Lysistrata” is an anti-war comedy written by the Aristophanes and was first performed in 411 BC. It is a comedic tale of Lysistrata’s mission to end the wars taking place in ancient Greece during this time. Lysistrata convinces the women of Greece to withhold sex from their husbands to negotiate a peace treaty to end the war (Ancient-literature.com, 2017). Lysistrata is successful in her mission in helping to stop the war and create a more peaceful society. The play deals with the major theme of war and how Lysistrata tries to end the war in ancient Greece. Some have argued that Lysistrata could be read as a pacifist play because of Lysistrata’s efforts to end the war. Others have argued that the play could be better read as a feminist play due to the fact the woman come together and fight against the men to create a better life for themselves. In addition, some also argue that perhaps it would be read as a political play due to Lysistrata and the woman’s political protests and radicalism that ultimately help end the war. This paper will analyse and discuss the extent to which Lysistrata can be read as a pacifist play and it will look at Lysistrata as a feminist play and a political play and come to a conclusion on the extent to which Lysistrata could be read as a pacifist play.
It can be argued that Aristophanes’ Lysistrata could be described as a pacifist play. In the play, Lysistrata tells the woman she has called them to her meeting to discuss the plan to stop the war going on in the ancient Athens. Lysistrata says to the woman around her: “are you not sad your children’s fathers go endlessly off soldiering afar in this plodding war?” (Aristophanes. and Ewans, 2011). This demonstrates that Lysistrata is against the war that is taking place in ancient Greece. She is calling all woman to take charge and help her to stop the war and bring their husbands home. This creates the idea that Lysistrata is a pacifist and so therefore is against the acts of war. Mary Ellen Snodgrass discusses Lysistrata highlighting that during the time Lysistrata was released, ‘Theban matrons would wear men’s clothing and turn into ‘’a pacifist political action group’’ (Snodgrass, 2010). This is important as this demonstrates that perhaps Lysistrata could be read as a pacifist play as Snodgrass directly describes it as ‘pacifist”. During the time it was released, the woman would dress up as the men and play the roles which creates the idea that perhaps the woman of this time were against the war and so this shows that Lysistrata could be read as a pacifist play as well as showing the pacifist beliefs of the woman during this time. On other hand however, it could be said that perhaps Lysistrata may not be a pacifist play. An example of how Lysistrata may not be a pacifist play can be seen in the quote: “This business of the war we women will take care of.” (Aristophanes. and Ewans, 2011). This is important as this shows that Lysistrata is not a pacifist play as she is not saying to stop war all together, but in fact stating that the woman should take care of the war and take control over the wars from men. They are wanting equality within society more than peace and so therefore she clearly does not have a pacifistic viewpoint. This is backed up with by Alan H Sommerstein who argues that perhaps Lysistrata is not in fact a pacifist play. He highlights that Lysistrata orders the woman to use violence against the men saying that “fully armed woman” should attack the men who are trying to stop them from acting any further (Snodgrass, 2010). This is important as Lysistrata discusses stopping the war to bring the men home, not to stop warfare in itself. The woman themselves start a small war against the men in order to stop wars in general, which seems hypocritical to the third party. Furthermore, they sing a sing at the end of the play due to their success at winning the war and so this also highlights that perhaps Lysistrata is not a pacifist play (Snodgrass, 2010). Therefore, it is clear that there are two sides to whether Lysistrata could be described as a pacifist play. On one hand, Lysistrata wants to stop the war and bring the husbands home to their loved ones but on the other hand, it can also be seen that perhaps Lysistrata is not a pacifist but in fact but wants the woman to be more involved and not left at home doing domestic duties and so it could be said that perhaps Lysistrata could be better defined as a feminist play.
It can be argued that perhaps Lysistrata could be better read as a feminist play rather than a pacifist play. A way in which shows Lysistrata could be read as a feminist play can be seen in the quote:
“But if the women gather together here—the Boeotian women, the Peloponnesian women, and ourselves—together we'll be able to rescue Greece…Exactly! That's exactly what I think will rescue Greece: our fancy little dresses, our perfumes and our slippers, our rouge and our see-through underwear!" (Aristophanes. and Ewans, 2011).
This is important as Lysistrata is trying to bring the woman together to fight against the men and stop the war. Lysistrata is highlighting that traditional feminine items are the thing that’s going to help save Greece. She knows that the men will not respect or understand their intelligence and so uses what the men love most about the woman to their advantage to gain the upper hand. This creates the idea that Lysistrata has a more modern and intellectual approach to feminism. David Stuttard supports the idea that Lysistrata could be defined as a feminist play as even though woman had a voice in relation to religion as the woman would be a part of maiden chorus’ and many women were well educated and had a sense of power within their households, they were not treated like ‘real human beings’ (Stuttard, 2013). They could not have any sort of political voice and Stuttard also highlights that ‘like slaves’ they were not allowed to own land. This is important as the woman were also not allowed to have a political voice and so the fact Lysistrata has a political voice within the play could demonstrate that perhaps it can be read as a feminist play. On the other hand, it could be argued that Lysistrata could not be described as a feminist play. An example which demonstrates that perhaps Lysistrata is not a feminist play can be seen throughout the play when they use sex as the tool against the men to stop the war going on in ancient Greece. This is important as this objectifies woman and creates the idea that they are nothing more than something for the men to take to bed and sleep with. Lysistrata goes straight to telling the other woman to stop sex in order to stop war, instead of using a more intellectual solution. Philip Walsh highlights that even though Lysistrata is a strong and successful woman and does help bring peace to ancient Greece, they still return to the ‘traditional social constructs’ that started even before the war. Walsh points out that the men will still ‘resume their conventional and sexual roles’ in society (Walsh, 2016). This shows that Lysistrata may not be able to be read a feminist play as even though she did help to stop the war, she didn’t actually create real change overall in terms of gender as the men and woman would have returned straight back to their stereotypical roles. Therefore, on one hand, it is clear that Lysistrata could be described as a feminist play as a key theme of the play is womanhood and femininity. The play focuses on the woman banding together to stop the men and their barbaric actions. They use female sensuality as well as female sexuality to express themselves and to get their way and the play allows woman to be in control of their sexuality, something many plays during this time wouldn’t allow. However, on the other hand, the play doesn’t let the woman use their intelligence but only their sexuality to tell the story. The woman helped stop war and create a more peaceful environment and will have still returned to their gender-based roles and so therefore, some could argue that perhaps Lysistrata could be described as more of a pacifist play.
From analysing the theme of war and womanhood throughout the play, it is clear that politics is a key theme throughout the play and so it can be argued that Lysistrata could be better defined as a political play. The idea that perhaps Lysistrata could be better described as a political play can be seen in the quote: “the affairs of our city” (Mhire and Frost, 2015). This is important as Aristophanes gives the woman the ability to ‘capture the unity of purpose that characterises the political agent’ (Mhire and Frost, 2015). The fact the woman have this sense of community, it creates the idea that they can ‘change the world’ and so this shows that Lysistrata can be defined as a political play (Mhire and Frost, 2015). Arlene W Saxonhouse backs up the fact that perhaps Lysistrata could be defined as a political play as Saxonhouse points out that when Lysistrata tells her plan to the other woman, she dreams that woman will become more political within their respected cities and that will be the salvation of the whole of Greece. Lysistrata emphasises the effect of a ‘unified political actor composed of woman’ (Mhire and Frost, 2015). This is important as this supports the idea that Lysistrata believes the woman should take charge and become a ‘political actor’. Clearly, the fact Lysistrata brings all the woman together is a very political move in itself. In addition, Lysistrata is taking lead in a political situation and using protests to go against the structure of society which demonstrates that perhaps it can be read as a political play. On the other hand however, Saxonhouse attempts to argue that the quote: “If the woman come together here, those from Boetic and those from the Peoloponnese we together shall save Hellas” also demonstrates that perhaps Lysistrata can be read as a political play, however, even though it does demonstrate a sense of community between the woman who are trying to make political change, the idea of them coming together could be categorised as more of a feminist movement instead of a political one. Yes, it is a political move in itself, but for a feminist idea (Mhire and Frost, 2015) This is important as even though they are dealing with political ideas, they are dealing with them to make the lives of the woman better and they are uniting as woman to create a better lives for themselves and so this highlights that perhaps it is not a political play in itself but these ideas could more clearly be linked to the idea of Lysistrata being a feminist play which was discussed about previously in this paper. Carrole Moulton backs up the fact that perhaps it may not be read as a political play as she highlights that it is not ‘overtly political’ in comparison to Aristophanes other plays. This perhaps shows that Lysistrata’s key idea is not politics in comparison to the other plays and this also highlights the fact that even though it is political throughout, it’s main theme and idea isn’t politics. Therefore, it’s clear that on one hand, the play could be argued as a political play as the idea of politics runs throughout the whole play. The woman become political to stop the war and create a better life for themselves. In addition, the play is set in a deeply politically divided state and so the idea that it is a political play and gives the woman of this place a voice, this shows that it is a political play. On the other hand, however, some can argue that politics is a background theme and Lysistrata is not a political play as it deals with the idea of war and feminism on a bigger scale as the woman are wanting to end war and live a better life.
Therefore, it’s clear that war, womanhood and politics are key themes traced throughout Lysistrata. When looking at pacifism, on one hand, Lysistrata wants to stop the war and bring the husbands home. However, it can also be seen that perhaps Lysistrata is not a pacifist but in fact wants woman to be involved in the wars and not be left at home. When looking at womanhood and feminism, the play focuses on the woman banding together to stop the men and their actions. They use female sensuality as well as female sexuality to express themselves and to get their way and the play allows woman to be in control of their sexuality, something many plays during this time wouldn’t allow. Lastly, when looking at politics, the woman band together politically to stop the war and create a better life for themselves. From analysing the play in detail and looking at papers by academics, it is clear that Lysistrata cannot be defined to one type of play. It’s Lysistrata’s political awareness and her decision to physically act on making a change that makes her a feminist. Her political awareness and her feminist views link clearly into her pacifist ideas. The politicism, feminism and pacifism themes of the play all inter link and all help support each other and you cannot have one without the other. To conclude, Lysistrata can be described as a pacifist play to an extent, however, it could also be described as a feminist play and a political play to an equal extent.