The Relation between Athenian Democracy and legitimate wifes in Aristophanes (5th-4th centuries BC)

Abstract

Based on the gender perspective, I discuss the close relationship between theAristophanic comedy, the Athenian polis and the feminine, specifically the figure of legitimate wives. A close reading of Lysistrata (411 BC), Thesmophoriazusae (411 BC) and Assemblywomen (392 BC), staged in the context of the Peloponnesian War and subsequent defeat of Athens (404 BC), suggests that the legitimate wife was represented as maintainer of the Athenian city, since there is an emphasis on her civic importance as vehicle of criticism in Aristophanes’ plots. The playwright did it by inserting active women in his plots in order to question events and political decisions of his time. Aristophanes’ female characters were responsible for advising their husbands on what they judged to be harmful to the polis. With the citizenship law, established by Pericles in themiddle of the fifth century BC (450 BC), women became a critical element in thedefinition of citizenship alongside men, thus contributing to the maintenance of the classical democratic logic. In this article, I discuss evidence from Assemblywomenthat helps us to think the problem of female  participation in Classical Athens. I also take into account evidence fromAcharnians(425 BC), Knights(424 BC) and Frogs(405 BC), as they indicate the critical nature of Aristophanes’ comedies.