Antagonist

Character Role Analysis

Magistrate, Men's Leader

Lysistrata is such a dominant figure in this play that there isn't even much of an antagonist to oppose her. The way we see it, the Antagonist role gets taken up by two separate figures: the Magistrate and the Men's Leader. Both of these small-minded dudes represent the stereotypical masculine view that Lysistrata is trying to fight against: they're both obsessed with status, don't see any problem with keeping the war going, and would much rather go through life without ever having to take advice from a woman.

At the end of the play, when Lysistrata gets the Athenians and the Spartans to make peace, it represents a total defeat for the viewpoint of the Magistrate and the Men's Leader (though of course these guys will get to enjoy the peace, now that it's here) as well as the end of the sex-strike. Thus, this play is less about defeating the antagonists than it is about bringing them onto your own side.