"Lysistrata" by Aristophanes-Super Sexy Peace Mongering
After reading through "Acharnians", I became fascinated by Aristophanes' supposed focus on ending the war between Athens and Sparta. I had read "Lysistrata" a couple of years before I started this study, yet I still felt that if I was going to finish the complete extant works of Aristophanes, I was going to have to revisit the play with a more critical eye. The play takes place in Athens, as you can probably guess, and has the most explicit and consistent sexual reference of any other play I have read for this study (and that is saying something...).
"Lysistrata" centers around the efforts of Athenian and Spartan women to end the strife between the two great city-states of Ancient Greece. The Athenian Lysistrata and the Spartan Lampito decide that they will lead their corresponding communities of housewives in a boycott that is more assured that any other to end conflict in the Peloponnese-a boycott of sex. Aside from the thematic problem of the men not being around said women to experience the absence of physicality in their lives, the plot is very expertly formed. One aspect I would like to mention is the artful manipulation of the Greek Chorus throughout the entirety of the play. As the men come to realize what is going on, and as women take over the Athenian treasury in a more practical component of Lysistrata's plan for peace, two Choruses appear in the guises of a male and female chorus. It is important to note that all the players are male in this endeavor, so the comedy of this situation is inherent. Towards the end of the play, a kind of Athenian and Spartan chorus structure develops as all men are focused on the sultry personification of Reconciliation. At the end of the play, as all Greeks are united (Athenian and Spartan, men with women) one single Chorus ends the play. Through my reading of this play in particular, I was started by the artistic merit that an often overlooked component of Greek drama brought to the table.
Humor, as far as I have gathered thus far, are often brought from some of the most taboo and visceral aspects of human nature. The scene that presented the most belly laughs from me this time was the sexual tension that came from a back and forth between Myrrhine (a minor character in my eye) and her husband, Cinesias. The odd part of this scene is that Cinesias is the only man who dares approach the female-occupied Acropolis after a large confrontation between Athenian men and women. Cinesias comes into the scene with a massive erection and complains very openly about it. In modern interpretations, the various erections that the sex-deprived men possess have been depicted by balloons or other synthetic means. Myrrhine is convinced to go out to Cinesias to sexually torture him. She says that she will pleasure the man as soon as "everything is prepared". She then takes up a long period of time getting various perfumes, bedding, pillows, and a mattress. There is obviously a growing amount of tension throughout the process, as Cinesias is eventually forced to leave the scene in utter frustration and in dire need of physical pleasure.
It is important to note that at this point in Greek history, Athens was facing dire straits. The war with Sparta and Boetia was going extraordinarily poorly, and the follies of war were quickly becoming evident to everyone. The more direct criticism of war that was shown in "Acharnians" is not to be found in this play. This is a more playful criticism of war, not out levity, but out of a desperate attempt to reach a wider audience and convince them that this debate was a matter of life and death. As a final note, here is a great example of what kind of humor Aristophanes used in this play...in an attempt to make even the most simple folk of Athens listen to his play...
"May I die a thousand deaths ere I obey one who wears a veil!
"Lysistrata" centers around the efforts of Athenian and Spartan women to end the strife between the two great city-states of Ancient Greece. The Athenian Lysistrata and the Spartan Lampito decide that they will lead their corresponding communities of housewives in a boycott that is more assured that any other to end conflict in the Peloponnese-a boycott of sex. Aside from the thematic problem of the men not being around said women to experience the absence of physicality in their lives, the plot is very expertly formed. One aspect I would like to mention is the artful manipulation of the Greek Chorus throughout the entirety of the play. As the men come to realize what is going on, and as women take over the Athenian treasury in a more practical component of Lysistrata's plan for peace, two Choruses appear in the guises of a male and female chorus. It is important to note that all the players are male in this endeavor, so the comedy of this situation is inherent. Towards the end of the play, a kind of Athenian and Spartan chorus structure develops as all men are focused on the sultry personification of Reconciliation. At the end of the play, as all Greeks are united (Athenian and Spartan, men with women) one single Chorus ends the play. Through my reading of this play in particular, I was started by the artistic merit that an often overlooked component of Greek drama brought to the table.
Humor, as far as I have gathered thus far, are often brought from some of the most taboo and visceral aspects of human nature. The scene that presented the most belly laughs from me this time was the sexual tension that came from a back and forth between Myrrhine (a minor character in my eye) and her husband, Cinesias. The odd part of this scene is that Cinesias is the only man who dares approach the female-occupied Acropolis after a large confrontation between Athenian men and women. Cinesias comes into the scene with a massive erection and complains very openly about it. In modern interpretations, the various erections that the sex-deprived men possess have been depicted by balloons or other synthetic means. Myrrhine is convinced to go out to Cinesias to sexually torture him. She says that she will pleasure the man as soon as "everything is prepared". She then takes up a long period of time getting various perfumes, bedding, pillows, and a mattress. There is obviously a growing amount of tension throughout the process, as Cinesias is eventually forced to leave the scene in utter frustration and in dire need of physical pleasure.
It is important to note that at this point in Greek history, Athens was facing dire straits. The war with Sparta and Boetia was going extraordinarily poorly, and the follies of war were quickly becoming evident to everyone. The more direct criticism of war that was shown in "Acharnians" is not to be found in this play. This is a more playful criticism of war, not out levity, but out of a desperate attempt to reach a wider audience and convince them that this debate was a matter of life and death. As a final note, here is a great example of what kind of humor Aristophanes used in this play...in an attempt to make even the most simple folk of Athens listen to his play...
"May I die a thousand deaths ere I obey one who wears a veil!