Category: Lysistrata

Introduction

From Shakespeare to Aeschylus and Aristophanes, there have been many films that have been adapted from plays. Chi-Raq directed by Spike Lee was made to be a modern adaptation of Aristophanes play Lysistrata. Using rap and hip-hop, the film addresses important social issues, like Gang and gun violence plaguing the city of Chicago. In Lysistrata, the protagonist is desperate to end the bloodshed between Athens and Sparta. In Chi-Raq, she is desperate to end the senseless violence killing innocent lives every day. Spike Lee’s Chi-Raq is a satire in no way meant to make fun of gun violence, but to help raise awareness in a political and artistic way. In my paper, I will discuss Spike Lees’ Chi-Raq based on Aristophanes’ Lysistrata and how he made this Greek Comedy attractive to a modern-day audience.

Aristophanes & Spike Lee

Lysistrata By Aristophanes

Lysistrata is a comedy written in 411 B.C. by the Greek playwright Aristophanes. The play starts with Lysistrata on the quiet streets of Athens. Lysistrata is frustrated with the unfair treatment of women in Athens and the on-going Peloponnesian war, a war that has been going on for over twenty years. Lysistrata calls for a gathering with the women of Greece to discuss her plans to end the war. When the women appear, Lysistrata begins by informing them that they as women, have power over their men and they will use that power to end the war and bring peace to Athens. She tells them that the only way to end the war is to take over the Acropolis. Her plan would be for the older women to seize control of it. No access to the Acropolis means the men no longer have access to funding the War. And to ensure a peace negotiation is made, she also orders the women to abstain from sex from their partners. Hence, sending the older women to the Acropolis since they are no longer sexually active. Of course, many of the women disagree with this method because not only does withholding from sex affect the men, but it would also affect the married and sexually active women. The women also enjoy sex, but Lysistrata informs them that denying the men access to their bodies would weaken them into submission. After being persuaded, the women agree that this is something they must do if they want peace and bring their men back home. They oblige and take an oath “…Ill never lie and stare up at the ceiling, nor like a lion on all fours go kneeling. If I keep faith, then bounteous cups be mine. If not, to nauseous water change this wine…” (Lysistrata) the plan for the younger women is on. The older women will invade the Acropolis and the younger women will deny the men sex until the war is over. (Jacobus)

Chi-Raq directed by Spike Lee

Chi-Raq is a film produced and directed by Spike Lee, that aims to bring awareness to the gang and gun violence in the United States. The film name “Chi-Raq” is a combination of Chicago and Iraq. The name stems from Chicago’s reputation of being a violent city in recent years and has often been compared to combat zones in Iraq. The film starts with the number of murders to deaths in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Chicago from the early 2000s to present day showing that Chicago’s murders are higher than both Iraq and Afghanistan combined. Using the plot from Aristophanes’ Lysistrata, Spike Lee uses Chicago’s south side to tell the story of Lysistrata, the girlfriend of Spartan Gang leader Chi-Raq, whose mission is to end the violence in the city. After rival gang leader of the Trojans ‘Cyclops’ come for revenge in a string of attacks against her and Chi-Raq, Lysistrata must hide out at her neighbor Miss Helen home. When gunshots erupt on the streets, Miss Helen and Lysistrata begin to discuss how the city has changed throughout the years. Miss Helen longs for the days when the Chicago streets were safe enough for the children to play on, while Lysistrata has only known Chicago as a War Zone. When their discussion of how to end the violence in the city, Lysistrata is not convinced that the men will ever surrender their guns or give up their gang life. Enter Leymah Gwobee, a peace activist responsible for leading a women’s peace movement that helped bring an end to the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003. () When Lysistrata comes to the realization that she and the women around the city can control the men by withholding from sex, she calls for the women of Chicago to come together for a meeting. When the women assemble, Lysistrata goes on to tell them that enough is enough. There can’t be any more dead children on the streets of Chicago. That the violence must end and the way to do it is to ‘Lock it up.’ The Spartan and Trojan women are hesitant at first, but they realize that this could be the way to peace. “No Peace. No P***y” They make an oath to abstain from sex until the men put their guns down. Sound familiar? (Lee)

Comparisons

Character vs. Character

Whilst reading Lysistrata, it is never mentioned that she is married. She just wanted the war to end and get the men back home. Lysistrata wants to strike, but she can’t do it alone. She needs the help of all the women in Greece. She is a strong and independent woman; she knows what she wants and how to get it. She is the leader of the strike and not only does she have power over the men, but she can get the women to do almost anything she wants. An example: getting Myrrhine to Seduce her husband and convincing the women to keep on with the strike despite them wanting to give in. (Jacobus) In Chi-Raq, we learn more about Lysistrata and her upbringing. Her mother could not raise her so she was raised in and out of group homes until she came of age. She ended up on the streets and now runs with the Spartan Gang. I felt like this Lysistrata was a little selfish and ignorant, especially when confronted by Miss Helen. She did not want to listen to Miss Helen when she tells her about the violence Chi-Raq has caused and she really does not seem to care or know of a way to stop him. The irony is she feels safe with Chi-Raq even though he is nothing but trouble. In Lysistrata, the protagonist uses her followers to do the work of seducing their men. In Chi-Raq, Lysistrata comes together with the Trojan Gang leaders partner, Indigo, to come up with the solution. This is when you really see Lysistrata’s character change. She is stronger, she is motivated to make a change to better her community. Although she still loves and misses Chi-Raq in the end, she does not depend on him as much. She created a sisterhood of strong women that share the same goal, to end the violence.

Theme

Although the film and the play are similar, they have different ways of telling the story. In Aristophanes’ Lysistrata, Lysistrata speaks of how the Peloponnesian war has affected the women. The streets are empty, the men are gone, older women stayed single because the men were out at war, but the main focus of the play is Lysistrata’s sex strike and its power over the men. They kept it light and funny to entertain the audience. For instance, the women dousing the men with water to keep them away, the women come up with excuses to give up on the strike, and when Kinesias was desperate to be with Myrrhine and she continuously made excuses not to have sex with him.

In Chi-Raq, we see how the violence between the Trojans and the Spartans terrorize the neighborhood. Take for instance the scene involving Jennifer Hudson’s character Irene. Irene appears at the scene of a crime only to realize that the body lying on the street is that of her 7-year-old daughter, Patti who was hit by a stray bullet. She begins to question the crowd surrounding her daughter’s body, but the bystanders know better than to snitch, especially with how unforgiving gangs are. Angry and upset that no one spoke up, she warns them that if the gangs could kill an innocent child, this will be them or someone in their family next. Later on, we see Irene on her hands and knees scrubbing the blood of her daughter off the streets. These are dark and real events written into the film. Violence like this happens every day in America. It is obvious that Lee meant to make this film darker and more political than the comedy in Lysistrata. The film is a satire, the comedic element is not used to make fun of the murders, but to shed light on a very real problem people deal with today. In an interview, Lee address the criticism he had received: ‘There are very humorous moments in the trailer. Now some people are getting it twisted and thinking this is comedy, Chi-Raq is not a comedy, Chi-Raq is a satire, and there’s a difference between humor and comedy. … In no way shape or form are we making light of the lives that have been murdered with this senseless violence There’s an old statement, ‘I gotta laugh to keep from crying.’ Well, I think that’s apropos with Chi-Raq.”(Spata)

3. Rhyme and Chorus “In the year 411BC. That’s before Jesus, y’all! The Greek Aristophanes penned a play satirizing his day. And in the style of his time, ‘Stophanes made that s**t rhyme. Transplanted today we retain his verse to show our love for the universe.”-Dolomedes (Lee) When Samuel L. Jacksons’ character said this line at the beginning of the film, I was expecting that his character Dolomedes was going to be the only one speaking in verse. A majority of the characters spoke in rhyme and it was an appealing trait to the film. I do not remember seeing another film that did this and it was an interesting take on a Greek comedy. But after a while, the rhyming did get annoying. The only time there was a break from it was in the Church scene with Father Mike. Without it, that scene did better because it is such a serious topic that the rhymes could have unintentionally taken from emotional scene. (Mondello) But the second time around seeing the film, the rhyming did seem a bit unnecessary. Had it been just Dolomedes, the only person that ever addresses the audience, speaking in verse then it would have been enough and the audience would have understood what Lee’s intentions were making the film a little more bearable for the audience. “But what irked me the most is that the characters spoke in rhyme… It was cute the first 5 minutes but by minute 30, when one sentence ended with ‘fun’ and the other with ‘done’ I was kinda annoyed.” (Luvvie)

The Ending

The final 24 minutes of the film is different from the play. Towards the end of the play, Kinesias has been seduced by his wife, Myrrhine and left aroused. Kinesias and the chorus of old men sit around complaining about how sexually frustrated they all are when a Spartan man enters with an erection. Kinesias and the men find out that the sex strike is happening all over Greece. The men agree to come together to figure out a way to end the strike to solve their… Problems. When the Spartan and Athenian men come together, they plead with Lysistrata to end the strike so they can go back to having sex. Lysistrata knows she has them where she wants them, they are all aroused and ready to settle. When the chorus leader confronts Lysistrata to end the madness, Lysistrata invites the Goddess Reconciliation, a naked woman she brought to tease the men into submission. Lysistrata then goes on to scold the men for once being allies and now fighting over nothing. The men agree, and of course, it has all to do with the beautiful naked woman standing right in front of them. It just goes to show how much power the women’s sexuality had over the men the entire time. The men then go on to use Reconciliations body as a map to distribute territories. They agree, the strike ends, the men go back to their women. The chorus of old women and men sing, and dance and the younger men get to have sex again. The films ending was a little different. The Mayor in the film was seduced and left hanging by his wife. The men of both gangs were left lusting over the women except for Chi-Raq who found a woman. This is when you find out more about Chi-Raq and his troubled upbringing, his dad died, his mom could not find work, so he had to go to gang banging to make money. In the mean time, Lysistrata and the women take over the Illinois National Guard Armory and refused to surrender to the mens request to give it up. Chi-Raq comes to the Armory with a proposition, the first one to give in to a sex match loses, but this was all a plan set up by Lysistrata to have Chi-Raq and Cyclops in the same room. Cyclops wants to end the hate between them, he basically tells him he would rather having his wife in his life than Chi-Raq be dead. The scene then goes to a conference with the Mayor of Chicago announcing of the Peace Accord, an agreement from companies ensuring that “…every person in the hoods of America is guaranteed a job.” (Lee) As well as other forms of help for South Side Chicago. For Lysistrata, this is the justice the people in her city deserve.

The signing of the Peace accord from Lysistrata, Cyclops and Chi-Raq would ensure that the war between them is over. Lysistrata gives a speech that the families of the victims of gun violence deserve justice and Chi-Raq is hesitant to sign. In the end, Chi-Raq confesses that missed his intended target and killed Patti. As he is being pulled away in handcuffs, Chi-Raq tells the audience that its time to end the violence and quit protecting the gun. This is the first time we see Chi-Raq give in and agree that this is all for nothing. Although, the film never offers a solution, it does open a conversation hopefully inspire action “The movie offered no answers to the problem it presents…its not a film’s job to offer an answer… its to stimulate arguments and hook itself into the viewers’ imaginations…its a movie we need right now, whether you’re willing to admit it or not.” (Zeits)

In Aristophanes’ play Lysistrata, Lysistrata- the main protagonist- calls the women of Greece to a meeting to discuss the plan to end the Peloponnesian War. Lysistrata plans to ask the women to refuse to have sex with their husbands until a treaty of peace has been signed. Lysistrata also plans to have the older women of Athens occupy the Acropolis and seize control of the treasury- which holds the funds the men need for war. While some of the women have difficulty refusing to have sex, the Greek women pull through and are successful in their plan. Lysistrata helps the Greek and Romans negotiate a peace treaty and the two former enemies celebrate together in celebration. The women of ancient Greece were often seen as submissive and had little to no rights in comparison to their male counterparts. Greek women were unable to vote, own, or inherit land. A women’s main purpose was to produce children and see to the day to day operations of the household. Most of the women could participate in religious festivals but other than that they were deemed to stay in the house. This play was considered atypical for the period in which it was written in. As mentioned above women were only supposed to be seen as reproducers, pleasers to the husband, and to take care of the household. The females in this play are depicted as head strong women who take matters into their own hands, which is considered highly unusual for this time. Women are more likely seen a being submissive and deficient. Aristophanes characterized this play as a comedy. Comedies were considered very important bodies of work from ancient Athens and explored the representation, status and role of women in Ancient Greece.

One of the major themes in this play is women’s activism and male privilege which correlates directly to the topic of transnational feminism and male privilege mentioned in lecture nine. The females in this play were seen as feminists of sorts, going against the male dominated society that they lived in. The women of ancient Greece had almost little to no power, but they did hold power in the ways of sex. According to Katie Wilcox, “the major women in the play are extremely strong-willed individuals who will stop at nothing, even harnessing the power of their own sexuality, in order to promote peace between the city states of Greece” . Aristophanes depicted the salvation of all of Greece as being in the hands of the women. Not only that he portrayed a woman- Lysistrata- as having more intelligence, passion, and courage than most of the men of Greece. Lysistrata brings her feminist voice to the other women of Sparta to also help with ending the war which correlates with what we discussed about feminism being a broader global issue. He also portrayed the men as being incompetent fools when it came to the withdrawal of sex in contrast to the play’s influential women. This draws a parallel to when we talked about male privilege in lecture nine. Male privilege is when privileges are given to men as a class due to their institutional power in relation to women. In ancient Greece the men were seen as the superior beings. When they didn’t get what they thought was rightfully theirs they revolted. For example, in the play the Men’s Chorus brings firewood to smoke the women out of the Acropolis when they realize they are holding the war funds hostage. The women then push back and keep control of the Acropolis. This play is the beginning of a woman’s revolution.

Gender relations also take a bit of a turn during this play. The women- instead of maintaining the household and their children- are taking political initiative when it comes to the Peloponnesian War; while the men are becoming sex-crazed creatures desperate for attention. According to Helene Foley, “Lysistrata emphasizes that the women of Greece share in the citizenship of their cities not only through their power to produce heirs and guard the interior domestic space. As in many cultures, they exercise symbolic and ritual power for the city, both in their own public festivals like the Thesmophoria and in state cults involving the entire population” . Lysistrata challenges the concept of Classical Greek female sexuality that sex is something to be desired for both parties and not just for the act of reproducing. Lysistrata uses this sexuality concept as a weapon against the men. She sends the message that men are indeed reliant on women and require their contributions to society to function. This play is very similar to Aristophanes other play Ecclesiazousae. Both plays switch the traditional Greek gender roles and showcase women’s power both politically and sexually as they both have very strong female protaganists. Ecclesiazousae is very progressive in its thoughts of gender equality and a fair society. According to Helene Foley, “In the Ecclesiazusae, then, women do, as they do so rarely in tragedy, continue to represent the oikos as they make their symbolic intrusion into the political sphere. ” This is very similar to Lysistrata in the way that women forcefully push themselves into the political realm of society to help benefit the community.

In conclusion, Lysistrata is a great example of an ancient Greek play with a theme of women’s rights. It also incorporates some of the major themes of our module such as male privilege and feminism in a global society. Lysistrata took a twist on the classical Greek gender roles in ancient Greece displaying that women can be influential in the political aspect of the society. This play expresses women as being real people with real thoughts and not just as mindless pawns in society.

During the democracy of Athens, the male citizens held all the power while women enjoyed little civil liberties and rights. Gender roles consisted of the man being the breadwinner, while the women were supposed to stay home and raise the children. A common gender role for the women were also to please their husband whenever the men desired. The play focuses on women questioning their pre-determined roles when Lysistrata proposed a sex strike until peace is returned to Ancient Greece. On the surface, the play Lysistrata could appear to be a light-hearted comedy about a group of women who decide to refuse sex to the Greek men in order to end the Peloponnesian war.

Lysistrata parallels the war by also having a war onstage, battle of the sexes. However, inside of his comicality there exists a perilous concealed transcript. The females refusing sex to the men and demanding the end of the war, the women are also challenging the pre-existing patriarchal power structures in ways that were unheard of in Ancient Greece. For the men to maintain their domination, they try to emphasize their supremacy by any means they can, to including a very animalistic method. One scene has the men demonstrating that they smell much worse than women and by taking off their clothes in efforts to show off their masculinity. One argument is that Athenian woman knew their role and place in society and where comfortable with it. However, the woman needed change and were tired of the war. Throughout the play, the men and women of Greece fight for power.

To understand what Aristophanes was thinking, we must have some understanding of these cultural features in Classical Athens. This play echoes gender hierarchy roles while it also stretches the traditional gender roles of its period. The women in the play, other than Lysistrata herself, tend to be collected of labels: shallow, unreliable, and shy. Even they themselves are skeptical about their power to effect peace in Greece: women are lazy, they say, unwise, and talented only in glamorously painting their faces and primping. The men of Athens, however, are stubborn, paranoid, and so entangled in their mismanagement of the state that they have lost sight of basic human needs. They are easily distracted and will find any other reason, than their masculinity, to blame for the war.

Love unescapably gets the better of war, as is shown by the comedy’s single most iconic stage image. After the women’s sex strike has gone on for so long, the Greek men, Athenians and Spartans warriors alike, find themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place. The males refuse to make peace, but in this dilemma that also condemns them to shuffling around the stage with painful erections, badly trying to hide them under their cloaks. However, men aren’t the only casualties of the battle of the sexes either. The Athenian woman Kleonike, for one, is extremely reluctant to give up sex, even if it means the continuation of the war. “I’m willing to walk through fire barefoot,” she says, “but not to give up SEX—there’s nothing like it!” Another woman stuffs Athena’s sacred helmet in her clothing so that she appears pregnant.

When Lysistrata and the Greek women refused to have sex with the Greek men until they end the Peloponnesian war, they ignite a power struggle that is portrayed in the play. In addition to the examination of gender, there are also multiple references to the image of “the woman on top.” The men in the play feel threatened by this sex position because they are wary of women being on top of the power structure of Greece, and they want to maintain their hegemony. Although the play was written as a comedy, the imagery of a woman in power was enough for the men to take a step in the direction to end the war instead of seeing it to the ‘end’. Though it is unclear in the end whether men or women come out on top in the end, Aristophanes effectively portrays the way that both genders view for power even though gender is fictional.

The Aristophanes’ play reveals the role of women in Athenian society how they are always lonely when their husband goes to war for months at a time “We’ve got to fuss about our husbands, wake up the servants, calm and wash the babies, then give then food.” (paragraph 17-19 Calonice). While the husband is out fighting during the war the wives still have to do chores without any help from their other half. How women would have no free time of their own because they are doing chores around the house. While the men are out for a very long period of time it can put a strain on their marriage, and they might lose the spark of their love because they have not seen each other for so long. How the women are used to being alone running the household without them being by their side. The women wish to keep moving on with their Greek tradition while their husbands are away wishing how much they want them home so they can celebrate together instead of being apart for months.

The extent this play demonstrates women influence and power in society is that they would get what they want at the expense the men won’t suffer if they don’t agree to the terms. “All right then we have to give up all men penises.” (line 134 Lysistrata). While the men return home from being away at war for short period of time, they demanded their wives to have sex with them because the men get very horny and want to have sex immediately. “The effect of their sex strike on the men, portrayed in a series of explicit episode, finally drive the warrior to make peace” (page 99 in the textbook). Since the women are on strike on not having sex until they come to terms with the end of the never-ending Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta. The women want the men to make peace with the enemies so they can come home sooner. “No, by god, I won’t unless you give me something in return. End this war” (line 1051-1052 Myrhine). This shows how persisted the women are and how they won’t give up unless the husband commits to it the women are tormenting the husband that they want the war to end and the only way to do that is to make peace with it. The women know for a fact that men can’t resist no sex forever and tease them about it by starling then last-minute, change their minds by getting their hopes up and then taking it away. Trying not to care what their husband says or does when they are trying to get their wives to listen or evening acknowledge them at the moment.

Until finally comes to terms of it and decides to do what their wives says and agrees peace for both sides and can move on with their lives. The wives have their husband wrapped around their finger and after a while of not getting what they want and got bored of begging they accept the terms and finally do what their wives wanted them to do in the first place. “Let each man stand beside his wife, each wife beside her man, and then celebrate good times let’s dance in honor If the gods. And for all future time, lets never make the same mistake again.” (1469-1473 Lysistrata). When they finally made peace with each other they decided to celebrate the wonderful victory by dancing and having a blast because now their one love can stand right next to each other not having to worry about them leaving for the war again. Now they can enjoy each other’s company, spend every day of their lives with each other and watch their kids grow up together and enjoy every moment they have now.

The genre of the source (a fictional play) affect my interpretation of it I thought it was a clever way to make the men end the war faster but not having sex with. “A citizen jury ruled in Aristophanes favor upholding the Athenian tradition of free speech” (page 99 in the textbook). The women are done and want their husband to hear them, so they decide to speak up on what they want their husband to do. They wanted them to end the word and return home staying and build a stable living situation instead of waiting for them to return for a few days at a time saying bye to them again for they don’t know how long. “I won’t do it so let the war drag on” (line 139-140 Myrrhine) and, “I won’t either. The war can keep on going” (line 141Calonice). How women would do anything for their husband evening giving up sex evening though they also want sex and, how they would rather have the war drag on.

After Lysistrata persuades the girl on how much better it would be if the war ended sooner and their husband can finally come home. How everything can go back to normal like before Peloponnesian War evening started “Now join me and place your hands on our sacrificial victim. O you Goddess of persuasion and the bowl which we so love, accept this sacrifice a women’s offering and be kind to us.” (line 222-225 Lysistrata). I like how Lysistrata would be calling the shots and making sure women are behind her a 100 percent and how they would stick together. “Well, first of all there should be no fighting” (line 568 Lysistrata). This shows how much Lysistrata would do anything to bring families who husband is away at war fighting instead. Wants them to be a family again and forget about this war evening happened and, almost split up tons of families because husband was not there for them or provide for them. I like how demanding the women are and would stick to their commitments even though it is killing them how much they want to break the promise with the girls to stick with it, not quite to see what will happens. The women would stay strong and how they would dream of the war to be over and they get their husband back for really not dreaming about the war being over.

Cinesias is Myrrhine’s husband. He is an unreliable husband. It is proven when he asks Myrrhine to go home because he can not take care of his children and also their house. Cinesias only meet his wife because his erection is unbearable. The next character is the Magistrate, a representative of law and order in Athens as a representation of masculinity. He is a misogynist who considers women weak and only concern with mattress and kitchen things. He even says that women can not manage military funds because it is not the same as managing household finances. And he insists that the experience of managing households is not useful to run the states.

The Chorus of Women as the point of view of the women are smart and brave. They succeed in conquer the Acropolis and keep it under their control until the peace treaty is ratified. They are also stronger than the Chorus of Men during the confrontation, they easily frustrate the Chorus of Men plan and beat them back. The Chorus of Men is a group of old war veterans as the point of view of the men. They are not as strong as the Chorus of Women in their old age. Even they have difficulty when climbing. They are always defeated in every confrontation.

There are several symbols in this play. The first is Lysistrata’s name. It means army-disbander, peace advocates, and peacemakers which clearly symbolizes her role in this drama to bring peace. The second is the bowl and the wine as a substitute for equipment that men usually use in warfare such as shields and helmets. This symbolizes the power of women in a form of an oath, as Calonice said that the oath-taking ceremony for peace should not be the same as the oaths of men in warfare that use shields and blood sacrifices.

The Acropolis symbolizes the central power because all the women’s movements happen there from the very beginning and is also a financial center that determines the continuation of the war. The Acropolis is also symbolic because it is the path to the temple of the Goddess Athena who represents wisdom and victory in war. The Acropolis is also Lysemache’s home, a priestess from the Athena Polias cult, the oldest and most respected religious institution in 411. She managed the cult and its female personnel and discharged many ritual functions, including the guardianship of Athena’s treasuries. She is also believed to be a peace fighter in the days of Aristophanes. Aristophanes connects Lysistrata with Lysimache to represent the heroes of women.

The next symbol is Lysistrata’s handmaid named “Peace”. It symbolizes the goal that the women want to achieve by using Peace’s body as a map of Greece in utilizing men’s libido. That way, ‘Peace’ also symbolizes physical appearance as women’s power. So, the men are unable to hold their libido any longer and eventually move them to agree to the peace treaty as soon as possible. Beside as a symbol, the wine also foreshadows the celebration of the women’s victory. “If I do all this, then I may drink this wine” in the women’s oath foreshadows the celebration after the women done the plan and achieve their goal.

Before the peace ambassador come to Acropolis, the two Choruses reunited. It begins with the Women Chorus’ Leader helps the Men Chorus’ Leader put on his tunic, removes insects from his eyes, and ends it with a kiss. Then they are no longer enemies and after that the Men’s and Women’s Choruses combine and sing together. This foreshadows the later peace negotiations between the men and the women. It also symbolizes that men will always need the role of women even in the smallest things.

The theme of this play is Breaking the Stereotype of Gender and Sexism. In ancient Athens, women have fewer rights than men. Women’s work was limited only to supervise domestic servants and slaves, raise children, manage the household finances and do their own tasks, such as spinning and weaving. Women can not vote, own land or even just inherit land. Furthermore, their economic activity and freedom of movement are also limited. All political power are hold by men. And that’s why Lysistrata and her fellow carry out their plan.

Despite having no political power, Lysistrata and her fellow brilliantly use the only power they have over themselves, their bodies, in an effort to end the war. They revolt against patriarchal authority and oppose policies which brought disaster to Athens. They will no longer be silent and suffer the consequences of incompetent men’s decisions. By withholding sex, they have power and control.

According to Lysistrata, men’s perspectives are too limited in making decisions because they refuse to listen to women’s advice. Men always tell women to remain silent and not interfere in state affairs. When women try to give advice, men will respond angrily and tell them to go back to their weaves. Men insists that war and state affairs are their business, not for women. They underestimate the ability of women. However, Lysistrata and her fellow break this stereotype and prove that women’s ability to manage the household is valuable and can be used in managing state affairs.

Satire is the main literary device used in Lysistrata. Aristophanes included satire in the role of many characters such as Calonice. Aristophanes also used casual and witty tones to arrange the game as comedy rather than tragedy. Sarcastic tone condemns the issues of gender inequality. Aristophanes uses satire through the style of writing, tone, and metaphor to convey his message. By writing obscene and mild sex comedy, Aristophanes instilled these themes which made them more enjoyable and digestible.

The question of a woman and the attitude of society towards her is a question that has long existed among various communities and civilizations. Women always make up half the world’s population. The continuation of life in the world depends on women as much as it depends on men. On the shoulders of women, in the natural order, lie the greatest works of the universe, such as procreation and raising children, are in hands of women. A woman –is a creature with abilities, feelings, thoughts and imagination, and she should be able to express them freely. Consequently, the issue of women is an important issue and has long existed in communities, among thinkers, In ethics and in various habits of people. Among these thinkers there is Arnold Schwarzenegger, he said: “In our society, the women who break down barriers are those who ignore limits”. Empowerment has the potential to be defined as a multidimensional social process that can people gain control of their own lives. Empowering ladies means that the ability of ladies to make strategic choices where they were previously denied. Accordingly, empowerment is considered central to the process of preserving ladies’ superiority at the personal, family, community, and also wider levels. This incorporates the impact of improving the status of women through literacy, education, learning, and awareness-raising. Thus, the empowerment of ladies is to allow and equip ladies to create relevant conclusions on various tasks in the country. The need for empowerment of women appeared due to discrimination on the basis of gender symptoms and the predominance of men in Indian society since ancient years. Ladies are suppressed by members of their own families and society for almost all reasons. They are subjected to almost all forms of violence and discriminatory practices by men and the members of the family and society in India and other countries. But later, these persistent ones like Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru advocated for the rights of women and, as a result of their concentrated efforts, aimed at increasing the status of women in public financial and political life in Indian society. But the women in India have achieved significant sensations for seven decades of independence, the war is only half won. They still have to deal with almost all the social vices that oppress them and exacerbate their status. Women are like subalterns still in the shadow.

Oppression –in general, the concept is abstract and is not determined by matter, but mental weakness and the dissonance of the existence of society . This phenomenon is characteristic of a society that does not understand or misinterprets the values and goals of its life path. Who is the subaltern? The subaltern according to the dictionary, is a person occupying a subordinate place, first a smaller officer in the English army. The subalterns, who do not speak, to learn how to own weapons, to have weapons, such subalterns would only deserve to be treated like slaves. The deep meaning of this term has been given by the Indian feminist, professor at Columbia University Gayatri Chakrovarti Spivak. Can the subalterns speak? is the essay of Spivak which answers the question are able those who are at the bottom of the power hierarchy, those whose voice is in pro the space of political interaction is the least recognizable, on independent statements? Do structures exist communications allow such statements to be heard? Despite the fact that Spivak’s questioning is largely rhetorical, the controversy surrounding her posed problem does not lose intensity within the framework of political and cultural studies. The merit of Gayatri Chakrovarti Spivak is to implement this research program from a gender perspective. In other words, subalterns are according to the Spivak, heterogeneous. It means that the subalterns can be poor people or those who do not have citizenship, the unemployed class, uneducated people, and including women.

Well, then women are also in subaltern’s class, which suffer from external factors, like male dominance, discrimination against women. The subalterns according to the Spivak are still in the shadow: “…if in the context of colonial production, the subaltern has no history and cannot speak, the subaltern as female is even more deeply in the shadow …”( Spivak Gayatri,28). For example in modern society in more countries have rights that affirm the equal rights of women and men, but in fact, the role of women in the labor market and even religion is weak. The degree of participation in the labor market in East Asia among women is lower than that of men, and this difference not increasing. In Southeast Asia, female participation is still lower than among men, and where it is relatively higher after the Asian Financial crisis in the late 1990s the years that spanned Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia, gender inequality has increased. Another example of male dominance from ancient work written by Aristophanes Lysistrata:“ …all alone being proper women, we used to suffer in silence no matter what you men did, because you wouldn’t let us make a sound. But weren’t exactly all we could ask for. No, we knew only too well what you were up to, and too many times we’d hear in our homes about a bad decision you’d made on some great issue of state . Then, masking the pain in our hearts, we’d put on a smile and ask you, “How did the assembly go today? Any decision about a rider to the peace treaty?” And my husband would say “What’s shat to you? Shut up!”And I’d shut up. It perfectly proves the rights of women in the family, and in public affairs, their husbands say silent, women just listen to them. Despite the fact that this work is very old, but it clearly coincides with the modern situation of women. For instance in Kyrgyzstan owe the eve the new year,4 women died from domestic violence within one month. And the number of women victims of domestic violence is increasing every year. Women are victims of trafficking often suffer from racial discrimination, which is also considered an external factor, they are doubly oppressed and vulnerable, and women from certain racial and ethnic groups may be especially vulnerable to trafficking or become targets of traffickers. Refugee women and migrants are also more vulnerable to violence, they suffer from the absence of their representative bodies and from the restrictions placed on their freedom of movement. Women who are discriminated against on the basis of gender and race are often victims of violence . Hearing from the news, seeing with own eyes how females suffer, how can say that females are not in the shadow?

Another big and more problematic reason why women are still in darkness is women themselves or internal factors. Many of them, because of their lack of education, or because of their mentality, maybe because of religion, do not even know that they are subalterns. Imagine, Mowgli, which brought animals far from civilization. It all starts with the fact that the wolves save the baby that they found in the jungle. The boy grew up, with them gaining their experience of survival in the jungle. There were laws that were enforceable. When Mowgli got to people, he did not understand how to cheat or obey other people like him. Same thing with the women. If women were born in a poor society, and always felt discrimination, always felt obeyed someone, how did know how it was to be heard, what does it mean. They probably do not even know that they feel discriminated against, that they really suffer like the Mowgli did not notice that he got to another world being different. Take as an example Aristophanes’ Lysistrata:

Lysistrata: Hey you! What’s your hurry?

First Wife: I want to go home. I’ve got some Milesian wool in the house, and the moths are chomping it all up.

Lysistrata: Moths! Get back inside.

Third wife: I’m about to deliver a child!

Lysistrata: But you weren’t pregnant yesterday.

Third wife: But today I am. Please, Lysistrata, send me home to the midwife, and right away! (Aristophanes69)

These lines clearly show that women without Lysistrata could not achieve their goal, would they even know that they are suffering, and they should stop the war. But the work of Aristophanes is just a fantastic fairy tale, and today there is no such heroine as a Lysistrata who explains the situation to everyone, to fight all difficulties and stop the war. Even if such a person appears how can he help the oppressed if even he does not know what it feels like to be subaltern, how he will help without knowing what exactly the subalterns want, what exactly they need. Women themselves subordinates, like Mowgli, do not know that they live in a society where they are feeling discrimination, where these women make up the class of subordinates. Another example of an internal factor is bride theft in Kyrgyzstan. For other nations, stealing brides is savagery against women, and for example in Kyrgyzstan it is normal, and women treat this normally, thinking it should be so. And because of this, the bride theft continues inside the country.

The main conclusions are that, although the world has changed and almost all countries have rights that affirm the rights of women, females still suffer from various problems. For instance, gender discrimination, domestic violence, lack of education, to be a victim in society. Anything has not changed strictly since Lysistrata, and there is evidence that they are or remain in the shadows through the customs and traditions of many ethnic groups, as an example of Kyrgyz. The most pitiful thing is that many women, without noticing, remain in the subaltern’s class.

Work cited:

1. Spivak, Gayatri. ‘Can the subalterns speak’? In Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture, edited by Cary Nelson and Lawrence Grossberg, 24-28, London: Macmillan, 1988.
2. Aristophanes. Three plays by Aristophanes: Staging women. Translated by Jeffrey Henderson. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2010.

Subaltern, as described in Spivak’s essay, is the marginalized, subordinated, and oppressed people who are subjected to be silent. The reason for the existence of the subalterns is the social strata between the citizens of a country where authority belongs to a limited number of people. The social hierarchy worsens the conditions for those who come at the lowest part of the social strata’s division. Hence, subaltern includes working-class, slaves and definitely women who have no voice. In contrary to Spivak’s definition of subaltern, Lysistrata is a comic play by Aristophanes in 411, where women are the main characters who demand peace and end of the ongoing war between the two Greek cities, Sparta and Athens. While Spartans and Athenians conflict with each other to gain more power, women of both states are concerned about their fathers, husbands, sons, and domestic lives and feel responsible to end the war. Women in Lysistrata challenge men; unlike subalterns who keep silent. Additionally, Aristophanes in Lysistrata portrays women as rebels who challenge the social strata and stand against powerful and authoritative men and their demands. Lysistrata is the heroine of the play who calls on other women to assist her in her rebellious plan to bring peace to the cities. She ultimately attains her goal with the help of women’s solidarity and resistance. The goal of this paper is to analyze whether women in Lysistrata are subalterns as Spivak defines or not. They are not subalterns because the definition of subaltern does not fit them. They challenge the social order by their persistent insurgency, civil disobedience, and revolutionary behavior and harsh language.

They are not subalterns because they are mostly from the upper or middle-class families who are obstinate and insurgent. Like Spivak, Aristophanes also mentions the social hierarchy between the genders and as well as between females. In Ancient Greek, women certainly did not have any special position; however, women who belonged to the upper and middle-class families were wealthier. Women portrayed by Aristophanes in Lysistrata belong to a higher social position. Lysistrata is the one who plans to fight against men and persuades other women too to stand against men and challenge them. They are no more submissive to their husbands, fathers, and brothers. In fact, they now have made men be submissive to them by not performing their domestic duties and specifically denial of sex with their husbands unless they act upon their demand. Women take an oath not to perform sex with their husbands until they agree to leave war and come home. As stated in the play when they take the oath, ‘But never willingly should I surrender to my husband’, ‘If he should use force to force me against my will’, ‘I will submit coldly and not move my hips'(Aristophanes 53). These are the lines uttered by women not to be submissive to their husbands and lovers and not to have sex with them. Besides, a more specific example of insurgency is the discussion of Kinesis and Myrrhine, typical wife and husband, where Myrrhine does not agree with her husband to have sexual intercourse, but in return demands for peace in a deceitful way (Aristophanes 75). The characters who are portrayed by Aristophanes in the play are women who belong to upper and middle-class families who challenge the social order by their insurgency. Hence, the idea of subalterns does not match women in Lysistrata because they belong to higher social strata who stand against men and their demands by obstinateness and insurgency.

Another reason that they are not subalterns is that they commit civil disobedience which is a challenge to the social order. Lysistrata’s first conspiracy against men is the conjugal strike, which makes women civil disobedient as they no more do their domestic and family duties. Her second conspiracy is an occupation of the citadel by which she controls the money which is used to finance the war. Their plans and conspiracies prove that they are the ones who are making decisions for the society and challenge the social order by suggesting men leave the war and join the reconciliation. They do not only deny domestic duties but also take part in the politics that subalterns are not able to do. Furthermore, they are powerful and authoritative because the goddess Athena, who has business in the citadel, assists them (Aristophanes 40). In addition, they advise men how to spend the money of the state, as expressed by women’s leader,

‘And even if I was born a woman, don’t hold it against me if I manage to suggest something better than what we’ve got now. I have a stake in our community my contribution is men. You miserable geezers have no stake, since you’ve squandered your paternal inheritance, won in Persian wars, and now pay no taxes in return. On the contrary, we’re all headed for bankruptcy on account of you!’ (Aristophanes 66).

Suggestion from women is more rational and reasonable than what men do to state’s money, which shows that women challenge social order by their plans and ultimately by controlling the money and denial of their domestic duties. Hence, women are not subalterns because they challenge social order by participating in social and political decision making.

The third reason that women in Lysistrata are not subalterns is their brutal behavior and harsh language towards men to overcome men. The subalterns are the silent women who do not speak out and raise their voices. Unlike subalterns, women in Lysistrata are not silent when they face men who condemn and accuse them of their plans and actions. Instead, they face men bravely and fearlessly. During the parodos of the play, in the discussion between men and women, the language which women use is harsh and extremely violent. For instance, ‘I’ll rip out your lungs and your guts with my fangs’ (Aristophanes 57), ‘I’m watering you, so you’ll bloom’ (Aristophanes 57) and during the episode using language like, ‘if you so much as lay a hand on her, by Pandrosos I’ll beat the shit out of you’, ‘You’ll be begging for an ice-pack!’, ‘I will rip out your hair until it screams!’ (Aristophanes 59-60). These sentences cannot be expressed by subalterns because they do not dare to speak to men, but by courageous and brave women who challenge the social order by using abusive and harsh language to determine that they are fearless defenders. In addition, their behavior is also courageous. For instance, during the choral debate women’s leader ‘raises her foot to men’s leader’ which means that she dares to kick him (Aristophanes 67). Kicking a man by a woman is something rebellious for that period time. The other example of rebellious behavior of women is taking out their veils and showing parts of their bodies that should be hidden from other men except for their husbands (Aristophanes 63). Hence, subalterns are those who are silent when they are treated rudely; however, women in Lysistrata are not subalterns because they use critical behavior and harsh language to defeat themselves.

From another perspective, women are still submissive to men because their insurgency is conditional to the time of war and conflict. Considering the problems of his time, Aristophanes finds the role of women as the only effective and available option for ending the conflict between the two states (Aristophanes 39). Women in prewar time were convinced with their roles and domestic duties. Therefore, they definitely cannot speak because they do not have the right to speak and are subjugated to silence and obedience. They are satisfied with how they are treated and behaved, as mentioned in the introduction ‘Though Lysistrata protests women’s exclusion from policy-making that affects women’s lives, women do not question their ordinary roles or seek in any way to change them.’ (Aristophanes 40). This quote demonstrates women’s submissiveness to men which is a common tradition and belief in 400s. The reason they protest against men is to have the ordinary prewar conditions of their lives. Moreover, there are women slaves, who do not speak but just obey what they are commanded, who fit the definition of the subalterns. They are the ones who are oppressed and have no voice. Nevertheless, women do take action when they have no other options to bring peace, save men, and save the country; however, after reconciliation of the cities and achieving their ultimate goal their lives will be similar to prewar time. Thus, they are submissive and obedient to men, because they do not question their duties and roles in the family and accept them.

They cannot participate in the social and political spheres of society because they do not have the right. Aristophanes portrays the reality of social and political spheres in his comic play. The fact that women were not citizens and were not allowed to participate in the social and political spheres is one of the realties which is reflected in Lysistrata. Women are not allowed to express their ideas or even ask questions regarding the government and politics from men. In the play, it is mentioned when Lysistrata replies Magistrate,

‘all along, being proper women, we used to suffer in silence no matter what you men did, because you wouldn’t let us make a sound. But you weren’t exactly all we could ask for. No, we knew only too well what you were up to, and too many times we’d hear in our homes about a bad decision you’d made on some great issue of state. Then, masking the pain in our hearts, we’d put on a smile and ask you, ‘How did the Assembly go today? Any decision about a rider to the peace treaty?’ and my husband would say, ‘What’s that to you? Shut up!’ And I’d shut up’ (Aristophanes 62).

This is the statement that explicitly demonstrates that women cannot participate in the decision making of the society. They should not speak up and raise their voice to ask anything about the decisions of the state. However, when knowing about the corrupt decisions of men with a painful heart by smiling, they ask their husbands but receive a punitive reply which results in silence. Women do not have the right to even know about the government, state, and the ongoing issues in the state. Thus, women are subalterns because they cannot take part in the decision making of the society.

The behavior and language of men to women in Lysistrata is even more brutal and violent because of their indignation. The language used by men in the play is full of ferocity when towards women. They are irritated and angry because women who they think do not have the right to stand against them, discourse them reasonably. They cannot tolerate seeing women challenge them and make them listen to what they demand. Therefore, they use harsh and abusive language while facing women; however, women do not just stand and listen but reply with the same kind of language and behavior. For example, ‘if you don’t shut up, I’ll knock you right out of your old hide!’, ‘what if I give one-two punch?’, ‘I am here to build a pyre and burn up your friends.’ (Aristophanes 57). These statements show men’s negative attitude towards Lysistrata and Lysistratos. Additionally, their behavior toward women is inhumane as they want to attack and ignite women who have occupied the citadel (Aristophanes 54). They are humiliated by women because women are deciding to end the war by opposing and challenging them. Therefore, they use violent and cruel behavior and language to show that they are annoyed and irritated. Thus, men’s violent and harsh behavior is because of their agony and anger.

To conclude, Spivak’s theory of subalterns does not apply to women in Lysistrata. Women in Lysistrata are those who belong to middle and upper-class families who stand against men and challenge the social order, which makes them not fall in Spivak’s definition of the subaltern. In contrary to the definition of Spivak, they are insurgent and obstinate because they do not listen to what men demand. The other reason is that they take part in the decision making of the society which subalterns cannot do. Last reason which excludes women of Lysistrata form Spivak’s definition of the subaltern is women’s behavior and language which they use during the play when facing men to defeat themselves and answer men and shut them up with their harsh language and brutal behavior. Their plans and strategies, the conjugal strike and the occupation of the treasure, work well enough to bring peace and reconciliation to the two states which subalterns cannot bring such a revolution. However, from another perspective, these women even relating to upper and middle-class families are submissive to men because they want normal prewar life. They are bounded to home and family duties; they cannot participate in the society or decision making process because they are not allowed to take part. Lastly, men too use harsh and violent language but their harsh and violent language is because of their anger and agony of women. As a result, they are not subalterns because subalterns cannot bring a huge change in the social order of the society but they are rather rebels who are enough courageous to bring peace by their powers in the society. The play and the roles of women in it is a voice of women which is raised in society.

Works cited

1. Aristophanes. Three plays by Aristophanes: Staging Women. Translated by Jeffery Henderson. Abingdon, Oxon [England]: Routledge, 2010.
2. Spivak, Gayatri. ‘Can the Subaltern Speak’. In Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture, edited by Cary Nelson and Lawrence Grossberg, 24-28. London: Macmillan, 1988.

The idea of women autonomy is highly debated today, as shown by the differing opinions on the passing of Georgia’s “heartbeat bill,” an anti-abortion law passed in May 2019. The bill will punish those who get an abortion after a “‘fetal heartbeat in the womb’” is detected in pregnant women.1 An article written by Lindsey Bever for The Washington Post describes the outcry that the bill faced from activists such as actress Alyssa Milano. Backlash against the bill resulted in around 50 celebrities signing a letter to the governor that promotes against the bill1; Alyssa Milano proposed the idea of a sex-strike.2 This idea that Milano proposed is not a new one; it has been derived from themes in Ancient Greek plays. The play Lysistrata by Aristophanes was written in 410 B.C.E. and deals with the power women can hold over patriarchal society and men. To bring peace to Athens and Sparta during the Peloponnesian War, a woman named Lysistrata brought women together from both sides to engage in a sex-strike, cutting off their men’s source of pleasure and power and forcing them to reach a peace agreement. However, Milano was not as successful. Ancient Greek culture is obviously very different to modern society, though modern influences from the past still exist. Ancient Greek plays have contributed to the way women can solve modern-day problems regarding women’s rights; however, the response to these ancient ideas has changed tremendously due to the differences in women’s rights today and how social media has influenced feminism movements. There are also flaws with looking at Lysistrata as a voice for feminism, as Aristophanes wrote the play as a comedic satire and not as an empowering tool for the women of that society.

In order to understand how the context for Lysistrata and Alyssa Milano’s protests differ, an insight into Ancient Greek culture should be done. Ancient Greece was a thriving civilization made up of autonomous city-states around the 8000 – 30 B.C.E. time period. The mountainous terrain helped keep city-states isolated, while the ocean surrounding Greece provided valuable trade and naval war opportunities. War was a constant part of Greek life, as is indicated by the formation of the Olympic Games, which helped keep men in shape for war. Threats came in the form of the Persian empire, other city-states (as shown by the tensions between Athens and Sparta), and the Roman empire. The shift from monarchies to either democracies (as in the case of Athens) or oligarchies (as in Sparta) occurred in Greece as well. Free men were in the top class, while women and slaves made up the bottom classes. In this highly patriarchal and misogynistic society, women did not have as many rights as today. Due to the loss of history, only the life of women in Athens can be described in detail; some facts also exist about Spartan women, where they had slightly more rights than their Athenian counterparts. Athenian women generally did not own land, did not vote, and did not even leave the house unless to visit other women or attend a funeral. Spartan women trained for war and could own land, but still were considered less important than men.

While women in the U.S. today have more rights, such as voting, owning land, and ideally travelling whenever they want, inequalities still exist; the difference in job wages between men and women is simply one example of an inequality faced today. Thus, the women portrayed in Lysistrata could relate to each other; they all had similar rights (or lack of rights), allowing them to band together based on a shared common experience. Furthermore, city-states were designed so that everyone knew each other. As a result, the Greek women had a stronger connection between them. Lindsey Bever’s article about Milano’s posts mentions that reactions towards the modern sex-strike varied, with “some applauding the idea but many others arguing that it only serves to perpetuate the stereotype that ‘women are providers and men are consumers of sex.’”2 This shows that unity regarding this topic is not easily done. In modern society, most people interact through social media, which allows for many opinions to take shape and can lead to a movement not being as united or taken as seriously. As indicated by the fall of Greece after Alexander the Great’s death, it’s extremely hard to manage a large group of people with differing values and cultures and no unifying leader. This situation can be analogous to the role of social media in the current era. While it is easier for movements such as feminism and women’s rights to gain traction, real change in policy or society is harder to achieve.

Problems also exist in reading the play Lysistrata through a modern viewpoint, where people might assume that it represents early ideas of feminism. Lysistrata’s goal is to attain peace for Greece, not to change the way that women are portrayed in society. On the other hand, Alyssa Milano’s goal is to shine “‘light on the Republican war against women and our bodily autonomy.’”2 Aristophanes wrote Lysistrata as a comedic satire about the role of women in society and how the Peloponnesian War could have been resolved quickly. The role of women in Aristophanes society is one of domestic power; it can be summed up when Lysistrata says: “May gentle Love and the sweet Cyprian Queen shower seductive charms on our breasts and our thighs. If only we may stir so amorous a feeling among the men that they stand as firm as sticks, we shall indeed deserve the name of peacemakers among the Greeks.” The only power that the Greek women can employ is the power of seduction; they cannot use political or social power to obtain peace, and as a result are often mocked for it, especially by the Magistrate, who says: “And is it with your yarn, and your skeins, and your spools, you think to appease so many bitter enmities, you silly women?”.5 The fact that the Aristophanes portrayed women as having essentially no power except in the bedroom does not support current feminist thinking that men and women are equal and should be treated as such; it puts them in an inferior light as they are inherently weaker due to their lack of power. Currently, women in the U.S. are able to have political and social power as well as domestic abilities; comparing current situations to those of Ancient Greek women can be considered offensive to women today, and a step backwards. In fact, Bever’s article highlights much of the criticism from other women that Milano’s sex-strike gained. One such critique was that Milano was trying to control women’s choice and bodies by advocating for this sex-strike, which ironically was created for the exact opposite purpose: “‘Isn’t telling women to not have sex also a form of YOU denying them control over their bodies? Doesn’t this also presume that all women are straight and [cisgender]?’”.2 In fact, controlling women and their sexuality is promoted in Lysistrata: “So, here’s another trying to escape to go home and strip her flax! …You wicked women, have done with your falsehoods!.”5 Lysistrata prevents the women from going back to their husbands and having the choice to take part in the sex-strike; she binds them by oath and oracle. The criticism Milano has faced in enacting a Lysistrata-type sex ban shows how much society has changed; the rights of people who are LGBTQ+ and identify as non-cis are being considered in the criticism, as well as what it means to have freedom to choose about your body. These ideas were not even considered in Aristophanes’ play, and highlight how using an ancient notion without modifying it to fit current standards will result in a failed movement because the audience is not considered.

While Alyssa Milano’s sex-strike method might have worked in a society with a smaller population size and where women don’t have any power except domestically, modern day women face different circumstances that change how they respond to women’s rights issues today. Aristophanes’ Lysistrata emphasizes the misogynistic qualities of Greek society that are often interpreted as being modernly feministic, as Alyssa Milano incorrectly did. While Milano’s intentions were in the right place, as she wanted to protect “‘the women most at risk, the women from low-income communities of color’” and use her platform to advocate for women autonomy, her method failed to adapt to modern times. This resulted in Milano failing in a mission that Lysistrata was able to complete; however, we can always learn from the past, and Ancient Greek civilization will always be integrated in modern culture.

The majority of all ancient societies, cultures, and religions have been primarily male-dominated and ancient Greek life and culture is by far no different to any of these other societies. A great amount of Greek literature helps provide us with this evidence on how women, the “lesser sex”, are viewed by their own communities. In Ancient Greece, from the time of Hesiod, one of earliest sources of Greek literature, to Aristophanes in the classical period, reflecting the patriarchal society of Greece, women in Greek literature were portrayed as practically the same as they were depicted as deceptive, operative, weak, and overall lesser than men. Many of the ways used to depict women in this fashion is by comparing them to animals or stating that women were sent to men by the gods to punish them.

The portrayal of women in this way from nearly the beginning of ancient Greek society helped to sow the seeds of this particular view of women even until the time of Aristophanes nearly three hundred years later. The most prominent literary works of the ancient Greeks that clearly portray women in a negative light are by the writers Hesiod, Semonides, Alcman, Sappho, and Aristophanes. Hesiod was one of the earliest Greek poets and he is often times called the “father of didactic poetry.” Hesiod wrote two separate surviving works, Theogony and Works and Days, that both told a similar story of Prometheus giving fire to man and the punishment that follows; the story of Pandora. In these poems, Pandora is described as deceptive as she is beautiful on the outside, “Athena sashed her and dressed her in silver clothes; she placed with her hands a decorated veil on her head, marvelous to see” (Hes.Theog.573-575) but she is cunning on the inside as she was created by the gods to be a curse to man. Even the name that was chosen by Hesiod for the punishment for man was deceitful as according to the poem Works and Days, “…and he gave this one, the woman, a name, Pandora, “All-gift,” since the gods on Olympus gave her all as a gift…”

The woman is supposed to be a sort of trick gift to men as the “packaging” is beautiful but the inside, like the jar, contains all sorts of evil. (Hes.Op.80-82). According to Hesiod’s poems, Pandora is not the only curse to man; so are all women, “For from her is the race of female women, [from her is the deadly race and tribes of women] a great plague to mortals, dwelling with men, not suited for cursed poverty, but for wealth” (Hes.Theog.590-593). This depiction of women only reflects the status of women during this period in Ancient Greece. As Hesiod was a well-respected poet during his time it is certain that his poetry had a great amount of influence on the society at the time. Of course, even before Hesiod had written these works women were already on the lower end of Greek society but the portrayal of women in this way only affirms the ancient men’s belief that they are superior to women as women were the ones who brought all the evil into the world and this helps to justify why men are the ones in charge of society. Semonides of Amorgos was a famous Greek poet known for his iambic poetry.

In Semonides’ poem, Women, women are once again being portrayed as a nuisance to men given to them by the gods. Unlike Hesoid, Semonides uses beast metaphors to explain all the different ways women are a plague to the lives of men. Semonides uses ten different caricatures of women, eight animal and two elemental, only one of which is good. Even animals that we now perceive as being good is turned negative such as dogs, “One type is from a dog– a no-good bitch…” (Semon. Women.12). The woman created from the sea is illustrated in the most detail and she so happens to be a deceitful woman, “One day she’s calm and smiling…The next day she’s wild and unapproachable, unbearable even to look at…like a bitch with pups, enraged at loved ones and enemies alike” (Semon. Women.29-36). Semonides taking the time to add the most information about this type of women indicates the fact that he believes that two-faced women are the most common sort of women in society. Just like Hesiod, Semonides calls attention to the fact that female beauty is part of the deception as “Such a wife is beautiful to look at for others; for her keeper, shes’ a pain” (Semon.Women.66-67).

The same is practically the same for women who are viewed as well behaved by their husbands as this, according to Semonides’ poem, is all an illusion and a trick, “for while her slack-jawed husband gapes at her, the neighbors laugh at how he’s deceived” (Semon.Women.112-113). This shows how much men in ancient Greece have been influenced by their own culture and traditions. The way women are negatively portrayed in entertainment during this period only further emphasizes how Greek women were treated in society. Women were not allowed to be seen as equals to men and the depiction of women in literature helped men to reinforce their dominance over women as from their perspective, even the gods saw men as the better gender as women were only created to be a curse to mankind.

Alcman was a male lyric poet from Sparta who wrote in the perspective of women that were performed by a chorus of girls. Alcman followed Semonides’ method of using beast metaphors to help him describe women, “The second girl in form will run as Colaxian horse against an Ibenian. For the Peleades strive for us at dawn, as we carry a pharos. Rising like the star Sirius through the immortal night they engage in contest for us” (Alcm.58-63). In this case, Alcman is comparing women to untamed horse as they are seen as uncontrollable and cause a lot of to men. In the same passage, Alcman also indicates that women fight each other over men because women are simply weak and men are these amazing beings. Sappho was a female lyric poet who even during ancient times would often be known as one of the greatest lyric poets and even sometimes as the “tenth muse”. Sappho wrote in a similar style to Alcman. Unlike Alcman and the majority of all other male writers, Sappho does not incorporate the use of beast metaphors when describing women in her poems although she does still view women as less than men. “After your death, you’ll lie and there’ll be no memory of you, ever, in future, for you have no share in the roses of Pieria…” (Sappho.Fr.55).

Sappho’s view of women seems to be that because they are of little significance in society they will not be remembered after they die as nothing they have done in life would leave any impact on future generations. The fact that a female poet is also following the trend of presenting women as the lesser sex further demonstrates how much influence literary texts have on Greek society that women also believe and accept the fact that men are superior to women and that they do not, in the case of Sappho, seems to object that reality in the slightest.

Aristophanes of Athens was one of the most famous comic playwrights in Ancient Greece. Although a comic writer, Aristophanes still manages to deal with social issues such as the role of women in Greek society. In his play, Lysistrata, the female protagonist Lysistrata convinces women from all over Greece to stop having sex with their husbands and any other men in order to help the Peloponnesian war to finally come to an end. The women in the play manage to essentially take over the city of Athens by taking control of the Akropolis, a sort of treasury, as it was sort of the power source that kept the war going so they wanted to cut the funds for the war. In previous periods in ancient Greece, women were never portrayed as being able to be in any sort of leadership position like what the women in Lysistrata. Although the women in this play are shown to be able to have more power than before, they are still being portrayed as deceitful and manipulative as their main goal is to seduce men into wanting to have sex with them by dressing very provocatively but never actually meaning to follow through with any sexual acts, sort of like a sex strike. “If we sit around at home all made up, and walk past them wearing only our see-through underwear… but we didn’t go near them and kept away, they’d sue for peace, and pretty quick, you can count on that” (Ar.Lys.150-154). The women themselves in the play openly admit that they know that men view them as mischievous and they take pride of this fact, “‘You know, according to the men we’re capable of all sorts of mischief.’ ‘And so we are. By Zeus!’”(Ar.Lys.9-11). Lysistrata’s plan is primarily dependant on the amount of power woman have with their sexuality toward men.

The play’s premise displays how the ancient Greeks sexualized women and that the only weapon they possess that could deter men is their sexuality, not anything else. Aristophanes’ use of female sexuality as a weapon in his play is the only logical feat that Greek men at the time could possibly take seriously as women are still looked down on as a whole. Also, the fact that Aristophanes was a comic playwright further degrades women as technically the premise of the play, Lysistrata, is supposed to be ridiculous, especially the fact that women could ever seize power over men. The ancient Greeks perceived women as lesser than men and that they were a curse to mankind as they were generally all viewed as manipulative, deceptive, and overall a nuisance to man given to them by the gods. The works of Hesiod, Semonides, Alcman, Sappho, and Aristophanes help to provide evidence to this sort of ideological thought process that the majority of ancient Greeks possessed. Although Sappho was a female poet, she too viewed women in the same way men did as that was all she knew through her own treatment as a woman in Greek society and what was written in the literary texts of the time. The majority of the works by these writers include depictions of women being manipulative, being compared to animals, and or stating that they were sent by the gods to punish men. The portrayal of women as such only helps to engrave this type of misogynistic ideology deeper into the Greek society and it even kept women, like Sappho, in a similar mindset making them not question their place and role in society.