Subjects:
Athen’s warships had been destroyed near Sicily. For twenty-one years, while Athens was
engaged in war, he relentlessly and wittliy attacked the war, the ideals of the war, the war party
and the war spirit. This risked his acceptance and his Athenian citizenship. Lysistrata is probably
the oldest comedy which has retained a place in modern theatre. It primarily deals with two
themes, war and the power of sexuality..
Lysistrata (an invented name meaning, She Who Puts an End to War) has summoned the
women of Athens to meet her at the foot of Acropolis. She puts before them the easy invitation
that they must never lie again with their husbands until the war is ended. At first, they shudder
and withdraw and refuse until, with the help of the women from Sparta and Thebes, they are
impelled to agree. The women seize the Acropolis from which Athens is funding the war. After
days of sexually depriving their men in order to bring peace to there communities. They defeat
back in an attack from the old men who had remained in Athens while the younger men are on
their crusade. When their husbands retu
. . .
values in it and suggesting how they may be realized. The sex strike, portrayed in risqué episodes, finally pressure the men of Athens and
Sparta to consent to a peace treaty. Athens kept its continental
territories and allies, and Sparta kept all the territories acquired. Therefore, Lysistrata is defined as a woman who enters the world of the man and
conquers it. Lysistrata
emphasizes that women have the intelligence and judgment to make political decisions. By 425 BC,
Sparta’s hopes for victory were bleak, and its leaders were ready to ask for peace.
The war takes men away, and by the time the men return, their women are old. The war had been going on for twenty-one years and it
seemed to many that it might go on forever. An oligarchy overthrew the democracy in
411 BC, and then was replaced by a moderate regime. Alcibiades in
415 BC convinced the Athenians to attack the Greek city-states on the island of Sicily and bring
them under the rule of the Athenian Empire. He made a surprise attack on Athenian ships at
Aegospotami while the crews were dispersed on land. It was a collection of rival city-states that
were allies with each other or with leading military powers.
Essay's Topics
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