"Aristophanes hated war, among other reasons, for it's stupidity, it's corruption, it's waste, and dearth." (Dickinson 7) Aristophanes lived during a period of sustained violence. The Peloponnesian War between the Greek city/states Athens and Sparta lasted, with an interval of uneasy peace, from 431-404 B.C. By the end of the war, the Athenian Empire had been destroyed and the whole nature of the people of Athens had changed dramatically. The result of this horrific civil war troubled nearly everyone, in particular Aristophanes. Fortunately, Aristophanes had the vehicle to portray his, along with society's, long time hunger for peace. He was a responsible citizen and he believed that he as a poet, had to bring his ideas and feelings on the fall of Athens and war to the forefront. He loved the city/state, and therefore spoke to the city as a whole. Through his plays The Acharnians, The Peace, and Lysistrata, this desire for the hostility to end is clearly seen.

The Acharnians reflects the conditions in Athens during the sixth year of the Peloponnesian War. Pericles, the general of the Athenian army, had a very definitive war strategy. It was to defeat the enemy quickly by maintai

By 421 when Peace was performed, conditions in Athens had dramatically changed. The opposing generals, who elongated the war for their own benefit, had both been killed the summer before at the Battle of Amphipolis2. Now that these men could no longer sabotage efforts to end the war, the prospects for peace increased. The peace party was growing in strength while Aristophanes was composing the play. In fact, the Peace of Nicias was formally concluded only ten days after the first performance of this play. Peace celebrates the supposed end of the war, and is a direct commentary from Aristophanes on the "glory that is peace and the stupidity that is war " (Plotnauer 161).

Ladies Day. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, 1954.

Comparative Study of the Meaning of Old Comedy. Austin: U.

Whitman, Cedric H. Aristophanes and the Comic Hero. Cambridge:

"The women suffered because of the idiocies of their political husbands" (Whitman 201) Athens was a male dominated city/state. Married women wore veils; and they hardly dared look a man straight in the face. It was hard to get outside the house and it is quite doubtful that they ever got to the theatre. Wives managed their homes and families, and no doubt received power, respect and love within their own households. Yet they still led very isolated lives, confined to their household duties. They were women in a man's world (Fitts 64).

Plotnauer, Gilbert. Greek Comedies. London: Methuen, 1931.

Fitts, Dudley. Four Comedies: Lysistrata, The Frogs, The Birds,

Unlike earlier plays, Lysistrata does not attack leaders and policies that have so obviously failed the citizens. Instead, Aristophanes chooses females as heroes, probably because they were politically powerless in Greece at that time. They are the last group of people that one would expect to bring an end to all the battling. This is to show that in reality peace now means total surrender. Lysistrata offers the last hope. The plot of the play is ironic. The women of Greece, led by Lysistrata, unite to initiate a war in order to obtain peace. "Women make war for peace and abstain from sex to obtain it." (Spatz 100) Their enemy is the military in general, both Athenian and Spartan, which have left their beds empty at home. So to regain their sex lives, and peace, they plot to abstain from sex in hopes that their men will agree to a truce. The women that have come together to end the war represent Aristophanes' frustration. He realizes that this war may never end, and!

Aristophanes. The Acharnians. London: Oxford Univeristy, 1977.

s upset not only with the citizens of Athens, but also with the government's lackadaisical attitude at the time. He knows that he alone cannot do anything to stop the war, but can only bring awareness to the people that war is not always the way. Dicaeopolis vows that when the assembly does get there, he will make a great effort to establish peace.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Pericles Athenian, Amphitheus Sparta, Athenian Spartan, Gorgon Head, Oh Athenians, Peace Plotnauer, Lysistrata Yes, Lysistrata Athens', Oh Zeus, Peace Nicias, civil war, goddess peace, war peace, dung beetle, view war, peloponnesian war, women war, joys life, war supporters, finely minced cakes, conditions athens, aristophanes' view war,
Approximate Word count = 3134
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page double spaced)