"Power Corrupts"

When evaluating Judge Adam, I believe that he may not have always been an evil man, but that his position as judge, a position of great power in such a small village, transformed him into a villain over time. To quote the British historian Lord Acton, “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
Throughout the play, we see how much power Adam has as judge in Huisum. He treats his two servants around as if they were his slaves, “you stupid mare / Get me my wig. March! / Shut up! You hear?” While in court, he threatens the townsfolk and attempts to use the power of his position to get the ruling in the case of the broken jug that will best suite him. Because of this fact and of the way he tries to hurry the case along, one wonders how many innocent people he sent to jail or sentenced to death due to his selfishness. At the end of the play, Eve reveals that Judge Adam tried to blackmail Eve into giving him, what I believe to be, sexual favors if she wanted to prevent Ruprecht from fighting in an area where there was a good chance he would be killed. This act by Judge Adam shows how corrupt his position of power has made him.
When he first became a judge, I would not be surprised if Adam put a lot of thought into the cases he oversaw, made rulings based on indisputable evidence, and treated the people around him with respect. As time progressed, however, Adam would have started to see that as a prime figure in the judicial system he had a lot of control over people, had access to fine foods and wine, and could do what he wanted in the village if he was smart about it. For example, if it were not for Walter being given the forged document by Eve, no one would have been able to discern it as a forgery and what is worse is that if Eve somehow were able to prove that it was a fake, who would believe her with the writer in control of the law? The fact is without Walter, Adam would have been able to continue doing what he wanted in “his” village and who knows what kind of evil acts he may have been able to commit.

Misogyny in Lysistrata

In Aristophanes' Lysistrata, the idea of matriarchy, as well as female power as an independent force, is completely rebuked throughout the duration of the play. The idea that women are attempting to control the fate of Greece is inherently ridiculous to the male chorus members; their rebuttals dismiss women on the basis that their sex is inferior, and that women are refusing to fulfill their duties as wives. “What a catastrophe--MATRIARCHY...I’ll teach these women not to trouble us” Although these remarks are accurate, the blatant misogyny of Ancient Greece is as enlightening, as it is unsettling. The idea that women might actively seek to control one aspect of the governing forces in their world is hilarious to Aristophanes’ audience because the socially accepted norm for women in Ancient Greece was to remain in the home and exert their influence over their husbands in a slight, yet significant way, that might convince them to act differently in public. 

Even though this play is a comedy, it addresses serious issues, as many comedies tend to do, such as women's roles and the power vacuum between the sexes in Ancient Greece. Ultimately the entire play boils down to a humorous battle of the sexes, but this battle highlights the roles of women in Ancient Greece. Women were expected to remain in the home and leave political action to the men in society, even if they were leading their entire civilization over the cliff of destruction because of the lure of war and glory. 

The evolution of women’s rights and roles has shaped history, just as Lysistrata and her followers shaped the course of the ongoing, fictional war. Whilst men have attempted to withstand the development of active roles of women throughout history, clinging to their ‘traditions’ as the chorus of men cling to their creed: “I won’t be ployed to revise, re-do, amend, extend, or bring to an end my irreversible credo: Misogyny Forever!”

Lysistrata: Sex is About Power

"Everything is about sex. Except sex. Sex is about power"

The above quote by Francis Underwood, from the Netflix series House of Cards, is all I could think about while reading this play.  Using sex as a power-play for control is displayed front and center in this work. On page 444 of our text, Lysistrata instructs Peace to bring the "inflamed" men over to negotiate and to "conduct them by the handle," if she must.  Yep, doesn't get more controlling than that, does it?

"Ha ha, those dumb Greeks. They must be really stupid to be affected so easily by the women's plot."  But wait, the passage of time is not clearly reflected during the play's actions. and to say that the Greek men were dumb or stupid would naturally imply that we are better than they are.

But are we really? Are we actually smarter, more sophisticated, or in more control of our most basic desires? I don't think so...

Let's look to a more modern form of entertainment: the sitcom.  Most sitcoms feature an episode where its characters attempt to prove that they are "masters of their domain"  or another character uses threats to turn best friends against each other.  Comedies with sex as a display of power and control is just as relevant now as it was 2,400 years ago.


UPDATE: Hello, class. Totally ignore page 342 of our text when reading my post. Especially the part that says, "[The Greeks] invested sex with little transcendental significance..."  because it completely discredits my entire last paragraph.  Nevertheless, I am leaving it here for you to read and comment on. What do you expect?  I'm not an expert on ancient Greek society!


But wait, just once more.  Was Lysistrata's plan just to withhold sex, or to withhold love?  I understand that you have the ability to love something or someone without trying to procreate (I hope), but we are talking about the one true way of expressing your love for someone physically.  That is not something that can be taken lightly.  There is a connection between these two love birds that is established.  This is a connection that transcends mere words, and to have it ignored would surely be one of the most emotionally painful and soul-crushing ordeals.