Lysistrata
by Aristophanes
published
January 30th 2005
(first published 411)
by Digireads.com
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binding
Paperback, 80 pages
isbn
1420926438
(isbn13: 9781420926439)
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Read in January, 1998
Lysistrata, an Athenian who is deemed a woman of upmost virtue by the other women in the area, invokes a plan to regain peace with the Spartans. With pure intentions, she calls a gathering of women in the area and relates to them a plan that she has demised. This plan, which all of the women (excluding Lysistrata’s niece, Callyce) eventually agree upon, is to abstain from their husbands, not offering them any ‘lustful pleasures’ until they agree to make peace. The women are true to their o...more
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I hate this book because I got arrested on account of it. I was at the University of Texas' Perry Castaneda Library and it got lost amidst the shuffled stack of books which I dumped into my backpack when I left.
Exiting the library the sensor went off.
Sorry, I forgot to check it out. No big deal, happens all the time.
But the Department of Collegiate Fascism, aka the UTPD, are required to file a report. Bored from arresting 19-year-olds for walking down the street half drunk they sho...more
Exiting the library the sensor went off.
Sorry, I forgot to check it out. No big deal, happens all the time.
But the Department of Collegiate Fascism, aka the UTPD, are required to file a report. Bored from arresting 19-year-olds for walking down the street half drunk they sho...more
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3 comments
Read in October, 2002
For a play written in 411 BCE, Aristophanes’ Lysistrata was quite amusing. Greek comedy, I have decided, is much more accessible than Greek tragedy. And in the case of Lysistrata, it is almost too accessible.
Aristophanes’ play was all about sex. All the Greek women, tired of their lovers going off to war, joined together and swore to not have sex with their husbands or boyfriends until they decided to end the feuding between Greek cities. Thus, the basic premise is humo...more
Aristophanes’ play was all about sex. All the Greek women, tired of their lovers going off to war, joined together and swore to not have sex with their husbands or boyfriends until they decided to end the feuding between Greek cities. Thus, the basic premise is humo...more
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Read in June, 2008
recommends it for:
Classics readers, playwrights, humor readers,
This review is in relation to a translation by an unknown author.
Aristophanes is finishing up my tour of the ancient playwrights this summer, and boy is he different from Sophocles and Euripedes. Perhaps it's mostly the modernized translation, but this is bawdy and lewd in a way that's even more hilarious when compared to other great Grecko-Roman playwrights. Discussions of nymphomania and dildos is a huge departure from The Persians' depiction of war grief or Prometheus' angst. Then ...more
Aristophanes is finishing up my tour of the ancient playwrights this summer, and boy is he different from Sophocles and Euripedes. Perhaps it's mostly the modernized translation, but this is bawdy and lewd in a way that's even more hilarious when compared to other great Grecko-Roman playwrights. Discussions of nymphomania and dildos is a huge departure from The Persians' depiction of war grief or Prometheus' angst. Then ...more
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Read in March, 2008
This is the first piece of "literature" I've read in a while, and maybe that's why I feel it's so contrived and pointless. None of the devices in this play hold true in reality. (Excuse my vulgarity in this review. The translator Alan Sommerstein used the c**t word a few times, so I feel at liberty.) Dudes would find other ways of copulating. Their raised "rods" wouldn't pain them all that much. They'd get to the masturbation and the buggery rather quickly. Don't you t...more
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3 comments
Lysistrata leads a band of women to withhold sex from men in order to end the Peloponnesian War and to secure peace for Athens. While interpreted as a plain spoken declaration for women’s rights, I do not agree. While the women display all the power and intelligence in the play, and men are presented as increasingly buffoonish, I doubt Aristophanes wanted to give women full and equal political rights in Athens. I would say that he was commenting more so on the impact of war on the home front (...more
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believe it or not - this is also a play by Bertolt Brecht... which I played "the old whore" in.
in reading the book and script - i have to say the factor of female influence in socioeconomic decisions, in a time that predates Christianity, is essentially accurate and is what made this a fascinating story.
it was still a crude tale and that crudeness, in explanation and singular opinion, is what makes the presentation of ancient society much more boring than it really is. it also...more
in reading the book and script - i have to say the factor of female influence in socioeconomic decisions, in a time that predates Christianity, is essentially accurate and is what made this a fascinating story.
it was still a crude tale and that crudeness, in explanation and singular opinion, is what makes the presentation of ancient society much more boring than it really is. it also...more
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Read in October, 2007
This one irritated me. Everyone keeps telling me how much I'll like it because it's a feminist solution to war and such a strong play for women, blah, blah, blah. Now, I've been told I completely missed the point, but I saw that the idea of woman being a force for peace, and their entire character, being mocked by a society that saw women as little more than chattle. Again, I've been told that the point is that it's all a joke, and I can see the humor, but it was not what I was expecting. I don'...more
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recommended to Stephanie by:
dr. bella vivante
recommends it for: anyone who hasn't read it already!
recommends it for: anyone who hasn't read it already!
i think everyone should read this play in high school! especially when learning about ancient greece. short recap: the women of athens want to put an end to war (more specifically the peloponnesian war) and withhold sex from the men. it's a great read, funny, if you're sensitive to talk about the sex, you may want to skip it. my teacher described it "everything in this book is a double entendre. if it doesn't seem like it is, we're probably too slow to understand the original greek me...more
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Read in January, 2002
recommends it for:
The few and the proud
Truly a hippie at heart, i related to Lysistrata and her glorious idea to bring about peace in her society by giving men the ultimate choice between the destruction of war or the satifaction of womenly ways. if you can get passed the idea of an ancient play then you will find this enjoyable. on a more serious note, i feel the play also touches on the roles women play in society and government by showing in a light way that we, whether alone or by the masses, are a force to be reckoned with.
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Great quote from the play:
"We need only to sit indoors with painted cheeks, and meet our mates lightly clad in transparent gowns of Amorgos silk, and employing all our charms and all our arts; then they wil act like mad and they will be wild to lie with us. That will be the time to refuse, and they will hasten to make peace, I am convinced of that!"
Perhaps it is time for the wives of the word to try this again. Starting with Laura Bush?
"We need only to sit indoors with painted cheeks, and meet our mates lightly clad in transparent gowns of Amorgos silk, and employing all our charms and all our arts; then they wil act like mad and they will be wild to lie with us. That will be the time to refuse, and they will hasten to make peace, I am convinced of that!"
Perhaps it is time for the wives of the word to try this again. Starting with Laura Bush?
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Read in January, 2006
recommended to Zoe by:
dollar rack at half price
Sure, if this were completely modernised (or if I were ancientised) I would call this dreck. But! It's funny as hell, and the battle of the sexes in ancient greece was funnier, cruder and more of a parody of real human emotions that any garbage shoved down our throats at tv happy hour. So..it's surprisingly entertaining dreck, and you will never ever have to pay more than a dollar to read it. What more could you ask for a 20 minute read?
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Read in September, 1997
Women power! This is a very humorous Greek play about a group of military wives who threatened to go on a sex strike as a way to protest war. It had me cracking up and introduced me to the brilliant nuanced humor of Aristophanes. It is a relatively short read and I highly recommend it. I liked it so much that I even suggested the name 'Lysistrata' for my second child. Alas, the hubby rejected it on the basis that it's a tongue-twister.
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Read in November, 2000
recommends it for:
anyone looking to have a good laugh at men's expense
I had to read it for my Classic Civ OAC class. My prof decided to kick it up a notch and make us perform it as a reading for my entire school. I had a reputation, by then well established within the class, for freudian slips so I was asked to read for Lysistrata. Only do this if you ever want to laugh even harder than thsi hilarious text already makes it readers.
Great wit, good paste and a classic.
Great wit, good paste and a classic.
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Read in October, 2007
By far the funniest Greek play I've read. The women are tired of the war, so they withhold sex until the men quit fighting. The particular translation I got a hold of had the Spartans speaking in southern accents, which just added to the complete silliness of the whole play. As if the constant penis talk and sex jokes weren't silly enough!
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recommends it for:
people fond of bawdy classics
I was forced to read this for a college class, but it was one of the more enjoyable plays I've ever been forced to read. In this one, the woman of some place (Sparta? Athens? Some other Greek city state?) decide that they won't have sex with their husbands until the husbands agree to stop engaging in warfare. Classical hilarity ensues.
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I like the story (women withholding sex in order to stop the war), did not like the translation. The stereotyping of southerners/Appalachians was offensive. While I appreciate trying put it in an understandable context, just because one is rural or uneducated does not make you southern. Read another version, because it's a great play.
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(Modern Translation edition)
Just the worst translation of anything I've ever read.
Let's take a classic and turn it into a horrible, late 60's slang-ridden monstrosity. Who thought this was a good idea? I am shocked that the term "jive turkey" didn't make an appearance.
The Torah as read in Klingon is less painful.
Just the worst translation of anything I've ever read.
Let's take a classic and turn it into a horrible, late 60's slang-ridden monstrosity. Who thought this was a good idea? I am shocked that the term "jive turkey" didn't make an appearance.
The Torah as read in Klingon is less painful.
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Read in January, 2001
If you think that classics are boring and stuffy, Lysistrata will surprise you. When the Athenian and Spartan women want to end the war their husbands are waging, they band together and deny their husbands physical love! It's hilarious and ingenious. Hey...maybe it could really work on all wars!
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Read in January, 2005
I was utterly surprised at how much I enjoyed this story. After reading too many other pieces of Greek literature I was sure I'd hate this one as well. But it's really good and pretty relevant to our time period as well.
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