Bacchus is the god of wine, Pan is the god of the wild, shepherds and flocks Colias is the place that houses the temple of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, while Gentyllis is the protectress of childbirth. She says if they were summoned to the shrine of Bacchus, Pan, Colias and Genetyllis, there would be no space for the crowd that would converge in those places. In her first speech which opens the play, Lysistrata expresses her anxiety or disappointment at not seeing any of the women yet. The play opens as Lysistrata awaits the arrival of these women. Lysistrata had convened a meeting of the women representatives from the two Greek city states of Sparta and Athens. Put simply, her solution is that women should withhold sexual affection from their husbands until they decide to end the war. Lysistrata believes that she could solve this problem where men have failed. The men have failed to decisively win the war, while the war keeps the men away from their family members – wives and children. It is at this point that Lysistrata rises to the occasion. The war is in a state of a stalemate and the two Greek city states keep counting the cost in money and in men. In Aristophanes’ Lysistrata, the eponymous heroine’s actions serve to counter the demeaning views held by men against women in society. However, it becomes more serious when it is understood that the classical period of the Greeks was a deeply patriarchal clime when even scholars like Aristotle believed in the inferiority of the women in relation to men.
This assertion might seem light when viewed from today’s level of gender awareness in society.
It demonstrates that, contrary to what patriarchal ideologies would have us believe, women are capable of contributing meaningfully to the growth and development of society. It should be noted that in ancient Greece, plays were performed at the Lenaea and at the Great City Dionysia – two religious festivals in honour of Dionysus which included theatrical competitions.Īristophanes’ Lysistrata is a comedy with a blend of satire and lampoon. Lysistrata was written in 412 BC during the dark moments of the Peloponnesian War – a war fought in ancient Greece between Sparta and Athens between 431 and 405 BC. Lysistrata is eponymous because the title is the same as the name of the hero.
Of course, while Sophocles was famous for his tragic plays, Aristophanes is widely known as the father of comedy. Lysistrata is an eponymous play by the Greek playwright, Aristophanes (446-386 BC), best known for his comic plays such as The Birds, The Wasps and The Frogs.
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