Lysistrata's Men

Wow what a book! I find it fascinating that in a world where women were little more than slaves that a tale so intricate, filled with feminine power was created, and by a man no less. The unity of women is quite fascinating to me.The women who by all odds should have been enemies as well managed to come together for a common good. Perhaps this is a further illustration of the difficulty of understanding the female mind.

These women especially the Sparta women come from a warrior culture, and by all means should be accustomed to war. This is after the Trojan war, so fighting is obviously a part of their history that is very important to them. One would assume that they would have followed their men and sons and supported them, fore the men were fighting for something they truly believed in so why weren't the women supportive? Maybe they understood that lives were not worth the cause, whatever it may have been.

By coming together the women managed to do something that few cultures had managed to do before or since them; they stopped a war with little to no violence. They suffered for the greater good. Though this book is quite light hearted there is some very serious subject matter, the women themselves face the possibility of being brutalized and of being raped for the sake of the men that are doing the very dastardly deeds to them.

Withholding sex was very smart of them, and they managed to control the men, even though they were denying themselves as well. Most humans, I would assume, enjoy sex and as such can be controlled through it. Essentially the act could be handled alone, however if we follow the belief of Aeristophanies that we are all meant to be with a single person, then the act of procreation does not have the same level of pleasure as if we were with our true loved one.

Truly these women were quite cunning, and did everything that men said they were: manipulative, cunning, and (in their mind) false. However, they did what was necessary to save these men, and perhaps they should have been more appreciative once it was all said and done, because these same manipulative, false women, saved their lives.