An obscene number of people think that history can only be discovered through cave paintings, secret letters, and ancient artifacts. You might be surprised to find that a historian can glean much information about an ancient society based on a fictional story or play. Comedies in Greece were written solely for the entertainment of the people, but today they allow historians to see the customs of ancient Greek society. Fictional works allow people to see what the Greeks thought of as satirical and downright crazy. Aristophanes' Lysistrata is a Greek comedy about Peloponnesian women who take an oath of celibacy until their men stop fighting against each other. Even though this play appears to be just another fictional Greek play, the way women in the play are treated and portrayed can tell us many social norms of Athenian women. Lysistrata was comical to the Greeks, because women simply had no say in any war and were certainly not intelligent enough to create a treaty or plan the cessation of a war. Lysistrata describes the roles desired and assumed by Athenian women in politics, marriage, domestic and social life. In ancient Greece, women were expected to be seen and not heard; therefore, women were not supposed to hold any office or express opinions on political matters. Wives were placed under close surveillance by their husbands and any ambiguous comments were not tolerated. The most important function in a woman's life was to give birth to healthy children, preferably boys. The role of a Spartan or Athenian woman in the house was to make sure everything was in order (food was prepared, children were washed, etc.). In the Greek play Lysistrata, both Athenian and Spartan women decreed that they did not agree with the civil war that was taking place... middle of paper... my neck will immediately be deservedly wrung. The Magistrate's previous statement obviously gives the idea that men would squirm at the thought of a woman trying to take control of a situation, especially a war. Peloponnesian women were held to lower standards than men. Lysistrata is a comic work, but it offers its readers images of how women were treated and expected to behave in ancient Greece. In times before the 20th century, the view of women was more or less the same as the Greeks, even in what Americans call the “land of the free”, i.e. the United States. It might be difficult for a feminist person to read, but the way women were valued and controlled in Greece isn't all that surprising. The way women are treated today is still relatively new and there are many cases where women are still valued less than men and are expected to be more domesticated.