A Disregard for Truth
In Aristophanes’ Lysistrata, women deny their husbands sex to end the Peloponnesian War. The men come crawling back to them with erections, demanding their wives give them what they need. The Athenians and Spartans end the war in order to gain access to their wives. While his plot was successful, Aristophanes ignored aspects of basic Athenian culture. This must have been disorienting for his audience. Aristophanes broke the rules, which called attention to his play. He left out prostitutes, homosexuals, and masturbation; three very Athenian opportunities for sexual release.
Hetaerae were Greek prostitutes who were often educated and thriving (Spatz 94). These women usually turned to soliciting when they had relocated to Athens. Because foreigners could not marry Athenians, prostitution was an easy way of acquiring income. This line of work was one of the most available and definitely the most rewarding. Hetaerae were similar to concubines, or slave-prostitutes. If Aristophanes was being honest about the sexual options in Athens, he would not have had Lysistrata mention, “Lovers can’t be had for love or money” (Aristophanes 24). They cannot be had for love because of the sex strike, but it is as if these soliciting women did not exist (Dover 160).
However, Kleisthenes is mentioned in the play. Kleisthenes is a notorious homosexual character who is alluded to in many of Aristophanes’ plays. Kinesias, Myrrhine’s desperate husband, tells the Koryphaios of Men, “But now we’ve reached the bitter end. It’s Peace or we fall back on Kleisthenes. And he’s got a waiting list” (Aristophanes 99). This quote tells us that homoerotic desires and actions were neither uncommon nor unacceptable. Realistically, these men would have had access to sex with young men. It was normal to have a household sex slave with whom the men could exercise these urges.
If there are no prostitutes or gay men to have sex with, why couldn’t the men in Lysistrata simply masturbate? This possibility is left out of the picture for the men, but Kleonike explains why the women can’t. Before the oath is made, she tells Lysistrata, “Why, since those beastly Milesians revolted and cut off the leather trade, that handy do-it-yourself kit’s vanished from the open market” (Aristophanes 24). Kleonike is referring to dildos, which were made in Miletos at this time (Waxman 109). Because Athens had control of Miletos, they were rebelling, and therefore not selling any leather products (MacDowell 231). In all honesty, is anything truly needed to be able to masturbate? Realistically, if these men and women are desperate, it seems they should be able to find a way.
Despite the many ignored options for the men to release their sexual desires, there is another inconsistency within the plot of Lysistrata. If all of the husbands were at different stations in Greece, how would they know of their wives’ sex strike so quickly? (MacDowell 230). Technically, the play takes place within one day. This means that the husbands would have been informed of their plan, gotten back to Athens, been in great need of sex, and made peace with Sparta all within one day.
Aristophanes’ disregard for truth has made for some fantastic modern adaptations. Without the confines of time-specific details, Lysistrata can easily be placed in any other warring society. Aristophanes would have had no way of knowing that his play would be produced in time to come.
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