Antigone And Lysistrata Gender Roles

Women portrayed throughout ancient Greek history have always been depicted to be less significant than that of their male counterparts. Whether this portrayal is held in a piece of literature or drama, women always seem to be left with the less important roles. However, in cases such as Antigone and Lysistrata, the women are seen in a much different light. As a result, the productions demonstrate certain themes that one doesn’t often find in Greek drama. Although Antigone and Lysistrata are vastly differing characters, they share common ground in terms of the classic themes they present, such as power and femininity. Characterization is critical when dealing with Greek drama, however, when discussing female characters in Greek history, we often don’t see any kind of definitive character development. That is until we meet characters like Antigone and Lysistrata; two powerful individuals, both with very strong convictions, who often

As a result, audiences get a chance to peek into the daily lives of women; they were in charge of managing the household, the finances, the family, and much, much more. With this notion, the play basically challenges the stereotype that women are supposed to be irrational and obedient, making it known early on that this is simply not the case. Although, this can be somewhat questionable because Aristophanes did seemingly intend to portray women to be just as sex-crazed, if not more, than the men. In fact, two of the women, Myrrhine and Calonice, have extremely broad reactions when replying to the notion of abstinence; Calonice states, “No. I don’t think so. Let the war go on” and Myrrhine states “Me? Not a chance in hell, so screw the war” (Lysistrata 829). It’s after this, however, that the women within Lysistrata discover they have the potential to hold sexual power over men, with the hopes of ending a seemingly endless Peloponnesian