Lysistrata

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Appetite as seen in Lysistrata Appetite is featured prominently in Aristophanes' Lysistrata. While men in the play are driven to war based on greed and geopolitical ambition, women are also portrayed as solely being driven by their desires. Moreover, women's withholding of sex from men functions to end the conflict, revealing the power of men's sexual appetites and their need to satisfy animalistic desires. It has been posited that the play is suggesting that the best way to govern humans is to suppress their desires. This claim warrants examination and further analysis. It will be argued that Lysistrata communicates an overall message that the regulation of appetite, rather than its total suppression, is critical for effective governance.…show more content…
After Lysistrata has called a meeting with all the women to discuss the war, she paces, waiting for them in front of the Akropolis in Athens (Aristophanes). As she waits, she is bother that more women are not already waiting for her. She comments, "If they were trysting for a Bacchanal, A feast of Pan or Colias or Genetyllis, The tambourines would block the rowdy streets, But now there's not a woman to be seen" (Aristophanes). With this statement, Lysistrata is claiming that if she had called for the women to participate in a large feast, or a party, they would all be out in the streets with her already. However, because she has called them to discuss the war, a less than pleasurable activity, they are far more reluctant to engage. In this sense, Lysistrata is claiming that women are driven by their…show more content…
She argues to Kalonike that women can use men's sexual appetites against them; by withholding sex until there is an end to the conflict, they can bring about an end to fighting and ensure the return of their husbands (Aristophanes). Lysistrata explains that to end the war, the women of Athens "must refrain from every depth of love" (Aristophanes). The initial resistance of the women of Athens to Lysistrata's plan also illustrates that women are largely driven by their appetites. The women of Athens initially refuse to support the plan to withhold sex, with Kalonike pleading to Lysistrata "do not rob us of that darling joy" (Aristophanes). However, Lysistrata is able to demonstrate that by withholding sex, women can bring about an end to the war and ensure the return of their husbands, an important goal of the women as a

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