Comparing Medea And Lysistrata

The Dramatic Appeal of Human Props in Greek Drama

In both The Medea and Lysistrata, powerful women wage wars against the male-dominated status quo, harnessing minor characters as pawns to achieve their desired ends. Like all dramatic props, these manipulated characters do not have motivations or character arcs, nor do they single-handedly propel the action of either play. They serve as symbols rather than people, vehicles which Euripides' and Aristophanes' female protagonists operate to drive motion onstage, allowing the women to orchestrate the defeat of their male opponents. As a result, the degree to which the human props in these plays work as symbols of greater thematic motifs largely determines how much power they
Her primary props are the young women of Athens, who she convinces to start a sex strike protesting the war as a male absurdity. The younger women's flighty, childlike behavior reinforces common stereotypes about them and makes it hard for Lysistrata to organize them into a cohesive body. In fact, when Lysistrata first tells the women that they have the power to save Greece, they doubt her, showing their internalization of Greek gender roles (Aristophanes 31). The women have no faith in their ability to initiate such a sweeping political change, so Lysistrata masterminds a solution to the war rooted in a domain where women have intimate knowledge and experience: the realm of seduction. She thus instills confidence in the women, empowering them to rise up under her leadership. Lysistrata continually keeps the women at a distance, ordering and coaching them, but never physically joining them in their demonstration against the war. Unlike Medea, Lysistrata remains apart from the action she plans. She energizes the women with her collectedness, encouraging them to continually draw strength from her guidance. As Cinesias approaches the Acropolis, for example, Lysistrata imparts her final advice to his wife, Myrrhine: "Tantalize him. Lead him on. Say no, say yes. You can do anything—except what you swore over the cup not to do" (Aristophanes 840). She then watches Myrrhine from the Acropolis to ensure that she honors her vow and doesn't succumb to Cinesias' sexual advances. From her high vantage point, Lysistrata continues to pull Myrrhine's strings, employing her as a sexual object to seduce Cinesias into supporting a ceasefire. In contrast to Medea, who derives power mainly from her sons, Lysistrata positions herself as the supplier of the women's power and