"She left our home, and happiness went with her. Now pain is the tenant. Oh, to enter that wifeless house, to sense that awful emptiness, to eat that tasteless, joyless food- it makes it hard I tell you. Harder all the time" Kinesias says this when trying to get Lysistrata to send Myrrhine down(81).
Does Kinesias say this because he truly loves and misses Myrrhine?
I don't believe he does. His last statements back up the fact that he only wants to see his wife so he can have sex with her. And it also backs up Myrrhine's assumption that Kinesias does not want her love.
It's interesting that Kinesias would approach the women in this manner. He tries to seem approachable and agreeable; willing to compromise just to see his wife. It's almost sweet, if it wasn't so fake. Apparently men can't fend for themselves. They can't cook or even change a baby's diaper on their own. And the house seems "empty" and sad without a woman which would be really touching if he didn't mean that now he couldn't have sex.
But maybe it's not fake. Maybe Myrrhine really is Kinesias' happiness and soulmate. and this also allows insight into the lives of the people at this time. Men today can cook but men back then would starve without women, i guess. and babies will go without baths or food.
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1 comment:
That's true- he can't really have cared much about her if he treats their kid like a piece of meat. I mean, not feeding or bathing him to get your wife to sleep with you? That doesn't exactly show devotion or love.
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