Lysistrata

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Lysistrata

• I. Short introduction of Greek comedy
• A. By the fifth century B.C. both tragedy and
  comedy were regularly produced at the winter
  festivals of the god Dionysus in Athens.
• B. Comedy employed some elements like tragedy,
  but its tone was burlesque and parodic .

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• C. The only comic poet of fifth century whose
• work has survived is Aristophenanes.
• D. In his comedies, the institutions and
• personalities of his time are caricatured
  
• and criticized in a combination of poetry
  
• and obscenity, of farce and wit.

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Lysistrata

• II. About Aristophanes
• A. He was born sometime in the middle of
  fifth century and died in the next, around 385
  B.C.
• B. The bulk of his extant work dates from the
  years of the Peloponnesian War
• C. The war, in fact, is one of his comic
  targets

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• D. His famous works The Acharnians, Peace,
  Clouds, Birds.
• F. These plays are all very funny, with
  plenty of sexual wit.
• G. But coarse humor and exquisite wit combine
  with lyric poetry of a high quality and comic
  plots of startling audacity to produce a mixture
  unlike anything that went before or has come
  after it.

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Lysistrata

• III. About Lysistrata
• A. It is the outstanding play among the
  Aristophenanic comedies.
• B. This play is about the female sex-strike
  against war.
• C. Aristophanes through Lysistrata claims
  that war shall be the concern of Women!

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Lysistrata

• IV. Characters
• A. Lysistrata -  Lysistrata is an Athenian woman
  who is sick and tired of war and the treatment of
  women in Athens. Lysistrata gathers the women of
  Sparta and Athens together to solve these social
  ills and finds success and power in her quest.
  Lysistrata is the least feminine of the women
  from either Athens or Sparta, and her masculinity
  helps her gain respect among the men.

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Lysistrata

• B. Kleonike -  Kleonike is the next-door neighbor
  of Lysistrata and is the first to show up at
  Lysistrata's meeting of women. Kleonike embraces
  her feminine side and is delighted that
  Lysistrata's scheme for peace .
• C. Myrrhine -  Myrrhine would be the second
  strongest woman in Lysistrata. Myrrhine is able
  to seduce her husband, Kinesias, but she refuses
  sex with him just at the last minute.

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Lysistrata

• D. Lampito -  Lampito is representative of
  Spartan women. Lampito is a large, well-built
  woman who brings the Spartan women into
  Lysistrata's plan.

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• E. Chorus of Old Men -  The Chorus of Old Men
  live up to their title the chorus is made up of
  twelve old men who teeter around Athens
  attempting to keep the women in line. Although,
  unsuccessful in their civic duties, the Chorus of
  Old Men strike up some fantastical misogynistic
  melodies and are a generally comedic element of
  the play.

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Lysistrata

• F. Chorus of Old Women -  The Chorus of Old Women
  seizes and then protects the Akropolis from the
  Chorus of Old Men. The Chorus of Old Women,
  although frail, fights to the last with the men
  and finds victory in the end.

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Lysistrata

• G. Peace -  Lysistrata's handmaid. Peace is the
  unclothed beauty of a woman whom Lysistrata
  displays and uses during her final plea for peace
  between Athens and Sparta. Terribly aroused and
  uncomfortable, the men quickly discuss the terms
  of a truce, all the while staring at Peace's
  body.

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Lysistrata

• H. Commissioner of Public Safety -  The
  Commissioner of Public Safety is apparently the
  head of security and law in Athens, but is
  completely overwhelmed by the women and ends up
  being dressed as a woman himself. Lysistrata has
  a lengthy conversation with the Commissioner
  about the future of Athens and peace in the
  region, but the Commissioner is very slow to
  understand her logic.

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• I. Kinesias -  The needy, desperate clown that
  Myrrhine calls her husband. Kinesias is the first
  man to be affected by the sex strike and comes to
  the Akropolis, fully inflamed.

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Lysistrata

• V. Summary
• Lysistrata has planned a meeting between all of
  the women of Greece to discuss the plan to end
  the Peloponnesian War. As Lysistrata waits for
  the women of Sparta, Thebes, and other areas to
  meet her she curses the weakness of women.
  Lysistrata plans to ask the women to refuse sex
  with their husbands until a treaty for peace has
  been signed. Lysistrata has also made plans with
  the older women of Athens (the Chorus of Old
  Women) to seize the Akropolis later that day.

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• The women from the various regions finally
  assemble and Lysistrata convinces them to swear
  an oath that they will withhold sex from their
  husbands until both sides sign a treaty of peace.
  As the women sacrifice a bottle of wine to the
  Gods in celebration of their oath, they hear the
  sounds of the older women taking the Akropolis,
  the fortress that houses the treasury of Athens.

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• In Lysistrata there are two chorusesthe Chorus
  of Old Men and the Chorus of Old Women. The
  Chorus of Men is first to appear on stage
  carrying wood and fire to the gates of the
  Akropolis. The Chorus of Men is an old and
  bedraggled bunch of men who have great difficulty
  with the wood and the great earthen pots of fire
  they carry.

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Lysistrata

• The men plan to smoke the women out of the
  Akropolis. The Chorus of Old Women also
  approaches the Akropolis, carrying jugs of water
  to put out the men's fires. The Chorus of Old
  Women is victorious in the contest between the
  choruses and triumphantly pours the jugs of water
  over the heads of the men.

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Lysistrata

• The Commissioner, an appointed magistrate, comes
  to the Akropolis seeking funds for the naval
  ships. The Commissioner is surprised to find the
  women at the Akropolis and orders his policemen
  to arrest Lysistrata and the other women. In a
  humorous battle, that involves little physical
  contact, the policemen are scared off.

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Lysistrata

• The Commissioner takes the opportunity to tell
  the men of Athens that they have been too
  generous and allowed too much freedom with the
  women of the city. As the policemen run off, the
  Commissioner and Lysistrata are left to argue
  about the Peloponnesian War.

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Lysistrata

• Lysistrata argues that the War is a concern for
  women especially and she adds her two cents as to
  how the city should be run, drawing an elaborate
  analogy to show that Athens should be structured
  as a woman would spin wool.

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Lysistrata

• Lysistrata tells the Commissioner that war is a
  concern of women because women have sacrificed
  greatly for itwomen have given their husbands
  and their sons to the effort. Lysistrata adds
  that it is now difficult for a woman to find a
  husband. The women mockingly dress the
  Commissioner as a woman.

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• The next day, or perhaps some considerable time
  afterwards, the sex-strike devised at the
  beginning of the text, begins to take effect on
  the men. Lysistrata spots Kinesias, husband of
  Myrrhine, approaching the Akropolis.

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• Kinesias is desperate for his wife. Myrrhine
  refuses to have intercourse with Kinesias until
  peace exists between Athens and Sparta. Kinesias
  tells Myrrhine that her child needs her, he needs
  her and he loves her and Myrrhine pretends to
  listen to his frustrated pleas.

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• Myrrhine hints that she might make love to
  Kinesias, but delays by going repeatedly into the
  Akropolis to fetch things to make the couple
  comfortable. As Kinesias promises to only think
  about a treaty of peace for Athens and Sparta,
  Myrrhine disappears into the Akropolis and leaves
  her husband in great pain.

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Lysistrata

• A Spartan Herald approaches the Akropolis. The
  Spartan describes the desperate situation of his
  countrymen and pleads for a treaty. Delegations
  from both states then meet at the Akropolis to
  discuss peace. Lysistrata comes out of the
  Akropolis with her naked handmaid, Peace.

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• While the men are fully distracted by Peace,
  Lysistrata lectures them on the need for
  reconciliation between the states of Greece.
  Lysistrata reasons that because both Athens and
  Sparta are of a common heritage and because they
  have previously helped one another and owe a debt
  to one another, the two sides should not be
  fighting.

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• Using Peace as a map of Greece, the Spartan and
  Athenian leaders decide land rights that will end
  the war. After both sides agree, Lysistrata gives
  the women back to the men and a great celebration
  ensues. The play ends with a song sung in unison
  by the Chorus of Old Men and the Chorus of Old
  Women while everyone dances.