How did Myrrhine and Lysistrata prepare for sex?
A man suddenly appears, desperate for sex. It is Kinesias, the husband of Myrrhine. Lysistrata instructs her to torture him and Myrrhine then informs Kinesias that she can't have sex with him until he stops the war. He promptly agrees to these terms and the young couple prepares for sex on the spot.
What is Lysistrata’s story?
One particularly enduring version of this idea is found in Aristophanes’ Lysistrata, a play written in the year 411 B.C.E., in which women stage a sex strike to force men to stop the Peloponnesian War. The play has inspired everything from novels to musicals to an episode of M*A*S*H*.
What did Lysistrata do with the older women of Athens?
Lysistrata has also made plans with the older women of Athens (the Chorus of Old Women) to seize the Akropolis later that day. 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.
What is the deal between Lysistrata and Calonice?
The women are very reluctant, but the deal is sealed with a solemn oath around a wine bowl, Lysistrata choosing the words and Calonice repeating them on behalf of the other women. It is a long and detailed oath, in which the women abjure all their sexual pleasures, including the Lioness on the Cheese Grater (a sexual position).
Who is Myrrhine's husband in Lysistrata?
KinesiasMyrrhine identifies the man as Kinesias, her husband and assures Lysistrata that she can take care of him.
What is the relationship between Lysistrata and Kalonike?
Kleonike is the next-door neighbor of Lysistrata and is the first to show up at Lysistrata's meeting of women.
Who is Lysistrata in Lysistrata?
CaloniceMyrrhineLampitoLysistrataStratyllisCinesiasLysistrata/Characters
Does Lysistrata have a husband?
Lysistrata's marital status is not defined in the play.
What happens at the end of Lysistrata?
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.
Is Lysistrata female?
Lysistrata is both the stereotypical woman and something new. She is an important character because out of all the Greek plays we read, she is the only female cast as the comic hero.
Who is the hero in Lysistrata?
Lysistrata definitely stands out as the protagonist of this play. Before the action even starts, she's got her whole plan worked out; as a result, she's basically the one who gets the action going. And she not only gets it going, but she keeps it going.
Is Lysistrata a real story?
While Aristophanes' play Lysistrata is intended as a farcical comedy, it was written only a year after a disastrous attempt on Athen's part to defeat Sparta's allies in Sicily during the Peloponnesian War.
What is the story of Lysistrata?
Lysistrata persuades the women of the warring cities to withhold sexual privileges from their husbands and lovers as a means of forcing the men to negotiate peace—a strategy, however, that inflames the battle between the sexes.
What does the name Lysistrata mean?
she who disbands armiesThe name Lysistrata is girl's name meaning "she who disbands armies". In the Aristophenes comedy, Lysistrata is the Athenian woman who organizes her fellow wives to end war in their country by denying their husbands sex until a peace treaty is signed.
Who is the antagonist of Lysistrata?
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.
How old is Lysistrata?
“Lysistrata” was first staged in 411 BCE, just two years after Athens' catastrophic defeat in the Sicilian Expedition, a turning-point in the long-running Peloponnesian War aginst Sparta, and, after 21 years of war, there seemed as little prospect of peace as ever.
Who is the neighbor of Lysistrata?
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 involves garments like negligees.
Why did Lysistrata gather the women of Sparta and Athens together?
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. Read an in-depth analysis of Lysistrata.
Who is Lampito in the Spartan mythology?
Lampito is representative of Spartan women. Lampito is a large, well-built woman who American audiences might imagine with a thick Appalachian accent (by Arrowsmith's translation, Sparta was the Greek equivalent of the stereotypically South). Lampito brings the Spartan women into Lysistrata's plan.
What is the principal image of Lysistrata?
Some of the names of the characters are probably meant as double entendres, and the principal image of the comedy is the erect male phallus, little used in other plays by Aristophanes but worn by almost all male characters in Lysistrata.
What does Lysistrata mean?
Lysistrata means “She who breaks up armies” and Lysimacha “She who breaks up battles.”.
What is the name of the play Aristophanes produced in 411 BC?
In the former, Lysistrata resembles the other play Aristophanes produced in 411 BC, Women at the Thesmophoria, and the penultimate of his surviving comedies, Assemblywomen; in the latter, it is the third and last of Aristophanes’ peace plays, coming after The Acharnians and Peace. Unsurprisingly, Lysistrata is dominated by sexual imagery.
What does Lysistrata say about the Spartans and Athenians?
During the peace talks, Lysistrata reminds the Spartans and the Athenians that they have a past history of cooperation and advises them to remain friends forevermore.
When was Lysistrata written?
First performed in 411 BC (probably) at the Lenaea, Lysistrata is one of Aristophanes’ best-known comedies, primarily because of its modern adaptations as a feminist play. Written just two years after the disastrous failure of the Sicilian Expedition, the play follows an interesting attempt of the Athenian women ...
What dialect is Lysistrata in?
Related to this issue is the fact that our script of the play contains large portions of text spoken or sung in Spartan dialect (or, more precisely, Aristophanes’ representation of it), making Lysistrata, together with the archaic poet Alcman, the main literary source for this dialect otherwise only known from inscriptions.”.
When was Lysistrata first performed?
Lysistrata was first performed in 411 BC, the year when another of Aristophanes’ plays, Women at the Thesmophoria, was also produced. The festival is not known for either, but, as Martin Revermann writes, “topical references in the play and our knowledge, from Thucydides, about the situation in Athens in early 411 lead most recent scholars ...
What is the conclusion of Lysistrata?
Conclusion. Lysistrata is a play about peace. As with many of Aristophanes' plays, he used his characters to act as his voice. He detested the war and the effect it had on his beloved Athens. Since the war ended shortly after the play was produced, this became his third and final plea for peace.
Where does the play Lysistrata open?
The play opens outside the Athenian homes of Lysistrata and her friend Calonice; one can see the Acropolis in the background. Lysistrata is obviously very anxious, looking right and left, waiting for the arrival of her friends:
What is the meaning of the play Lysistrata?
386 BCE). Shown in 411 BCE at the Lenaea festival in Athens, it was written during the final years of the war between Athens and Sparta. The play is essentially a dream about peace. Many Greeks believed the war was bringing nothing but ruin to Greece, making it susceptible to Persian attack. So, in Aristophanes' play, the wives and mothers of the warring cities, led by the Athenian Lysistrata, came together with an ingenious solution. In order to force peace, the women decided to go on strike. This was not a typical work stoppage. Instead, there was to be no romantic relations of any kind with their husbands. Further, by occupying the Acropolis, home of the Athenian treasury, the women controlled access to the money necessary to finance the war. Together with the withholding of sex, both sides would soon be begging for peace.
Why did Aristophanes strike in Lysistrata?
In Lysistrata, the women of both Athens and Sparta go on strike to force the men to stop the war and make peace. Through the outspoken hero of the play, Lysistrata, Aristophanes is provided an avenue for his anti-war views.
Who was Aristophanes' critic?
He was an outspoken critic of both the philosopher Socrates and his fellow playwright Euripides.
Why did the wives and mothers of the warring cities go on strike?
In order to force peace, the women decided to go on strike.
What did Lysistrata do to the women of Athens?
Lysistrata has also made plans with the older women of Athens (the Chorus of Old Women) to seize the Akropolis later that day. 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.
Why did Lysistrata plan a meeting with the women of Greece?
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.
How many choruses are there in Lysistrata?
In Lysistrata there are two choruses—the Chorus of Old Men and the Chorus of Old Women. A Koryphaios leads both choruses. The Chorus of Men is first to appear on stage carrying wood and fire to the gates of the Akropolis.
Who does Lysistrata spot in the Akropolis?
Lysistrata spots Kinesias, husband of Myrrhine, approaching the Akropolis.
Why does Lysistrata tell the Commissioner that war is a concern of women?
Lysistrata tells the Commissioner that war is a concern of women because women have sacrificed greatly for it—women 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.
Who was the actress in Lysistrata?
Actress Miriam Hopkins in Aristophanes ‘Lysistrata,’ 1930. (Edward Steichen/Condé Nast via Getty Images) T he most potent political action for women is sometimes inaction. It’s an idea that has been around for millennia.
How many choruses are there in Lysistrata?
There are two choruses in the play, one composed of old men and one of old women. Just after Lysistrata’s gathering, the two choruses face off at the gate of the Acropolis, which the women have seized. There, the men attempt to set a fire, which the women promptly douse—the symbolism is unmissable.
What year was Lysistrata written?
One particularly enduring version of this idea is found in Aristophanes’ Lysistrata, a play written in the year 411 B.C.E., in which women stage a sex strike to force men to stop the Peloponnesian War. The play has inspired everything from novels to musicals to an episode of M*A*S*H*. Most recently, it was retold by filmmaker Spike Lee in ...
Date and Historical Background
Summary of Lysistrata
- Prologue
Lysistratabegins with a discussion between the main protagonist of the play and Calonice, a young Athenian woman. “Oh, Calonicé, my heart is on fire,” says Lysistrata, “and I blush for our sex. Men say we are tricky and sly… and yet, when I summon the other women to meet for a mat… - Parodos
The scene then shifts to the entrance of the Acropolis, where a group of old men, twelve in all, has gathered to burn down its gates unless the women inside open them. They intend to smoke the women out of the stronghold, but are met with some serious resistance. Armed with pots of wat…
A Brief Analysis
- Described as “one of Aristophanes’ most sophisticated comedies,” Lysistrata – as Alan Sommerstein says – has, essentially a triple plot. The main story is built around two separate schemes devised by Lysistrata: “the boycotting of sexual relations” and “the seizure by the Athenian women of the Acropolis, where the financial reserves of the state were kept.” These tw…
Sources
- There are a few translations of Lysistrata available online, both in verse and in prose; if you are a fan of the latter, you can read an anonymous translation for the Athenian Society edited by Eugene O'Neill, Jr. here. If, however, you prefer poetry, feel free to delve into Jack Lindsay’s verse adaptation here. See Also: Aristophanes, Women at the Thesmophoria, Assemblywomen, Peace