The chapter, “Women and the City of Athens”, matters because it shows that women are still facing the same inequality as seen thousands of years ago in ancient
Lysistrata, the main character, is able to form this assembly of women because each of the women, including Lysistrata, share a common purpose. In fact, as we see in the definition, a common purpose or goal is the main basis for forming an assembly. A common goal is what changes individual refusals into assembly. So the
It began with Aphrodite handing over Helen to Paris of Troy because he chose to have the prettiest woman alive. This leads to the Trojan war. In the quote she is blaming everything on Aphrodite, and this may show that she can’t take any responsibility when questioned. The Sirens are simple creatures that lure men to their death with their song. They are pretty faces with horrible intentions, and they are there to kill passerbys.
Instead, they take on the face of seductive women and are wise in how they satisfy the men. They cleverly adore “‘famous Odysseus- Achaea's pride and glory’” (Homer). The Sirens’ flattery keeps Odysseus struggling from his temptation. Therefore, Homer conveys a
“The Odyssey,” written by Greek poet Homer is an epic tale depicting the brutally enduring quest home of the Greek hero, Odysseus. Within this heroic story, women play a very large and pivotal role in Odysseus’s trip home from the Trojan War. In his attempt to get back to his wife, Penelope, Odysseus’s progress is constantly hindered by the intervention of women who will do anything in order to either convince the heroic figure to stay with them or have him killed. The intentions of the women in the epic are all very different but one of the most prominent roles lies in the seductresses and the alluring women who will deeply influence Odysseus. Most importantly, Penelope plays a large role in portraying the importance of women’s roles in the story.
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.
One way in which the suitors contribute to the stalemate is the way in which they harass Penelope. The suitors are both challenging and reinforcing the role of Greek women in society
What is worth mentioning in Sophocles’ play is that he not only showed the weak side of women but also the strong ones. For example, Ismene is the traditional role of women in ancient Greek—coward, fear of men power and feeble. For Ismene, "we must remember we were born women, not meant to strive with men" (Antigone). She even chose to die with Antigone while hearing her sentence, for she was afraid that she would be alone, she could not be able to fight against Creon, this men-dominant society. In contrast, her sister Antigone presents the “women power”.
Once the two opponents are done recalling their argument, she offers a solution, “And I will pick the finest men of Athens, return and decide the issue fairly, truly — bound to our oaths, our spirits bent on justice” (504-506). Now, this already is not fair because she is picking her own men from her country, how is this fair? Sure, the men can vote, but whatever the final verdict is, she will still have the final authority of making a decision, since it is her own men, she can gladly change it to be whatever she wants it to be because none of her men from her own city can go against their ruler. This is shown when the men equally voted, meaning it was a tie. Then she chimes in, “ Even if the vote is equal, Orestes wins” (756).
Women’s roles has changed dramatically throughout history. By looking at the lives of women, it would be possible to tell how the civilians at that specific period of time were living. In this paper, women’s lives in mainly three civilizations would be discussed, the Sparta, the Athens, and the Hellenistic era. In Sparta, women were needed to live at home, while their husbands remained in military barracks until the age thirty.
The union of both sexes is a notable metaphor in both “Symposium” and “Lysistrata”; however, the nature of the love between the sexes draws a distinction between both works. In Symposium, Aristophanes described how both sexes were so powerful when united; and when they were separated, human beings still strived to be united once more by any means. On the other hand, in Lysistrata the characters were already married and united; however, women found their true strength when they started a psychological war on their men. Even though both works drew the readers’ attention to the need for love, Symposium emphasizes the union of sexes in a way that the characters in Lysistrata will never reach; where love is not only about sex and physical attraction, but it’s also about a healthy relationship occupied with affection and caring.
Medea’s statement not only shows the obvious oppression of women, but Greece’s workings because of them. Greece would not be able to operate if it was not for the inequity to women. Medea exposes multiple injustices that women face as well. She protests of being treated as property to man and having zero control
The relationships between gender and power in A Doll’s House and Lysistrata ‘One is not born, but, rather becomes a woman’. Lysistrata and A Doll’s House both present the disadvantaged position of women in their respective societies. The two plays present the relationship between gender and power and follow two women who go to extremes to become liberated from the restraints of their oppressive and dominating patriarchal society. Therefore, it is clear that both Nora and Lysistrata demonstrate the potential for women 's power and resistance in situations of male dominance in a hegemonic patriarchy. In order to prove this, it is important to look at the relationship between man and power, woman and power and the ways in which Nora and Lysistrata embody this power in the two plays.
The men of Athens feel threatened when women show agency because their whole patriarchal system depends on female complacency. Although Athenian society
Lysistrata, a middle-class woman and wife of one of the Athenians soldiers, decides to hold a meeting with all the women within the Greek territory and discuss a way to end the terrible war afflicting
