The True Role of Women in the Time of Lysistrata Aristophanes' significant contributions to the development of the theatrical arts and his position in the Athenian community are well documented. His hilarious play, Lysistrata, reflects the distaste for war prevalent in Athens after the disastrous expedition to Sicily. It is full of sexual innuendo and provides much insight into the current affairs of 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, more likely 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. Concerns about property, gender roles, and sexuality of Athenian men prevented Athenian women from exercising the necessary political influence. Logistically, it would have been quite difficult for Lysistrata to enlist the help of the women of Athens in her plan. Greek society imposed standards of decorum that limited a woman's freedom of movement and required that she be escorted by a slave or elderly relative when in public (Gulick 54). These restrictions were primarily designed to limit a wife's or daughter's contact with men outside her family and served the men's goal of avoiding uncertainty about the paternity of children, yet they allowed women, friends and relatives, to socialize freely in their respective homes. The scene of Lysistrata waiting to meet Kalonike, Myrrina, and Lampito doesn't seem particularly out of the ordinary either. However, the coordination required would require Lysistrata to have substantial means. Only the wealthiest women could successfully deploy couriers across the battle lines, initiate a relationship with a Spartan woman of considerable influence, and arrange Lampitus' 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 could have succeeded in such a feat. Wives, in ancient Greece, were strategically selected for the purpose of producing legitimate heirs and maintaining control of property (Gulick 57). They were generally not the object of their husband's sexual desire. "Marriage was a matter of good family, good dowry and good health. Given the differences in age, education and experience, there were no real reasons for companionship.