Gender Roles In Aristophanes's 'Lysistrata'

Throughout the play Lysistrata, Aristophanes constantly makes reference to gender roles that exist during 411 BC in ancient Greece. He demonstrates that at this time, men are clearly looked at as superior to women in all aspects of life and should generally be uncontrollable. However, he gives Lysistrata, and to some extent the other females, the opportunity to use sexuality as a source of power in order to reach their goals since women do not usually have any voice in society. The title character, as chief commander of the operation to end the war, is very different from the majority of females represented in Greek literature and is completely confident and secure in her abilities. However, they are aware of the limitations of their power and know the only way to make a change is to use their sexuality, which is the one thing they have near control of in their lives.
In ancient Greece, there were clear differences regarding the manner in which men and women should behave. Males were expected to be the dominant sex, ruling over the land and people without any input from females. They were …show more content…
For once, the men lose control over their desires and choose to make peace with one another instead of giving up on sexual activities with their wives. The females are not generally given much power during this time period, but know they can use their sexuality to their advantage since men are presented as sex-addicts and only concerned with the physical qualities of their spouses. This shows the women are more intelligent than they are often depicted to be and know how to use their limited resources to their advantage. Greek audiences would be find this play comical since they could not realistically have so much power and display such cleverness during 411 BC, and that most likely, the men would take over the society once