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Comparing Women In Aristophanes Lysistrata And Homer's Odyssey

1005 Words5 Pages

In Ancient Greek Civilization, women were viewed as submissive. A man always controlled the women; that either being the Father or Husband. Women were forced to stay in the house and complete all household duties. Women were not even granted the right to attend assemblies, participate in politics, or even represent themselves in court. Having little to no overall power in your society can have a huge burden on Women but this can also fuel certain Women to strive to change the society they live in. Aristophanes Lysistrata and Homer’s Odyssey both show how women can thrive in their society and fight for what they believe in, even if that goes against the gender roles portrayed in Greek Civilization. In Aristophanes Lysistrata, the author portrays how one woman can fight for what she believes in and make a difference in society. Lysistrata ultimately wanted to end the Peloponnesian War, she knew the only way to do so was to take advantage of the Men. Men were dying day after day because of this war and Lysistrata had enough, she wanted to end it. Lysistrata decided to take a stand; she voiced her plan to …show more content…

Her grace, power, and overall determination gained the respect from all the women. Close to the beginning of the poem Lysistrata states "But if the women gather together here—the Boeotian women, the Peloponnesian women, and ourselves—together we'll be able to rescue Greece." (I. 39). She uses the word rescue to show how detrimental this war is and Lysistrata knew if everyone came together the war would end. She knew what the war was all about and ultimately she knew it was wrong. Voicing her opinion on such topic was unheard of but the fact that she did, changed the whole course of the war. In most cases men have the final say but because of Lysistrata’s determination she ultimately ended the war with the help of all the

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