Similarities between Aristophanes' "Lysistrata" and Euripides' "Medea"
Summary:
The difference of poetic tone between Aristophanes' "Lysistrata" and Euripides' "Medea" could not be more apparent. However, both plays share similar characteristics. Both include female characters who contradict the stereotypical woman and possess characteristics similar to the Homeric Greek warrior. These characters are shrewd, powerful, masculine women who use the art of manipulation to accomplish their goals.
The poetic tone of Aristophanes' Lysistrata differs greatly from the poetic tone of the Greek tragedies we have read in class. However, after analyzing this Greek comedy, it seems to share some of the main characteristics of Euripides' Medea. Within these plays, we meet shrewd, powerful masculine women who use the art of manipulation to get what they want from others and to accomplish their goals. This theme of manipulation is employed through various means and techniques. The women of these plays also seem to contradict the stereotypical woman and have characteristics similar to the Homeric Greek warrior.
In the opening scene of the Medea, the nurse tells the audience of Medea's sorrow. Although Medea has done everything possible to please Jason including committing crimes in his behalf, Jason leaves her and decides to wed the daughter of Creon, the king of Corinth. Though Jason is able to manipulate Medea in the beginning, his powers of manipulation are no match for Medea. Jason also tries to rationalize his actions by claiming that his sole purpose in marrying Creon's daughter is to better the lives of Medea and their children. However, after Medea is full of rage, it is impossible for Jason to manipulate her any further. Throughout the rest of the play, we see several examples of her excellent manipulative skills.
When Medea admits to her murderous intentions to the women of Corinth, she is able to convince them to keep silent about it. She pleads to them using their feministic views to her advantage. When Aegus, the king of Greece arrives in Corinth, she manipulates him to offers her refuge from her enemies in return for a cure for his infertility, a rare drug that most do not have the power to create. She does this because she realizes that she will need a place to stay after she completes her murderous acts in Corinth. Soon after this, Medea is able to manipulate Creon as well. When Creon banishes her, she tells him of her great concern for her children and eventually convinces him to allow her to stay in Corinth for one more day. This allows Medea to continue with her plan to take out revenge on Jason. Medea acts and speaks like a Homeric Greek warrior, but tricks Jason by acting submissively like the ideal Greek woman Jason wished her to be. Medea approaches Jason with gifts for his new wife, apologizes, and tells him that she realized he was right. This move allowed Medea to remove all skepticism from Jason's mind, and he willingly took the poisoned dress to his bride. In the course of a few hours, Medea's ultimate manipulation skills enable her to exploit four individuals who are crucial to her murder plot.
Lysistrata's role and her powers of manipulation are very similar to those of Medea. Lysistrata is an Athenian woman who is interested in ending the Peloponessian War and also is upset with the treatment of women in Athens. Lysistrata gathers the women of Sparta and Athens together to solve these problems and uses the art of manipulation to find success and power in her journey. Lysistrata develops a plan to deny sex to the men of Greece and take over the Acropolis, which is the heart of Athenian commerce until they stop the war. She is able to manipulate the women of Sparta and Athens who are originally reluctant to participate in the sex strike. She guilts the women into participation by proposing that if she suggested an orgy festival for the god Dionysis, the women would have been in great support for this. Lysistrata is the least feminine of the Greek women but surprisingly this is exactly what helps her to gain respect among the Greek men. Lysistrata's ability to develop this plan and also execute it by surprise, enabled the women of Greece to play on the vulnerability of the Greek men. Lysistrata encourages the women to exploit the Greek ideal of the submissive, romanticized and sexual female. However, it is difficult for the other women to separate themselves from these very stereotypes, which makes it difficult for Lysistrata to organize them into an organized body. When Lysistrata first tells the women that they have the power to save Greece, they doubt her. The women have no faith in their ability to initiate such a drastic political change, but Lysistrata like a Greek king or war leader is able to give the women confidence needed for them to rise up under her leadership. Lysistrata continually keeps the women at a distance, ordering and coaching them, but never physically joining them in their demonstration against the war.
Although Lysistrata is manipulative, her character is more likeable than Medea's character. Lysistrata is not vengeful when carrying out these plans. Although Lysistrata does gain much power when she organized this movement, her intention is not selfish. Lysistrata manipulates these men and women for, what she believes is a greater good, peace. Also, Medea is feared and deemed powerful because of her passionate rages, while Lysistrata's power comes from her ability to remain strong and composed throughout the play. They are both shrewd characters who undermine the stereotypical subservient female. While Lysistrata serves as a great leader and earns the respect of many men and Medea gains power by cruel means, both use manipulative tactics to accomplish their goals.
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