Lysistrata
Lysistrata
is a play based around the power that women hold over men off the
battlefield and outside the world of politics. It shows how women who are tired
of losing their sons and husbands in battle are able to put up a fight to make
them come home from war and stop fighting. The play starts off Lysistrata meets
with other woman to share her ideas and one of her ideas was not having sex with
their husbands, and the all the woman agreed upon her proposal. A group of old
men hear of how the woman have locked themselves in the Acropolis and will not
come out. Things then become to get out of hand, so in comes four policemen.
Lysistrata comes with more women behind her to speak out against the men. The
two sides begin to fight and the women are able to win against the men. The
women and men start having a very heated argument. During the argument,
Lysistrata explains the goals that they are hoping to achieve by guarding the
money that the men use to feed warfare. With this argument, the official retires
to go tell other officials of what is happening, and the women go back into the
Acropolis. The next morning the men get up and strip down for battle with the
women. The leader of the men ends up slapping the leader of the women across the
jaw and a slapping argument occurs, each taking turns speaking and then
slapping. The fighting continues and everyone removing their tunics and the
leader of men choking the leader of women. The leader of women trips the leader
of men off of her, and the fight scene comes to an end. Five days pass and the
women are starting to get "anxious" for their men. Even Lysistrata starts to
feel the urge of wanting a man. The women start trying to sneak out and make
stupid excuses to go home for a minute so that they can see their husband. After
calming the women down and influencing them to stay, they all turn back to the
Acropolis. Once again some men show up to talk to the women, asking for kisses
and other favors. The women still refuse and will not give anything to the men
except threats of violence. One of the women's husbands came walking up to the
Acropolis with a slave holding their little boy. After having their fill of
this, the Spartan Herald shows up to an agreement with the Athenian men, they
decide to split up the land over a statue of a woman, each of the different body
parts representing a different land. After the deals are made, the men and women
of both sides hold celebrations. That night they are able to again behave as men
and their wives. They end the war and come to an agreement in less than one
week, all over sex.
Character Analysis
Lysistrata- main character, gathers women of Athens/Sparta together to end
war.
Kleonike-next door neighbor of lysistrata, first to show up at lysistrata's
meeting of women
Myrrhine-2nd strongest woman, seduces husband but refused sex at the last
minute
Setting
The setting takes place in Athens, Greece, during the twentieth year of the
Peloponnesian Wars between Athens and Sparta. All of the scenes take place on
the Acropolis; a castle and memorial on a rocky, limestone hill 500 feet above
sea level, available through a marble gateway at the western end of a stone
wall. The centerpiece of the Acropolis was the Parthenon, a Doric housing a huge
ivory and gold statue of the goddess Athena, to whom the Acropolis was
dedicated. Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war and the patron god of Athens,
was honored in the temple as Athena Parthenos, the name Parthenon for the
building that housed her statue. The Parthenon also enclosed the treasury of the
Delian League, an alliance of Greek city states. Other religious shrines also
graced the hilltop. The characters in the play come from various locations in
Greece, a country in southeastern Europe containing a mainland in the north and
a peninsula, the Peloponnesus, in the south.
Themes
Love-The world is a better place when men spend more time loving their wives
than their weapons of war.
War-The war between Athens and Sparta is a senseless waste of lives, money,
and energy. War not only divides nations; it also divides families.
Power-Although men hold all the power in Greek society, they lack the wisdom,
common sense and peaceful nature of Greek women.
Symbols
Slightly before the exodus, all the Hermes statues were castrated,
symbolizing Athens powerlessness during the war.
Lysistrata is a comedic play that promotes non-violent motives to attain
peace. Sadly, the audience didn’t act upon the message.
In the play, the sexual references were not just dirty jokes; they had a
purpose; to connect and amuse the audience and spread the anti-war memo.
Conflicts
The conflict in Lysistrata is person vs. society because the woman
were starting to rebel against the man and society.
Lysistrata
is a play based around the power that women hold over men off the
battlefield and outside the world of politics. It shows how women who are tired
of losing their sons and husbands in battle are able to put up a fight to make
them come home from war and stop fighting. The play starts off Lysistrata meets
with other woman to share her ideas and one of her ideas was not having sex with
their husbands, and the all the woman agreed upon her proposal. A group of old
men hear of how the woman have locked themselves in the Acropolis and will not
come out. Things then become to get out of hand, so in comes four policemen.
Lysistrata comes with more women behind her to speak out against the men. The
two sides begin to fight and the women are able to win against the men. The
women and men start having a very heated argument. During the argument,
Lysistrata explains the goals that they are hoping to achieve by guarding the
money that the men use to feed warfare. With this argument, the official retires
to go tell other officials of what is happening, and the women go back into the
Acropolis. The next morning the men get up and strip down for battle with the
women. The leader of the men ends up slapping the leader of the women across the
jaw and a slapping argument occurs, each taking turns speaking and then
slapping. The fighting continues and everyone removing their tunics and the
leader of men choking the leader of women. The leader of women trips the leader
of men off of her, and the fight scene comes to an end. Five days pass and the
women are starting to get "anxious" for their men. Even Lysistrata starts to
feel the urge of wanting a man. The women start trying to sneak out and make
stupid excuses to go home for a minute so that they can see their husband. After
calming the women down and influencing them to stay, they all turn back to the
Acropolis. Once again some men show up to talk to the women, asking for kisses
and other favors. The women still refuse and will not give anything to the men
except threats of violence. One of the women's husbands came walking up to the
Acropolis with a slave holding their little boy. After having their fill of
this, the Spartan Herald shows up to an agreement with the Athenian men, they
decide to split up the land over a statue of a woman, each of the different body
parts representing a different land. After the deals are made, the men and women
of both sides hold celebrations. That night they are able to again behave as men
and their wives. They end the war and come to an agreement in less than one
week, all over sex.
Character Analysis
Lysistrata- main character, gathers women of Athens/Sparta together to end
war.
Kleonike-next door neighbor of lysistrata, first to show up at lysistrata's
meeting of women
Myrrhine-2nd strongest woman, seduces husband but refused sex at the last
minute
Setting
The setting takes place in Athens, Greece, during the twentieth year of the
Peloponnesian Wars between Athens and Sparta. All of the scenes take place on
the Acropolis; a castle and memorial on a rocky, limestone hill 500 feet above
sea level, available through a marble gateway at the western end of a stone
wall. The centerpiece of the Acropolis was the Parthenon, a Doric housing a huge
ivory and gold statue of the goddess Athena, to whom the Acropolis was
dedicated. Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war and the patron god of Athens,
was honored in the temple as Athena Parthenos, the name Parthenon for the
building that housed her statue. The Parthenon also enclosed the treasury of the
Delian League, an alliance of Greek city states. Other religious shrines also
graced the hilltop. The characters in the play come from various locations in
Greece, a country in southeastern Europe containing a mainland in the north and
a peninsula, the Peloponnesus, in the south.
Themes
Love-The world is a better place when men spend more time loving their wives
than their weapons of war.
War-The war between Athens and Sparta is a senseless waste of lives, money,
and energy. War not only divides nations; it also divides families.
Power-Although men hold all the power in Greek society, they lack the wisdom,
common sense and peaceful nature of Greek women.
Symbols
Slightly before the exodus, all the Hermes statues were castrated,
symbolizing Athens powerlessness during the war.
Lysistrata is a comedic play that promotes non-violent motives to attain
peace. Sadly, the audience didn’t act upon the message.
In the play, the sexual references were not just dirty jokes; they had a
purpose; to connect and amuse the audience and spread the anti-war memo.
Conflicts
The conflict in Lysistrata is person vs. society because the woman
were starting to rebel against the man and society.