Initial Reaction
The text Lysistrata is about women and their dealings with the war. The author discusses women’s power and how they exert control over peace through their influence on sex. The text also reveals the roles of men and women in society.
After reading the text, my initial response was one of confusion about how the play was going to unfold. It was not classified as a comedy; it was unclear how it would turn out in the end. It is because of the title, which I thought would be about war. It caught my attention because it narrated how women effectively participated in maintaining peace. Women withhold sex from men who have been fighting among themselves and have been responsible for sexual violence against women, forcing them to stop fighting and focus on their pleasure. Thus, I concluded that even without sex, women could take control of peace.
Laughable Moments
What I find laughable in the text is the role of women, their control, and their power. The women in the play use their sexuality and seduction to persuade men to give them what they want. Lysistrata wants peace between the two warring factions, Athens and Sparta. She persuades all the women from both sides to withhold sex from their husbands, lovers, and near relations until they agree to end the conflict. The play recounts how this deceit ultimately brings peace to Greece. It is laughable because it was an unusual way to end the war, given that different genders had distinct roles in Greek society.
Women are often seen as mothers and homemakers, while men are typically in charge of protecting and providing for their families. It is what a Greek woman should be doing. The play’s protagonist, Lysistrata, wants to do something a Greek woman would not expect. She wants to protect her country by stopping the war with sex. She does not want her husband to go any further because he can get injured or even die in battle, and leave her alone if she has no children. In this way, it ridicules war and blows at the whole male-centered society idea.
Satire Elements
The elements of satire in the text are seen when Aristophanes ridicules men’s desire for war and women’s compliance with the act of sex as a weapon to achieve this. For instance, in the text, when women discuss how they will stop the war, Lysistrata compares war to a man who wants to buy a horse. “‘Have you ever heard of a man who wanted to buy a horse and be refused?’ she [Lysistrata] asked. ‘We’re not talking about buying, but capturing,’ said Calonice. ‘My point is that no one can refuse a good offer for cash in hand’” (Kopp, 2022, p. 75). In this quotation, Aristophanes may be ridiculing the female-controlled society that has just been established, replacing the previous one where women typically had no power.
Reference
Kopp, H. (2022). Athenian documentary language in Aristophanic Comedy: A Note on Lysistrata 528. Classical Philology, 117(3), 518-525.