Lysistrata Essay, Research Paper

answers.

One of the improbabilities of Lysistrata starts in a very first scene. The original plan outlined the women stay home to conduct their sexual boycott of their husbands, but by the end of the prologue, all the Athenian women proceed to the Acropolis where they eventually try so hard to escape from. Also all the cities of Greece were supposed to participate in the strike, but the agreement ends up only between the city of Sparta and Athens. All the women from other cities disappear from the play. This also raises the question why would Lysistrata want to pair up with other cities. In what way could it possibly help her if the war is between Athens and Sparta?

The fact that the women during the time of 411 B.C. could have such enormous power and such strong voice and influence over men is really close to being an impossibility. Women’s demands were met, obeyed and actually accomplished the job at hand just by denying sexual favors. Not realistic at all, since there have always been prostitution, there have always been same sex preference. All men whose wife’s have denied them their bodies, so unable to control their strong sexual urges, needing to be with their loving wife’s and so unable to be unfaithful. That is a joke.

Also, pointing out the fact that all this was going on during a bloody war. Men would go away for a long period of time and able to stay away from their wives bodies with out throwing down their weapons, declaring peace just to run to their bedroom. At the same time, it’s difficult to pinpoint whether the men actually go to fight in war, or go battle like they go to an ordinary day at work.

A very unrealistic side is that through out the war, jokes are being made, thoughts on looking sexy and wearing translucent fabric to entice men are circling around. The time of anguish, sadness and tears is not the time anybody would intentionally take to think of such comforting things. If only it would be that simple to end a war.