<em>“The excellence of Aristophanes has never been questioned. Critics have argued about this or that detail in his work; but there has never been any doubt that he is a dramatist of the front rank, a comic artist of the highest order. His plays have survived not by accident or by the light they shed on other matters, but for their intrinsic quality. They are a unique, and uniquely important, part of the heritage of Western literature; they offer the reader or spectator an engrossing, enriching experience”</em> (McLeish, Kenneth. <em>The Theatre of Aristophanes</em>. 2nd ed. Great Britain: Taplinger Publishing, 1980. 13. Print.). <!--more--><strong> </strong>

<strong>Lysistrata</strong>

Lysistrata (411 B.C.) is a Greek comedy by Aristophanes.   Aristophanes uses the comedy of Lysistrata to reveal “his inventive wit, sharply directed against Athenian politics and current affairs” (Fiero, Gloria. <em>The Humanistic Tradition</em>. Vol. 1. N.p.: McGraw Hill Higher Education, 2011. N. pag. Web.).

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The plot of Lysistrata is structured on the discontent of the women of Athens.  They have been neglected by their husbands who are constantly at war.  Lysistrata calls upon the women of Greece to unite. Her plan is twofold.  First they must forbid their husbands of sexual pleasure until they reach an agreement of peace.  The women are at first appalled by such a proposal and begin to leave in protest. The second part of Lysistrata’s plan requires the older women of Athens to seize the Acropolis and establish control of the city’s money.  Lysistrata explains “If Eros of the sweet soul and Cyprian Aphrodite imbue our thighs and breasts with desire, and infect the men with sensuous rigidity and club-cock, Then I believe that all Greece will one day call us Disbanders of Battles (Henderson, Jeffrey. <em>3 Plays by Aristophanes: Staging Women</em>. 2ndnd ed. New York: Routledge, 2010. 64. Print). With persuasion the women vow an oath of loyalty to the plan.  The plan proves fruitful and the sexual weakness of man brings the end of war.

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Lysistrata is definitely a work that has survived the ages and it’s preservation for future generations should be recognized and protected.  Its themes are universal and applicable to a wide audience.  Its plot has been applied to current time by women of different cultures.  Right now in 2011, there is a sex strike in Belgium to implement a faster founding of their government. In 2009 thousands of Kenyan women withheld sex “to try to protest their country's bickering leadership, which they say threatens to revive the bloody chaos that convulsed the African country last year” (Odula, Tom. "Kenyan women, tired of fighting, vow sex strike." <em>The Huffington Post</em>. N.p., 29 Apr. 2009. Web. 27 Feb. 2011. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/29/kenyan-women-tired-of-fig_n_192909.html">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/29/kenyan-women-tired-of-fig_n_192909.html</a>). In 2008, hundreds of women in Neapolitan tried to convince their husbands from playing with dangerous, illegal fireworks by refusing to perform their domestic duties.  Authorities in Neapolitan supported the cause by sending “out text messages urging the men to ‘make love, not explosions’ ("Naples Sex Strike over Fireworks." <em>BBC News</em>. BBC, 31 Dec. 2008. Web.17 Feb. 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7806367.stm).   Most likely history will continue to repeat itself and future women will have to take peace into their hands and hypnotize their men with out of reach pleasures. Lysistrata must be preserved to tell the original tale of women bringing peace to a battle zone.

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The historical context that Lysistrata was written in is reflected politically in the play itself. “Athens and Sparta and their respective allies had been at war for twenty years, since 431. A peace, negotiated in 421, ended when the Athenians undertook an expedition to Sicily in 415. There they suffered a major defeat in 413, and the Spartans took possession of the town of Deceleia, on the northern boundary of Athens' territory, less than ten miles from Athens itself, from which they freely raided the agricultural land of Athens. Some of Athens' allies, whose loyalties were maintained with threats, had begun to revolt. The <em>Lysistrata</em> was performed in the midst of these grim circumstances and alludes directly to them” (Hook, Brian S. <em>The Tragic Comedy of Sex in Aristophanes' Lysistrata and Plato's Symposium</em>. New York: Chelsea House, 2009. In Bloom, Harold, Ed. Human Sexuality, Bloom's Literary Themes. <em>Bloom's Literary Reference Online</em>. Web. 20 Feb. 2011).

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The women of Lysistrata banded together and created a power that would not have been feasible in ancient Athens. Off the stage women were seldom a visible member of the city. Women were expected to stay home and tend to household obligations. Women were not to be identified by name in public unless necessary, let alone seen in public. They were not allowed to participate in politics, let alone discuss them. The men of Lysistrata were also a bit fantastical, as the audience is asked to dismiss the fact that men had many opportunities for sex and that this was an accepted part of Athens society.  Men could easily seek and demand sex with slaves, younger men, mistresses, or even with one another. Instead we are to believe that sex is reserved for husbands and wives in Athens.

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Lysistrata was typical of its time because it is one of the only surviving works of Old Comedy and its author was the sole creator of most these works. The comedies of Aristophanes provide almost an exclusive representation of Greek comedy.  Aristophanes’ comedies are political in nature, take place in the center of the city, and tackle current issues; Lysistrata abides by this description.  Furthermore the political background of these comedies is focused on the Peloponnesian war, which at the time of Lysistratas premiere had been going on for twenty years.

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“In <em>Lysistrata</em>, Aristophanes created a play that contains material that has provoked the ire of censors in different time periods. In the playwright's time the political implications of the play drew greater negative attention than the sexual situations and innuendo”(Sova, Dawn B. <em>Lysistrata</em>. New York: Facts on File, 2004. Banned Plays: Censorship History of 125 Stage Dramas. <em>Bloom's Literary Reference Online</em>. Web. 20 Feb. 2011).   Kleon, an Athenian politician, had Aristophanes brought to court because he did not appreciate Aristophanes mockery of the government and himself.  Aristophanes avoided serious punishment due his great public popularity.

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“<em>Lysistrata</em> is Aristophanes' most popular play with modern audiences, and its appeal is easily understood from the universality of its sexual content” (Thorburn, Jr., John E. <em>Lysistrata</em>. New York: Facts on File, 2005. Facts on File Companion to Classical Drama. <em>Bloom's Literary Reference Online</em>. Web. 20 Feb. 2011).  Sex in Athens in 411 BCE was an accepted and celebrated aspect of society.  Sex was nowhere near as taboo then as it is today; it was an excepted and expected part of society. The play has been censored over the years, either politically or sexually. There are many versions and interpretations of the play.  Several interpreters have chosen to leave out some of the explicit nature dialogue of the play and or the extreme phallic leather pieces to be worn by the Athenian men.

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At first I was excited about the material of the play and the unusual ownership of power by women in this play.  The heroine’s name, Lysistrata, literally means disbander of wars. She rises against society’s assigned role of a woman and delegates an army of lower class citizens to take charge of the political scene. Once I read past the feminist allure of the plot I realized that the only way such an outcome would have been accepted in Greece is as a fantastical comedy.  “However possible such a "sex strike" and occupation of the Acropolis as depicted in the fictional <em>Lysistrata</em> may be now, they most certainly were not then” (Hook, Brian S <em>The Tragic Comedy of Sex in Aristophanes' Lysistrata and Plato's Symposium</em>. New York: Chelsea House, 2009. In Bloom, Harold, Ed. Human Sexuality, Bloom's Literary Themes. <em>Bloom's Literary Reference Online</em>. Web. 20 Feb. 2011). It is important to know that “Aristophanes uses a female-controlled government and a peace treaty engineered by women to show the foolishness and stubbornness of the men in his society, rather than highlight the plight of women in his society” (Thorburn, Jr., John E. <em>Lysistrata</em>. New York: Facts on File, 2005. Facts on File Companion to Classical Drama. <em>Bloom's Literary Reference Online</em>. Web. 20 Feb. 2011).

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The pressing themes of Lysistrata will be ever pressing to generations to come. The carnal urges of sex and war will always be present, as will the power of money. Domestic affairs will continue to somehow be in the center of many issues and the power of physical love will prevail triumphant in both men and women.

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