We have been
brutally
assaulted, and what is more, we have been given an unsolicited bath out of these pots .
Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome_nodrm
" Ariston was nearly killed in the melee; to add insult to injury, one of the attackers "began to crow, mimicking fighting cocks that have won a battle, and his fellow [attackers egged him on to] flap his elbows against his sides like wings.
" Many witnesses were called, and many depositions read, to corroborate Ariston's case.
Demosthenes reminded the jury that
A Case of Assault and Battery
? ? ? ? HOW MUCH WAS TOO MUCH?
The Greeks and Romans both enjoyed parties called symposia, literally, a "drinking together. " These festive gatherings, usually held at private homes, involved discussions on popular or philosophical topics, as well as entertainments, music, and, of course, the consumption of wine, always mixed with water. (It was considered uncouth to consume unmixed wine. ) Sometimes, the symposia could get out of hand, especially if the master of ceremonies--the symposiarch--failed to regulate the flow of wine, or if the party were "crashed" by unwel- come guests who were already inebriated. The latter event happened at a famous symposium hosted at the home of an Athenian named Agathon; the details are provided by Plato in his dialogue entitled Symposium. Well after the party had gotten underway, the flamboyant young man-about-town Alcibiades showed up, already drunk, and disrupted the proceedings by refusing to cooperate with the host's request that he contribute something relevant to the topic of discussion.
A fragment from a lost play by the comic playwright Eubulus (ca. fourth century BCE) gives us a hint about the standards governing the quantity of wine consumption at a symposium, or anywhere else, for that matter. The god of wine (fittingly enough) Dionysus is the speaker: "For sensible men, I prepare only three kraters [a krater was a large bowl in which the wine was mixed, and from which it was served]: one for health, which they drink first, the second for love and pleasure, and the third for sleep. After the third one is drained, wise men go home. The fourth krater is not mine anymore--it belongs to bad behavior; the fifth is for shouting; the sixth is for rudeness and insults; the seventh is for fights; the eighth is for breaking the furniture; the ninth is for depression; the tenth is for madness and unconsciousness. "
[Symposium. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Symposium]
It would appear that Conon and his sons, and their friends, customarily kept on drinking at least as far as the fourth round of kraters.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? CRACKING DOWN ON THE DRUNKS
A legislator by the name of Pittacus (ca. 650-570 BCE), from the city-state Mytilene (the chief city of the island of Lesbos in the Aegean Sea between Greece and Asia Minor), is best remembered for his law that doubled the punishment for any convicted defendant who committed his crimes while drunk. Aristotle writes that Pittacus believed intoxicated men were more prone to committing violent crimes, and that their antisocial behavior while drunk could not be condoned or excused with the argument that they did not know what they were doing while under the influence.
Pittacus was also noteworthy for his inclusion on the list of the famous Seven Sages of Greece.
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Conon and his associates had never done any kind of useful service for Athens, but that they did have well-documented reputations for hard drinking, public brawling, and generally law- less behavior, whereas Ariston, by contrast, had always been a model citizen.
ASK YOURSELF
1. We have no indication within the document about whether Demosthenes won the case. But based upon the arguments he made, how likely do you think it is that he did prevail? Why or why not?
2. Imagine that you were the defense lawyer hired by Conon to defend him and his sons in this case. What arguments could you use in their defense? Our sources indi- cate that Ctesias (Conon's son) claimed that Ariston started the fight and then exag- gerated the extent of his injuries. And in any event, he argued, it was not a real fight, but rather some innocent horseplay that got a little out of hand, sort of a "boys will be boys" scenario. Do you think this defense would be plausible? How could Demosthenes counter it?
3. According to Demosthenes, the general in charge of the fort, when informed of the brutality of Conon's sons, "rebuked them with stern words. " Was this a sufficient response to the problem? If not, what more should the general have done? In an unquoted portion of the document, Demosthenes relates Ariston's opinion that Conon should have dealt with his sons' lawlessness. Would this have been an effec- tive approach? Why or why not?
TOPICS TO CONSIDER
e The historian Xenophon (ca. 430-355 BCE) states in his Memorabilia that the following types of criminals are liable to the death penalty: thieves, highwaymen, kidnappers, and temple robbers [1. 2. 62]. Under that defini- tion, Conon and his family would qualify for execution. What would be the arguments for and against the supreme penalty for these individuals?
e A. T. Murray, the translator of this passage, writes in an explanatory foot- note: "[Since w]e are told by Aristotle . . . that young men of military age, in the second year of their training, patrolled the country and spent their spare time in forts [such as at Panactum], it may be that no formal military expedition is meant. In that case, the loose discipline [resulting in the kinds of destructive and anti-social behavior exhibited by Conon's sons] is more understandable. " Is this a plausible explanation for their behavior? Would the jury likely be swayed? Are you?
Further Information
Bonner, B. J. Lawyers and Litigants in Ancient Athens. Chicago, 1927.
Carey, C. and R. A. Reid. Demosthenes: Selected Private Speeches. Cambridge, 1985. (Note: The speeches are in Greek; however, the English-language introductions and commen-
taries are informative and useful. )
Doherty, F. C. Three Private Speeches of Demosthenes. Oxford, 1927. Kennedy, George. The Art of Persuasion in Greece. Princeton, 1963. MacDowell, Douglas M. The Law in Classical Athens. London, 1978.
? ? ? ? 202
Website
Who Was Demosthenes? http://www. toastmasters. state. ct. us/demosthenes/resources/ whowasdemosthenes. htm
Bibliography for Document
Barker, Ernest (tr. ). The Politics of Aristotle. Oxford, 1958.
Marchant, E. C. (tr. ). Xenophon: Memorabilia and Oeconomicus. Volume IV. [LCL. ]
Cambridge and London, 1923.
Murray, A. T. (tr. ). Demosthenes: Private Orations. Volume VI. [LCL. ] Cambridge and
London, 1939.
A Case of Assault and Battery
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39. WOMEN? TAKING OVER THE ACROPOLIS?
INTRODUCTION
Women? Taking over the Acropolis? It would have been unthinkable, the epitome of lawless behavior in ancient Athens . . . had it ever happened. But no scenario, no topic, was too far-fetched for the fertile imagination of the comic playwright Aristophanes.
KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ
1. Aristophanes's play Lysistrata was produced in 411 BCE. Just a few years before (415 to 413), the Athenians had undertaken one of the most ill-considered and disastrous actions of the long-enduring Peloponnesian War: an invasion of the faraway island of Sicily. This scheme had been promoted by some of the most reckless demagogues in the city, but despite the vacuity of their arguments, they were wildly successful in persuading a large majority of their fellow citizens to assent to it. One of the few to oppose the plan was the famous philosopher Socrates, whose reading of various omens indicated devastation for Athens. The invasion of Sicily resulted in the near complete destruction of the Athenian navy and ushered in the beginning of the end of the Athenian cause in the Peloponnesian War.
2. Part of Aristophanes's genius was his ability to create wildly improbable--or impos- sible--comic scenes and situations. He did this time and time again, but probably nowhere more outrageously than in Lysistrata. The very idea that women--mere women--could seize and occupy the Acropolis (the citadel of Athens and location of some of the most important religious shrines and public buildings in the city) would have been laughable, completely impossible in real-life Athens. But such a scenario was completely possible in the mind of Aristophanes. The leader of the assault was the title character, Lysistrata, whose name appropriately means "army dissolver. "
3. Neither the Greeks nor the Romans had modern-style professional police forces to keep order and enforce the laws. The Athenians, however, maintained a quasi- police force made up of Scythian archers (see sidebar), under the general control of the probouloi, a "Committee of Ten for the Safety of the State. " One of these 10 probouloi, the Magistrate, appears in the document.
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4. Three women finally emerge from behind the protective gates of the Acropolis: Lysistrata and two of her co-conspirators, Calonice and Myrrhine. A fourth woman, Stratyllis, leader of a group of old women, also appears.
Document: Ill-Behaved Women
(The situation: The women have successfully taken over the Acropolis, having just turned back a gaggle of ridiculously feeble old men who had tried to evict them. "As if in answer to their call, an elderly magistrate [a proboulos, as mentioned in "Keep in Mind as You Read"] of severe appearance enters, attended by four Scythian policemen. The women. . . await develop- ments. The Magistrate has not, in fact, come in answer to the men's appeal, and he at first takes no notice of their bedraggled appearance [they had just been doused with pitchers of water by the women]. Of the women, he takes no notice at all. ).
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Adonis: A handsome young man beloved by the goddess Aphrodite (and therefore, presumably, also by mortal women). He was killed by wild boars.
Artemis: How appropriately ironic that Lysistrata should appeal to the bow-and-arrow-equipped huntress goddess Artemis, in her threat against the Scythian archer-policeman!
Assembly: The main legislative body in the Athenian democracy. All male citizens were eligible to participate in its debates, deliberations, and votes.
Cholozyges: According to Benjamin Rogers, Demostratus's nickname was Bouzyges, "Ox-Yoker," perhaps slightly pejorative, like the modern term "dirt farmer" or "sod buster. " Aristophanes created a new nick- name for the estimable Demos- tratus, Cholozyges, "Anger-Yoker. " (Aristophanes was a master at fash- ioning neologisms, and this is yet another example. ) The document translator, Alan Sommerstein, ren- ders the word as "from Angeriae," his own neologism, which plays off the anger theme.
Demostratus was a leading demagogue of the time; in his biography of Nicias (chapter 12), Plutarch remarks that Demostratus was aggressively demonstrative in his support of the proposed Sicilian Expedition. Nicias, on the other hand, was one of the few prominent
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MAGISTRATE:
I hear it's the same old thing again--the unbridled nature of the female sex coming out. All their banging of drums in honor of that Sabazius [an eastern god] . . . and singing to Adonis on the roofs of the houses, and all that nonsense. I remember once in the Assembly--Demostratus, may he come to no good end, was saying we ought to send the expedition to Sicily, and this woman, who was dancing on the roof, she cried, "O woe for Adonis! ," and then he went on and said we should include some heavy infantry from Zacynthus, and the woman on the roof--she'd had a bit to drink, I fancy-- she shouted, "Mourn for Adonis, all ye people! " but the damnable scoundrel from [Cholozyges] just blustered on and on. Anyway . . . that's the sort of outrage that women get up to.
Wait till you hear what this
lot have done.
We have been brutally assaulted, and what is more, we have been given an unsolicited bath out of these pots . . . and all our clothes are wringing wet. Anybody would think we were incontinent!
LEADER OF THE OLD MEN:
MAGISTRATE:
Disgraceful. Disgraceful. But by Poseidon the Shipbuilder, I'm not surprised. Look at the way we pander to the women's vices--we positively teach them to be wicked. That's why we get this kind of conspiracy. Think of when we go to the shops, for example. We might go to the goldsmith's and say, "Goldsmith, the necklace you made for my wife--she was dancing last night and the clasp came unstuck. [Please reset it for her. ]" Or perhaps we go into a shoemaker's . . . and we say, "Shoemaker, the toe-strap on my wife's sandal is hurting her little toe--it's rather tender, you know. [Please refit it for her. ]" And now look what's happened. I, a member of the Committee of Ten [see "Keep in Mind as You Read"] having found a source of supply for timber to make oars, and now requiring money to buy it, come to the Acropolis and find the women have shut the doors in my face! [Now speaking to the four Scythian policemen, who have apparently done nothing up to this point to apprehend and arrest the women. ] No good stand- ing around! Fetch the crowbars, some- body, and we'll soon put a stop to this nonsense. [To two of the policemen. ]: What are you gawking at, you fool? And you? Dreaming about [the bar scene], eh? [Crowbars are brought in. ] Let's get these bars under the doors and lever them up. I'll help. [They begin to move the crowbars into position, when Lysistrata, Calonice, and Myrrhine open the gates and come out. ]
No need to use force. I'm coming out of my own free will. What's the use
of crowbars? It's intelligence and common sense that we need, not violence.
You disgusting creature! Officer! Take her and tie her hands behind her back. By Artemis, if he so much as touches me, I'll teach him to know his place! [The policeman hesitates. ]
Women? Taking Over the Acropolis?
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? politicians who opposed it. Aristophanes, a relentless critic of the Peloponnesian War, not sur- prisingly expresses a wish (via the Magistrate) that Demostratus might "come to no good end" and refers to him as a "damnable scoundrel. "
know his place: Aristophanes uses the word demosios to refer to the policeman, literally "public [ser- vant]," but the word seems to have a slightly pejorative connotation, something like "disrespected" or "low-ranking" public servant.
make oars, and now requiring money to buy it: The Magistrate reveals his true purpose in coming to the Acropolis, as mentioned just above. The Peloponnesian War had begun some 20 years earlier, and so by this time, war materiel was in short sup- ply. The Magistrate, having (appa- rently) unexpectedly come upon "a source of supply for timber," is anx- ious to close the deal, but he needs money in order to do this.
no plunder will be taken. In the many battle scenes described in Homer's epic poem the Iliad, it is a mark of high honor and great distinction for a warrior to strip the armor off an enemy soldier whom he has slain, and there is a concomitant obligation on the part of the fallen soldier's comrades to protect that armor. A literal translation of Lysistrata's words indicate that she has ordered her female troops not to try to strip the vanquished Scythian policemen of their weaponry.
Officer: The Greek word used here, toxotes, and translated as "officer," literally means "archer. "
Pandrosus: Pandrosus was a minor goddess who served as a priestess
? ? ? LYSISTRATA:
MAGISTRATE: LYSISTRATA:
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MAGISTRATE:
CALONICE [interposing herself between second policeman and Lysistrata]: MAGISTRATE:
MYRRHINE [interposing herself between third policeman and Calonice]: MAGISTRATE:
STRATYLLIS [intervening in her turn]:
MAGISTRATE:
LYSISTRATA:
MAGISTRATE [calling her bluff]:
LYSISTRATA [to the women inside]:
MAGISTRATE [his hand to his head]:
Frightened, eh? Go on, the two of you, up-end her and tie her up! Ifyousomuchaslayafingeronher,by Pandrosus, I'll hit you so hard, you'll [spill out your guts] all over the place.
Obscene language! Officer! [To third policeman]. Tie this one up first, and stop her mouth.
By the Giver of Light [another name for Artemis], if you touch her, you'll soon by crying out for a cupping glass!
What's all this? Officer! [to fourth policeman] Get hold of her. I'm going to stop this relay sometime.
By the Bull Goddess [yet another name for Artemis], if you go near her, I'll make you scream! [Giving an exemplary tug to fourth policeman's hair. ]
Heaven help me, I've no more archers! Well, we mustn't let ourselves be worsted by women. Come on, officers, we'll charge them, all together.
If you do, . . . you'll find out that we've got four whole companies of fighting women in there, fully armed.
Twist their arms behind them, officers. [The policemen approach the four women with intent to do this. ]
Come out, the reserve! . . . Come to our help! [Four bands of women emerge from the Acropolis. ] Drag them along! Hit them! Shout rude words in their faces! [The policemen are quickly brought to the ground, and punched and kicked as they lie there. ] All right--withdraw--no plunder will be taken. [The women retire into the Acropolis. ]
My bowmen have been utterly defeated!
[Tr. Alan H. Sommerstein. Aristophanes: The Acharnians; The Clouds; Lysistrata. (Lysistrata ll. 390 ff. )
Penguin Books, 1973. Page numbers: 196, 197, 198, 199. ]
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? of Athena. A shrine on the
Acropolis was dedicated to her. relay: Referring to the seemingly con- stant stream of women pouring forth from the Acropolis. The Greek word is exodos, literally "out onto the road," and the source of
our word "exodus. "
Shipbuilder: The Magistrate has come
to the Acropolis to obtain money for building ships, so shipbuilding is on his mind. (The Parthenon, the famous temple dedicated to Athena on the Acropolis, was used as a kind of repository of money, almost like a bank. )
Zacynthus: A small island off the west coast of Greece, and a staunch ally of Athens during the Peloponnesian War. But it does not seem to have had much to offer in the way of mili- tary hardware or manpower, so it seems odd that Demostratus would suggest recruiting "some heavy infantry" from that place. Possibly Aristophanes is making a wry com- ment that the Athenians have sunk so low after the Sicilian disaster that they must appeal to the likes of the Zacynthians for military assistance.
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Women? Taking Over the Acropolis?
? ? ? ? SCYTHIAN POLICEMEN? REALLY?
The Athenian police force, such as it was, consisted primarily of archers from the untamed land of Scythia, located in modern Romania. The Scythians seemed an odd culture group from which to recruit law enforce- ment officers. Consider the description of them by the fifth-century BCE historian Herodotus:
As regards war, the Scythian custom is for every man to drink the blood of the first man he kills. The heads of all enemies killed in battle are taken to the king . . . Many Scythians sew a number of scalps together and make cloaks out of them . . . [Many other gruesome stories of Scythian atrocities are related next] . . . Once a year the governor of each district mixes a bowl of wine, from which every Scythian who has killed his man in battle has the right to drink. Those who have no dead enemy to their credit are not allowed to touch the wine, but have to sit by themselves in disgrace--the worst, indeed, which they can suffer. Any man, on the contrary, who has killed a great many enemies, has two cups and drinks from both of them at once. [Herodotus. The Histories 4. 65; tr. de Selincourt. ]
? ? ? AFTERMATH
The rebellious women who took over the Acropolis eventually surrendered, but only after exacting from the men a pledge to end the Peloponnesian War, which was the women's objective in the first place. In reality, the war did go on, finally coming to an inglorious con- clusion for Athens, in 405, when the Spartans occupied the city and burned much of it.
ASK YOURSELF
1. According to the Magistrate, what is the main reason that the women of Athens are engaging in such lawless behavior? Is his theory defensible?
2. The Magistrate references the god Poseidon with the epithet "Shipbuilder," but this is an unusual name for Poseidon. With what epithet(s) is he more commonly associated?
3. What is the Magistrate's attitude toward women in general? What does he think about the actions of Lysistrata and her followers?
TOPICS TO CONSIDER
e Based on what Herodotus wrote about Scythian culture and some of their barbarous practices, why do you suppose the Athenians would want Scythians as police officers? Herodotus describes the Scythians as fierce warriors. Why, then, do you think they were so inept in their role as police officers? (Aristophanes portrays them as completely unable to take the women into custody. )
e A follow-up to the previous question: Can you think of any similar exam- ples in modern times in which inappropriately recruited or trained security officers were used to keep order or to enforce laws?
e WhydoyousupposeAristophanesdidnotassignanyspeakingpartstothe Scythian policemen?
? ? ? ? ? 209
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210
e IfAristophaneswoulduseawordlikedemosiostodescribeoneofthepolice officers--a word that implies a lack of respect--what does that tell us about the Athenian attitude in general toward their Scythian police force?
e Canyouthinkofanycontemporarysituations,eitherintheUnitedStates or abroad, in which riots broke out, and the rioters intimidated and over- came law enforcement personnel in the same manner as did Lysistrata and her intrepid band of "four whole companies of fighting women"?
Further Information
Dover, Kenneth J. Aristophanic Comedy. London, 1972.
Ehrenberg, Victor. The People of Aristophanes. Oxford, 1951. Whitman, C. H. Aristophanes and the Comic Hero. Cambridge, 1964.
Websites
Lysistrata by Aristophanes. Plot summary. http://www. cummingsstudyguides. net/ Lysistrata. htm
Lysistrata: An Introduction to the Play by Aristophanes. http://theatredatabase. com/ancient/ aristophanes_005.
A Case of Assault and Battery
? ? ? ? HOW MUCH WAS TOO MUCH?
The Greeks and Romans both enjoyed parties called symposia, literally, a "drinking together. " These festive gatherings, usually held at private homes, involved discussions on popular or philosophical topics, as well as entertainments, music, and, of course, the consumption of wine, always mixed with water. (It was considered uncouth to consume unmixed wine. ) Sometimes, the symposia could get out of hand, especially if the master of ceremonies--the symposiarch--failed to regulate the flow of wine, or if the party were "crashed" by unwel- come guests who were already inebriated. The latter event happened at a famous symposium hosted at the home of an Athenian named Agathon; the details are provided by Plato in his dialogue entitled Symposium. Well after the party had gotten underway, the flamboyant young man-about-town Alcibiades showed up, already drunk, and disrupted the proceedings by refusing to cooperate with the host's request that he contribute something relevant to the topic of discussion.
A fragment from a lost play by the comic playwright Eubulus (ca. fourth century BCE) gives us a hint about the standards governing the quantity of wine consumption at a symposium, or anywhere else, for that matter. The god of wine (fittingly enough) Dionysus is the speaker: "For sensible men, I prepare only three kraters [a krater was a large bowl in which the wine was mixed, and from which it was served]: one for health, which they drink first, the second for love and pleasure, and the third for sleep. After the third one is drained, wise men go home. The fourth krater is not mine anymore--it belongs to bad behavior; the fifth is for shouting; the sixth is for rudeness and insults; the seventh is for fights; the eighth is for breaking the furniture; the ninth is for depression; the tenth is for madness and unconsciousness. "
[Symposium. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Symposium]
It would appear that Conon and his sons, and their friends, customarily kept on drinking at least as far as the fourth round of kraters.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? CRACKING DOWN ON THE DRUNKS
A legislator by the name of Pittacus (ca. 650-570 BCE), from the city-state Mytilene (the chief city of the island of Lesbos in the Aegean Sea between Greece and Asia Minor), is best remembered for his law that doubled the punishment for any convicted defendant who committed his crimes while drunk. Aristotle writes that Pittacus believed intoxicated men were more prone to committing violent crimes, and that their antisocial behavior while drunk could not be condoned or excused with the argument that they did not know what they were doing while under the influence.
Pittacus was also noteworthy for his inclusion on the list of the famous Seven Sages of Greece.
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Conon and his associates had never done any kind of useful service for Athens, but that they did have well-documented reputations for hard drinking, public brawling, and generally law- less behavior, whereas Ariston, by contrast, had always been a model citizen.
ASK YOURSELF
1. We have no indication within the document about whether Demosthenes won the case. But based upon the arguments he made, how likely do you think it is that he did prevail? Why or why not?
2. Imagine that you were the defense lawyer hired by Conon to defend him and his sons in this case. What arguments could you use in their defense? Our sources indi- cate that Ctesias (Conon's son) claimed that Ariston started the fight and then exag- gerated the extent of his injuries. And in any event, he argued, it was not a real fight, but rather some innocent horseplay that got a little out of hand, sort of a "boys will be boys" scenario. Do you think this defense would be plausible? How could Demosthenes counter it?
3. According to Demosthenes, the general in charge of the fort, when informed of the brutality of Conon's sons, "rebuked them with stern words. " Was this a sufficient response to the problem? If not, what more should the general have done? In an unquoted portion of the document, Demosthenes relates Ariston's opinion that Conon should have dealt with his sons' lawlessness. Would this have been an effec- tive approach? Why or why not?
TOPICS TO CONSIDER
e The historian Xenophon (ca. 430-355 BCE) states in his Memorabilia that the following types of criminals are liable to the death penalty: thieves, highwaymen, kidnappers, and temple robbers [1. 2. 62]. Under that defini- tion, Conon and his family would qualify for execution. What would be the arguments for and against the supreme penalty for these individuals?
e A. T. Murray, the translator of this passage, writes in an explanatory foot- note: "[Since w]e are told by Aristotle . . . that young men of military age, in the second year of their training, patrolled the country and spent their spare time in forts [such as at Panactum], it may be that no formal military expedition is meant. In that case, the loose discipline [resulting in the kinds of destructive and anti-social behavior exhibited by Conon's sons] is more understandable. " Is this a plausible explanation for their behavior? Would the jury likely be swayed? Are you?
Further Information
Bonner, B. J. Lawyers and Litigants in Ancient Athens. Chicago, 1927.
Carey, C. and R. A. Reid. Demosthenes: Selected Private Speeches. Cambridge, 1985. (Note: The speeches are in Greek; however, the English-language introductions and commen-
taries are informative and useful. )
Doherty, F. C. Three Private Speeches of Demosthenes. Oxford, 1927. Kennedy, George. The Art of Persuasion in Greece. Princeton, 1963. MacDowell, Douglas M. The Law in Classical Athens. London, 1978.
? ? ? ? 202
Website
Who Was Demosthenes? http://www. toastmasters. state. ct. us/demosthenes/resources/ whowasdemosthenes. htm
Bibliography for Document
Barker, Ernest (tr. ). The Politics of Aristotle. Oxford, 1958.
Marchant, E. C. (tr. ). Xenophon: Memorabilia and Oeconomicus. Volume IV. [LCL. ]
Cambridge and London, 1923.
Murray, A. T. (tr. ). Demosthenes: Private Orations. Volume VI. [LCL. ] Cambridge and
London, 1939.
A Case of Assault and Battery
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39. WOMEN? TAKING OVER THE ACROPOLIS?
INTRODUCTION
Women? Taking over the Acropolis? It would have been unthinkable, the epitome of lawless behavior in ancient Athens . . . had it ever happened. But no scenario, no topic, was too far-fetched for the fertile imagination of the comic playwright Aristophanes.
KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ
1. Aristophanes's play Lysistrata was produced in 411 BCE. Just a few years before (415 to 413), the Athenians had undertaken one of the most ill-considered and disastrous actions of the long-enduring Peloponnesian War: an invasion of the faraway island of Sicily. This scheme had been promoted by some of the most reckless demagogues in the city, but despite the vacuity of their arguments, they were wildly successful in persuading a large majority of their fellow citizens to assent to it. One of the few to oppose the plan was the famous philosopher Socrates, whose reading of various omens indicated devastation for Athens. The invasion of Sicily resulted in the near complete destruction of the Athenian navy and ushered in the beginning of the end of the Athenian cause in the Peloponnesian War.
2. Part of Aristophanes's genius was his ability to create wildly improbable--or impos- sible--comic scenes and situations. He did this time and time again, but probably nowhere more outrageously than in Lysistrata. The very idea that women--mere women--could seize and occupy the Acropolis (the citadel of Athens and location of some of the most important religious shrines and public buildings in the city) would have been laughable, completely impossible in real-life Athens. But such a scenario was completely possible in the mind of Aristophanes. The leader of the assault was the title character, Lysistrata, whose name appropriately means "army dissolver. "
3. Neither the Greeks nor the Romans had modern-style professional police forces to keep order and enforce the laws. The Athenians, however, maintained a quasi- police force made up of Scythian archers (see sidebar), under the general control of the probouloi, a "Committee of Ten for the Safety of the State. " One of these 10 probouloi, the Magistrate, appears in the document.
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4. Three women finally emerge from behind the protective gates of the Acropolis: Lysistrata and two of her co-conspirators, Calonice and Myrrhine. A fourth woman, Stratyllis, leader of a group of old women, also appears.
Document: Ill-Behaved Women
(The situation: The women have successfully taken over the Acropolis, having just turned back a gaggle of ridiculously feeble old men who had tried to evict them. "As if in answer to their call, an elderly magistrate [a proboulos, as mentioned in "Keep in Mind as You Read"] of severe appearance enters, attended by four Scythian policemen. The women. . . await develop- ments. The Magistrate has not, in fact, come in answer to the men's appeal, and he at first takes no notice of their bedraggled appearance [they had just been doused with pitchers of water by the women]. Of the women, he takes no notice at all. ).
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Adonis: A handsome young man beloved by the goddess Aphrodite (and therefore, presumably, also by mortal women). He was killed by wild boars.
Artemis: How appropriately ironic that Lysistrata should appeal to the bow-and-arrow-equipped huntress goddess Artemis, in her threat against the Scythian archer-policeman!
Assembly: The main legislative body in the Athenian democracy. All male citizens were eligible to participate in its debates, deliberations, and votes.
Cholozyges: According to Benjamin Rogers, Demostratus's nickname was Bouzyges, "Ox-Yoker," perhaps slightly pejorative, like the modern term "dirt farmer" or "sod buster. " Aristophanes created a new nick- name for the estimable Demos- tratus, Cholozyges, "Anger-Yoker. " (Aristophanes was a master at fash- ioning neologisms, and this is yet another example. ) The document translator, Alan Sommerstein, ren- ders the word as "from Angeriae," his own neologism, which plays off the anger theme.
Demostratus was a leading demagogue of the time; in his biography of Nicias (chapter 12), Plutarch remarks that Demostratus was aggressively demonstrative in his support of the proposed Sicilian Expedition. Nicias, on the other hand, was one of the few prominent
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MAGISTRATE:
I hear it's the same old thing again--the unbridled nature of the female sex coming out. All their banging of drums in honor of that Sabazius [an eastern god] . . . and singing to Adonis on the roofs of the houses, and all that nonsense. I remember once in the Assembly--Demostratus, may he come to no good end, was saying we ought to send the expedition to Sicily, and this woman, who was dancing on the roof, she cried, "O woe for Adonis! ," and then he went on and said we should include some heavy infantry from Zacynthus, and the woman on the roof--she'd had a bit to drink, I fancy-- she shouted, "Mourn for Adonis, all ye people! " but the damnable scoundrel from [Cholozyges] just blustered on and on. Anyway . . . that's the sort of outrage that women get up to.
Wait till you hear what this
lot have done.
We have been brutally assaulted, and what is more, we have been given an unsolicited bath out of these pots . . . and all our clothes are wringing wet. Anybody would think we were incontinent!
LEADER OF THE OLD MEN:
MAGISTRATE:
Disgraceful. Disgraceful. But by Poseidon the Shipbuilder, I'm not surprised. Look at the way we pander to the women's vices--we positively teach them to be wicked. That's why we get this kind of conspiracy. Think of when we go to the shops, for example. We might go to the goldsmith's and say, "Goldsmith, the necklace you made for my wife--she was dancing last night and the clasp came unstuck. [Please reset it for her. ]" Or perhaps we go into a shoemaker's . . . and we say, "Shoemaker, the toe-strap on my wife's sandal is hurting her little toe--it's rather tender, you know. [Please refit it for her. ]" And now look what's happened. I, a member of the Committee of Ten [see "Keep in Mind as You Read"] having found a source of supply for timber to make oars, and now requiring money to buy it, come to the Acropolis and find the women have shut the doors in my face! [Now speaking to the four Scythian policemen, who have apparently done nothing up to this point to apprehend and arrest the women. ] No good stand- ing around! Fetch the crowbars, some- body, and we'll soon put a stop to this nonsense. [To two of the policemen. ]: What are you gawking at, you fool? And you? Dreaming about [the bar scene], eh? [Crowbars are brought in. ] Let's get these bars under the doors and lever them up. I'll help. [They begin to move the crowbars into position, when Lysistrata, Calonice, and Myrrhine open the gates and come out. ]
No need to use force. I'm coming out of my own free will. What's the use
of crowbars? It's intelligence and common sense that we need, not violence.
You disgusting creature! Officer! Take her and tie her hands behind her back. By Artemis, if he so much as touches me, I'll teach him to know his place! [The policeman hesitates. ]
Women? Taking Over the Acropolis?
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? politicians who opposed it. Aristophanes, a relentless critic of the Peloponnesian War, not sur- prisingly expresses a wish (via the Magistrate) that Demostratus might "come to no good end" and refers to him as a "damnable scoundrel. "
know his place: Aristophanes uses the word demosios to refer to the policeman, literally "public [ser- vant]," but the word seems to have a slightly pejorative connotation, something like "disrespected" or "low-ranking" public servant.
make oars, and now requiring money to buy it: The Magistrate reveals his true purpose in coming to the Acropolis, as mentioned just above. The Peloponnesian War had begun some 20 years earlier, and so by this time, war materiel was in short sup- ply. The Magistrate, having (appa- rently) unexpectedly come upon "a source of supply for timber," is anx- ious to close the deal, but he needs money in order to do this.
no plunder will be taken. In the many battle scenes described in Homer's epic poem the Iliad, it is a mark of high honor and great distinction for a warrior to strip the armor off an enemy soldier whom he has slain, and there is a concomitant obligation on the part of the fallen soldier's comrades to protect that armor. A literal translation of Lysistrata's words indicate that she has ordered her female troops not to try to strip the vanquished Scythian policemen of their weaponry.
Officer: The Greek word used here, toxotes, and translated as "officer," literally means "archer. "
Pandrosus: Pandrosus was a minor goddess who served as a priestess
? ? ? LYSISTRATA:
MAGISTRATE: LYSISTRATA:
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MAGISTRATE:
CALONICE [interposing herself between second policeman and Lysistrata]: MAGISTRATE:
MYRRHINE [interposing herself between third policeman and Calonice]: MAGISTRATE:
STRATYLLIS [intervening in her turn]:
MAGISTRATE:
LYSISTRATA:
MAGISTRATE [calling her bluff]:
LYSISTRATA [to the women inside]:
MAGISTRATE [his hand to his head]:
Frightened, eh? Go on, the two of you, up-end her and tie her up! Ifyousomuchaslayafingeronher,by Pandrosus, I'll hit you so hard, you'll [spill out your guts] all over the place.
Obscene language! Officer! [To third policeman]. Tie this one up first, and stop her mouth.
By the Giver of Light [another name for Artemis], if you touch her, you'll soon by crying out for a cupping glass!
What's all this? Officer! [to fourth policeman] Get hold of her. I'm going to stop this relay sometime.
By the Bull Goddess [yet another name for Artemis], if you go near her, I'll make you scream! [Giving an exemplary tug to fourth policeman's hair. ]
Heaven help me, I've no more archers! Well, we mustn't let ourselves be worsted by women. Come on, officers, we'll charge them, all together.
If you do, . . . you'll find out that we've got four whole companies of fighting women in there, fully armed.
Twist their arms behind them, officers. [The policemen approach the four women with intent to do this. ]
Come out, the reserve! . . . Come to our help! [Four bands of women emerge from the Acropolis. ] Drag them along! Hit them! Shout rude words in their faces! [The policemen are quickly brought to the ground, and punched and kicked as they lie there. ] All right--withdraw--no plunder will be taken. [The women retire into the Acropolis. ]
My bowmen have been utterly defeated!
[Tr. Alan H. Sommerstein. Aristophanes: The Acharnians; The Clouds; Lysistrata. (Lysistrata ll. 390 ff. )
Penguin Books, 1973. Page numbers: 196, 197, 198, 199. ]
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? of Athena. A shrine on the
Acropolis was dedicated to her. relay: Referring to the seemingly con- stant stream of women pouring forth from the Acropolis. The Greek word is exodos, literally "out onto the road," and the source of
our word "exodus. "
Shipbuilder: The Magistrate has come
to the Acropolis to obtain money for building ships, so shipbuilding is on his mind. (The Parthenon, the famous temple dedicated to Athena on the Acropolis, was used as a kind of repository of money, almost like a bank. )
Zacynthus: A small island off the west coast of Greece, and a staunch ally of Athens during the Peloponnesian War. But it does not seem to have had much to offer in the way of mili- tary hardware or manpower, so it seems odd that Demostratus would suggest recruiting "some heavy infantry" from that place. Possibly Aristophanes is making a wry com- ment that the Athenians have sunk so low after the Sicilian disaster that they must appeal to the likes of the Zacynthians for military assistance.
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Women? Taking Over the Acropolis?
? ? ? ? SCYTHIAN POLICEMEN? REALLY?
The Athenian police force, such as it was, consisted primarily of archers from the untamed land of Scythia, located in modern Romania. The Scythians seemed an odd culture group from which to recruit law enforce- ment officers. Consider the description of them by the fifth-century BCE historian Herodotus:
As regards war, the Scythian custom is for every man to drink the blood of the first man he kills. The heads of all enemies killed in battle are taken to the king . . . Many Scythians sew a number of scalps together and make cloaks out of them . . . [Many other gruesome stories of Scythian atrocities are related next] . . . Once a year the governor of each district mixes a bowl of wine, from which every Scythian who has killed his man in battle has the right to drink. Those who have no dead enemy to their credit are not allowed to touch the wine, but have to sit by themselves in disgrace--the worst, indeed, which they can suffer. Any man, on the contrary, who has killed a great many enemies, has two cups and drinks from both of them at once. [Herodotus. The Histories 4. 65; tr. de Selincourt. ]
? ? ? AFTERMATH
The rebellious women who took over the Acropolis eventually surrendered, but only after exacting from the men a pledge to end the Peloponnesian War, which was the women's objective in the first place. In reality, the war did go on, finally coming to an inglorious con- clusion for Athens, in 405, when the Spartans occupied the city and burned much of it.
ASK YOURSELF
1. According to the Magistrate, what is the main reason that the women of Athens are engaging in such lawless behavior? Is his theory defensible?
2. The Magistrate references the god Poseidon with the epithet "Shipbuilder," but this is an unusual name for Poseidon. With what epithet(s) is he more commonly associated?
3. What is the Magistrate's attitude toward women in general? What does he think about the actions of Lysistrata and her followers?
TOPICS TO CONSIDER
e Based on what Herodotus wrote about Scythian culture and some of their barbarous practices, why do you suppose the Athenians would want Scythians as police officers? Herodotus describes the Scythians as fierce warriors. Why, then, do you think they were so inept in their role as police officers? (Aristophanes portrays them as completely unable to take the women into custody. )
e A follow-up to the previous question: Can you think of any similar exam- ples in modern times in which inappropriately recruited or trained security officers were used to keep order or to enforce laws?
e WhydoyousupposeAristophanesdidnotassignanyspeakingpartstothe Scythian policemen?
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e IfAristophaneswoulduseawordlikedemosiostodescribeoneofthepolice officers--a word that implies a lack of respect--what does that tell us about the Athenian attitude in general toward their Scythian police force?
e Canyouthinkofanycontemporarysituations,eitherintheUnitedStates or abroad, in which riots broke out, and the rioters intimidated and over- came law enforcement personnel in the same manner as did Lysistrata and her intrepid band of "four whole companies of fighting women"?
Further Information
Dover, Kenneth J. Aristophanic Comedy. London, 1972.
Ehrenberg, Victor. The People of Aristophanes. Oxford, 1951. Whitman, C. H. Aristophanes and the Comic Hero. Cambridge, 1964.
Websites
Lysistrata by Aristophanes. Plot summary. http://www. cummingsstudyguides. net/ Lysistrata. htm
Lysistrata: An Introduction to the Play by Aristophanes. http://theatredatabase. com/ancient/ aristophanes_005.
