Women in Lysistrata and Women of Ancient Greece

Sam Nelson

English 190: Critical Reading and Writing

Fr. Fitzgibbons

10/12/04

Women in Lysistrata and Women of Ancient Greece

If one were to read Aristophanes’ Lysistrata, he or she would get an interesting look at life in Ancient Greece, but he or she would also be deceived. Women, at the time Lysistrata was written, had very little to no power. The roles of women consisted of taking care of the family, the husband’s desires, and the home. Ancient Greece made sure that women had almost no power or property, due to the belief that women were incapable of tasks that were of major importance or decision. Aristophanes’ role portrayal of women was quite contrary to the current social norms for he gave women power and control. Lysistrata shows that women were cunning, wise, and fully capable of taking on large responsibilities. Aristophanes’ comedy is a very strong contrast to Ancient Greece’s practices.

According to James C. Thompson, Ancient Greece restricted the tasks a woman could perform to three basic things: taking care of the house, family, and husband. In fact, it was illegal for a woman to do any business involving anything that was more than the amount of money it took to feed a family for five or six days. Women could only attain property through three ways: a gift, a dowry, or an inheritance (Thompson 1-4).

The dowry was a strange circumstance of a woman’s ownership of property. A dowry, usually money or some other transportable item, was given to a bride’s groom. If the man divorced his wife, he had to return the dowry as well. So, the wife did not technically own her dowry, but rather was her “marriage insurance.” But, if her husband died, she could keep the dowry and stay with her new family, or she could return to her birth family. If the wife died with out a male child, the dowry was returned to her birth family, but if she died with a son, the father could keep the dowry.

A woman’s inheritance was also a unique circumstantial concept as James C. Thompson explains. A woman could not farm or continue her father’s land and work, so it was important for families to birth a male heir. The death of a family’s name was usually looked upon as worse than physical death. A woman could not inherit any of her father’s estate if she had any brothers. The inheritance was then passed on to her at an earlier time, usually in the form of a dowry. It never equaled that of which her brother would receive. If the family had no son, the daughter inherited the land, but was usually married off to a willing man who would then become both son and son-in-law. If she were already married, she could be forced to divorce and remarry a willing male. So, in truth, a woman never really owned anything, unless it was given to her as gifts, which were usually personal items.

Women were necessary for a man to produce legitimate children and heirs. Other than producing children and taking care of the household, men did not see much importance for women. She was expected to stay out of sight if her husband had guests over. An old saying said that the best wife was the one least talked about, whether it be good or bad.

Aristophanes’ portrayal of women in his comedy, Lysistrata, is a total social reversal. Women are given traits that were not normal to people at the time. The character, Lysistrata, displays cunning and critical thinking skills that leave the men at a total loss as of what to do. When the women use the tactic of bringing forth the statue of Reconciliation before the men, the women display their newly found power. Since Reconciliation is a statue of a naked woman, the men only agonize more that they could not obtain sexual gratification from their female counterparts. Lysistrata knows what she is doing when she brings out Reconciliation. It is as if to say, “Men, you will have our bodies, if only you find peace”. Her mocking swings more power towards the women’s’ cause.

Another interesting trait is the women’s organization. They manage to plan out each detail, such as how they manage to take over the shrine and treasury. Also, the uprising of women across nations is quite a feat of organization. Men possessed an admirable skill in organizing war, but something discreet like an international vow of abstinence, takes much more in terms of organization, especially if millions of men are not to know about