Sex as a Means of Agency Essay -- Aristophanes Female Women Essays

Sex as a Means of AgencyA womans harder to conquer than any beast, than fire, and no panther is quite so ferocious. (Aristophanes 1058)Life for an Athenian woman was marked by her daily occupation to the household and its occupants. This was the orbital cavity of life where she was able to exert the most power and maintain a certain degree of way. Her domestic duties included attendance to her husband, and his sexual needs. In the curious portrayal of women in Lysistrata, Aristophanes exploits this domestic power to create a scenario where the harsh and intractable realities of life, politics and international aggression are transformed so that wives dish out to overcome husbands, love conquers war, insignificant citizens manage to discredit powerful ones (Henderson 36). Aristophanes manipulates the Athenian reality by operating on common stereotypes of women, adding to the comic element further also highlighting the gaping gender division that existed in everyday life. In this comic utopian ideal, women are able to overcome their lack of agency in the public sphere by juxtaposing their domestic (primarily sexual) power with the general polis. It is important to note that in ancient literary portrayals of women, men depict women fit in to their perceptions and the common social stereotypes. Although this may, in some cases, create a certain amount of discrepancy between the depiction of women and their actual life, it can still be a beneficial tool to understand their attitudes and struggles. As Henderson writes, even by itself the male view is interesting it enables us to study the rules and roles that men created for women and to glimpse the desires and fears that prompted their enforcement (20). In Atheni... ...ikely that one of womens foremost complaints would be their invisibility in the public sphere. Therefore, although this comedic piece is clearly an exaggeration of reality, it is a useful tool in discernment the lives of women in th e Athenian period. Aristophanes mirrors and manipulates Athenian reality as he portrays women and men through the comedic lens. In the case of Lysistrata, he incorporates common stereotypes and current institutions of power into a plot that not only puts women in a position of power, but also delineates them as the protagonists in forming a well-functioning polis. As this reflects the womens role in maintaining a respectable household, he manifests their domestic agency on a higher level as a collective mothering of Athenian society where the undefiled polis is analogous to a household managed by competent and sensible women.