Looking at Lysistrata: Eight Essays and a New Version of Aristophanes' Provocative Comedy

by David Stuttard (Editor)

In Aristophanes' "Lysistrata" the women of Athens, fed up with the war against Sparta, go on a sex strike and barricade themselves into the acropolis to persuade their husbands to vote against the war. It is the most often performed of all Aristophanes' comedies. It is also, perhaps, the most misunderstood. This collection of essays by eight leading academics, written for sixth-form students and the general public alike, sets the play firmly in its historical and social context, while exploring Aristophanes' purpose in writing it and considering the responses of modern audiences and directors. The collection has been assembled and edited by David Stuttard, whose energetic new performing version of the play is included in this volume. Contributors: Alan Beale; Edith Hall; Lorna Hardwick; James Morwood; Martin Revermann; James Robson; Alan H. Sommerstein; Michael Walton.

168 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 2010

About the author

David Stuttard is a British theatre director, classical scholar, translator, lecturer on classical literature and history, and author, primarily of historical works on the ancient world.

Reviews

[Anna]

read for *uni*
absolutely loved the translation - really brings it into the modern day so the general reader / viewer can see just how mired in context athenian old comedy was, at least with aristophanes. the best essay was by far edith hall's on the various inspirations for lysistrata's character - the rest of them were a bit too short to be truly useful, at least for me.

[Jill]

I like the format of having the history then the essays then a version of the play. Would have liked to see a separate translation closer to the original wording to compare.