The True Role of Women in the Age of LysistrataAristophanes' significant contributions to the development of the theater arts and his position in the Athenian community are well documented. His hilarious comedy, Lysistrata, reflects the disgust with war that prevailed in Athens after the disastrous expedition to Sicily. It is full of sexual innuendo and provides current insight into human sexuality, desire, and the war of the sexes, but it was intended to make a political statement regarding the folly of Athenian military aggression. Aristophanes was not suggesting that a sex strike could be an effective means of ending the Peloponnesian War, but rather that the reasons for the war itself were suspect. Lysistrata's plan to force the Greek men to the peace table could never have succeeded. Property issues, gender roles, and the sexuality of Athenian men prevented Athenian women from exerting the necessary political influence. Logistically, it would have been quite difficult for Lysistrata to enlist the help of the women of Athens in her project. Greek society imposed standards of decorum that restricted women's freedom of movement and required that they be escorted by a slave or elderly relative when in public (Gulick 54). These restrictions were primarily intended to limit a woman's or girl's contact with men outside her family and served the men's goal of avoiding uncertainty about the paternity of children, but they allowed women, friends and loved ones, to socialize freely with others. Even the scene of Lysistrata waiting to meet Kalonike, Myrrhine, and Lampito doesn't seem particularly unusual. However, the required coordination would require Lysistrata to be provided with substantial resources. Only the wealthiest women could successfully deploy couriers across the battle lines, form a relationship with a Spartan woman of significant influence, and arrange Lampito's visit to Athens. Since, as Charles Gulick writes, "every woman of good family was under the tutelage of a man" (56), it seems unlikely that Lysistrata would have achieved such a feat. In ancient Greece, wives were strategically selected for the purpose of producing legitimate heirs and maintaining control of property (Gulick 57). They were generally not the objects of their husbands' sexual desire. "Marriage was a matter of good family, good dowry and good health. Given the differences in age, education and experience, there was no real reason for companionship..