—Anonymous
A “great work” of literature has depth, beyond page length or text size. Verbiage, imagery, and symbolism are the characteristics of the depth of great work. Lysistrata is a great read, it’s insightful about the times and setting that took place in that era. A great work always keeps the reader intrigued and asking questions, like what happens next? A great read is written in plain simple English and allows the reader to challenge the writer’s text interpretation.
Aristophanes is a comic writer who based much of his work on the Peloponnesian War. Lysistrata is a play that highlights women, gender roles, hierarchy, and social position, a play about the women of Athens and Sparta and their action in seizing the Peloponnesian War. Currently, we live in a time where some men still have sexist views. Aristophanes plays on gender stereotypes and raises the idea that in a patriarchal society, women can handle war just as good if not better than men. The women deny sex and money to men as a way of protest and efforts to seize the war. This reminds me of the abortion and anti-abortion advocacies and rallies. The history of abortion has a huge impact on women’s history aside from voting rights. Thousands of women across the United States gather marched and advocated against abortion bans. Aristophanes suggests “that the dirty secret of imperialism is that war and territorial aggression are a substitute for sex and vice versa”. This is a prime example of toxic masculinity. Lysistrata encourages pro-feminism, and explains that a woman is capable of handling both work and home tasks with the ability to be organized, skillful, detailed and patient. The war-affected the women of that time and abortion affects the women of mine. But is my interpretative comparison of abortion to Lysistrata correct? Trump standing in front of a pro-life American crowd just as Aristophanes presents Lysistrata, could the interpretation be parallel as which both are mocking women and their efforts to stand for something or lose everything.
