Gender Roles In Lysistrata By Aristophanes

In Ancient Greek society, gender roles were clearly defined. The male domain was outside of the home with men taking such roles as leaders, warriors, politicians, etc. On the other hand, women were in charge of domestic affairs such as cleaning, cooking, and sewing. However, their most important duty was to bear and care for as many healthy children as they could. Aristophanes noticed this and cleverly reversed these gender roles in his satirical play, Lysistrata. He did this by having women take up the positions of men, allowing the women to be more sexually open, and giving them a less subservient role and a more active voice. This made for an interesting commentary on Ancient Greek society and the expected roles of the men and women who were a part of it. Aristophanes 's most important step in switching the gender roles is having them obtain power outside the domestic spheres of their homes. The most obvious and important role that women take in the play is one of a leader. This is done through the main character, Lysistrata. In the play, Lysistrata devises a plan to take control of the government with her fellow women through withholding sexual favors from their men and even has them take an oath (abet, over wine) to stay chase until the war is over. These scenes show Lysistrata exerting her dominance over her fellow women and clearly defines herself as their leader, thus having her take a more masculine position. As they younger women finish their oath, they hear news that the older women have taken over the Acropolis, an important center of commerce and government. With control of the …show more content…
He used the idea that women were weak, sexless creatures happy to serve as an antithesis to his work by making the women be in power, sexual and willing to stand up for a cause they believed