19/10/2012
ASL/5
Unity
In the play Lysistrata, we address a problem in Greek life, and the problem is the continuous wars that men have to attend. The men leave their families behind and go to war and that upsets women. Lysistrata offers a solution and although it seems absurd, the plan of hers works. But, the plan works because of the power they collect. All the women in town help her plan that is the main reason that her plan succeeds.
The unificiation of the forces created a power that man could not match. In that time, man was the powerful one, but in the play they were left obsolete by the trickery of the women. However, if only ten women did this kind of trickery it would just be thought of as a juvenile rebellion and after their husbands beat them up, they will return to their own, old, monotonous lives. However, Lysistrata plans something that gives them the edge in this sexual war. She convinces every single girl in Athens, and Sparta to boycott sex. Now their rebellion would not seem so shallow since they represent the idea of the whole people in Athens. Also, to symbolize they represent the idea of Athens, the “conquer” the most popular spot in that time: The Parthenon. A gathering point for the whole city is now in the hands of women and they do not give them to some old men who try to get it back. They resist the old ways and try to postulate their dominance. The dominance they try to create could only be established if and only if they resist side by side. Otherwise it would just be “divide and conquer” game for the men.
In the end of the play, women get what they want and they succeed when they try to resist to their male partners. The resistance they create and the solution they reach, can only be reached through unity and that shows that the power of a united nation is