satire and vulgarity. Since Aristophanes creating the play in this format he has hidden some crucial and dramatic themes involved in the play. The themes so creatively disguised through the comedic techniques used were, gender roles, in strength there is unity and anti-war. The complex themes will be discussed throughout this essay along with Athenian old comedy and comedic techniques to provide evidence on how these dramatic themes were concealed. Through the use of Double entendres Lysistrata and the other Athenian women have

This story revolves around the theme of incest with Myrrha being the blame for her unacceptable lust. After reading this story, it gave me a wider range of how “acceptable” is incest is among men vs. women and mortals vs. immortals. Zeus and Oedipus both committed incest and while Oedipus he blinded himself because he cannot live up to what he did, Zeus continued to expand his family tree. Incest between the immortals is more common than with the mortals. Oedipus was sure haunted by his actions, but no one was after him to take his life. Oedipus’ siblings/ children and mom/wife simply had to deal with the fact that incest has been done and nothing can change it. Myrrha desires her father and tricked him to sleep with her for multiple nights.

However, in Lysistrata the women needed to get involved to resolve the war between the Spartans and the Athenians. This was a huge red flag for the audience in Athens because of the Athenian attitude towards women. Treated as almost a second class citizen to men, the women in Lysistrata took an active role in persuading the men of Athens to find peace with the Spartans by way of abstinence. Particularly Lysistrata got a group of women together that disliked the current suffering caused by the war and convinced them to not sleep with their husbands until they decided to work towards peace.”...imagine. We’re at home, beautifully made up, and we walk around the house wearing sheer lawn shifts… and we keep our distance … they’ll make peace soon enough”(p.146). Using their sexuality as a weapon towards the men in Lysistrata the women effectively forced the men to change their political attitudes. This further proved to undermine the democracy by showing the audience that even the women noticed that the current system was causing problems and it needed to be changed. So much so that women were willing to make their husbands suffer until an agreeable result was achieved. Once an agreement was achieved between both sides the Spartans and Athenians drank together and celebrated their new found peace. This gave the audience another taste of what it would have been like if the war was over. Using the contrast

They don’t necessarily want to withhold sex from their male partners, but they also don’t want them to die in battle. The women are determined, despite the fact that abstaining from sex is hard for both them and the men. What this play is about is the empowerment of women. Lysistrata, in particular, is an intelligent, charismatic leader who strategizes, plans, and orchestrates an end to the Peloponnesian war. Unfortunately, the only woman in this play that seems to have the willpower to see the strike through to the end is Lysistrata herself. The other women keep trying to come up with excuses to end their individual strike. This says something about a characteristic of leadership. A leader must remain true to their convictions because they are the ones that people look up to, and they are the ones holding everything