PREVIEW： Chronicles #8 ｜ Lysistrata By Aristophanes
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Summary
Aristophanes' Lysistrata is one of the most famous comedies of all time, and one of only 11 surviving comedies from the world of old-Ancient Greek comedy. It's a play about a woman who stands alone on the streets of the city of Athens, and her rivalry with another woman.
Transcript
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Hello, and welcome to this next episode of Chronicles, where today we're going to be
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talking all about Lysistrata by Aristophanes, possibly the most famous comedy in all of
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ancient Greece, and one of the 11 surviving comedies that we have from the world of old
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ancient Greek comedy. And incidentally, all 11 of those are Aristophanes' plays, by sheer dumb luck
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in many ways. Not that there wasn't other Greek writers creating comedy plays, but Aristophanes
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naturally becomes known as the most famous, the most celebrated, and the most talented by sheer
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dint of being the only one that we can actually read. The Greek form of old comedy, as we would
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interpret it, that is comedy that came from the 5th century BC, the 400s, is markedly different
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from the newer comedy that you have in the century after with a playwright such as Menander. As you'll
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see as we go further into the plot of Lysistrata, it's entirely based around a very fantastical plot,
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right? It kind of feels hyperbolic, everything's over the top, and it feels beyond belief, actually.
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There's something really fantastical about it. Whereas when you compare it to newer comedies
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in ancient Greece, they are more realistic. I'm not going to say they're realism as the form,
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which is, of course, anachronistic, but just the plots are more believable, and the dialogue
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reflects that as well. So let's begin to talk a little bit about Aristophanes and comedy. Because
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the word comedy, of course, as it is in English, derives, like so many of the other words that we
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have to describe acting and to describe theatre, the words theatre, drama, scene, episode, comedy,
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tragedy, all of these words are based on ancient Greek words. And of course, comedy comes from
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Comedia, which was originally Revel's song. So it obviously was a part of the very, very old ancient
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Greek tradition of dithyrums, as they were called, which was very much about song and dance. And one of
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the things you notice as well with the old comedy, and this one in particular, is that the chorus, as we
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discussed it last week in Agamemnon, is still a very, very prominent part of the play. But another
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thing that differentiates comedy from tragedy, other than, of course, you know, its function to make
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you laugh, as opposed to making you blub big manly tears, is the fact that comedy is actually set in
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contemporary times, right? Tragedy was something for the heroic past, right? You know, you based it on
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Jason and the Argonauts, or the Trojan Wars, or the Odyssey, or, you know, ancient Greek Homeric
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stories. Whereas comedy, as we'll see with Lysistrata, is based in contemporary times dealing with
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contemporary political issues, mostly, of course, in Athens, though other neighbouring people would
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have visited, you know, foreign dignitaries from other city-states, might have been honoured with
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a seat to watch the festivities of their own, and possibly draw their own political conclusions from
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it. But Lysistrata is one of three Aristophanes plays, actually, which are generally known as the
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peace plays. So they are all political propaganda written by Aristophanes in order to create peace,
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and peace out of what? Well, peace out of the Peloponnesian War, which by the time that Aristophanes
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had written Lysistrata, had been going on for about two decades now. And Athens, by this point in the
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war, it's after the Sicilian expedition and the loss of the Athenian navy. Athens is in a much more
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strategically weak position than it had been even a few weeks prior. And we're now at a point where
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Aristophanes is very much worried about the political upheavals and the tumult and chaos that will arise
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should Athens be defeated in the war. And certainly Athens would go on to have massive political
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changes from its defeat in the Peloponnesian War would basically cease to be for a period of time
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that which it had once been in that golden era of democracy, which was so much a part of Athenian
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cultural superiority that it enjoyed waving about to all of its inferior neighbors. So shall we begin
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Our story begins in Athens. Out on the street, an Athenian woman stands alone with the Acropolis at
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her back, that landmark of Hellenic splendor. The woman is Lysistrata, the play's eponymous heroine.
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She talks to herself irritably, waiting with visible vexation for other women to arrive.
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One soon does. Her friend Kalanice. This gives Lysistrata someone to direct her ramps towards,
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and she bemoans the tardiness of the other women. Our heroine then explains that this is all for a
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matter of the utmost importance. The fate of all Greece could be in their hands. Kalanice dryly comments
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that if Greece's fate is in the hands of their sex, then it is unlikely to be saved.
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But Lysistrata insists that, in fact, women are uniquely placed to serve this duty,
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and that her plan will not require anything outside of the natural limits of their sex.
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Those are the very things which I assume will save us. Short dresses, perfumes, slippers, make-up,
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and clothing men can see through. Another Athenian woman soon arrives, Myrone,
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followed closely by Lampeto, a woman from Sparta. Taken aback by the Spartan specimen, the Athenians see
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before them, Lysistrata cannot help but compliment Lampeto's breasts, and after the two engage in some
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innuendo about the women from Corinth and Boeotia, Lysistrata begins to address a gathered about the
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state of Greece and the absence of their husbands. By now, the armies engaged in the Peloponnesian
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War have been ravaging the lands for two decades, with no end in sight. Lysistrata asks,
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The fathers of your children, don't you miss them when they're away at war?
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I know that not one of you has a husband at home. And the women reply in several answers,
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Mine, my dear, has been away for four months, on the Thracian coast, keeping an eye on our general
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there. And mine has been at Pylos for a full seven months. And as for my man, if he ever does turn up
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at home, straight away he's fitted his shield on his arm and flown off again. Why, there isn't even
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one to have an affair with. Not even the ghost of one. Since the Milanesians betrayed us,
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I haven't even seen one of those six-inch leather jobs which used to help us when all else failed,
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Lysistrata reassures them. Well then, if I found a way to do it, would you be prepared to join with
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me in putting a stop to the war? The women are enthusiastic. By the holy twain, I would,
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even if I had to cut myself in two like a flatfish and give half of myself for the cause.
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I'd climb up to the top of Tigetis to get a glimpse of peace. Then I will tell you all plain,
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there's no point in keeping it back. Women, if we want to force our men to make peace,
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Why are you turning away from me? Where are you going? What does all this
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pursing of lips and tossing of heads mean? You're all going pale. I can see tears.
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Will you do it or won't you? Answer me. And Mirreni comically replies, I won't do it. Just let the
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war go on. The women protest that they will walk through fire, but they could never possibly swear
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off sex. But after some pleading, Lysistrata manages to convince Lampeto of the plan. And hesitantly,
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one by one, the women are persuaded to take an oath. To husband or lover, I'll not open arms.
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Though love and denial may enlarge his charms. But still at home, ignoring him, I'll stay,
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beautiful clad in saffron silks all day. If then he seizes me by dint of force,
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I'll give him reason for a long remorse. I'll never lie and stare up at the ceiling,
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nor like a lion on all fours go kneeling. If I can keep faith, then bounteous cups be mine.
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If not, the nauseous water change this wine. The women wince and force themselves to repeat these
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words, even though the thought of celibacy brings Paul Calanice to the brink of fainting.
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Lampeto is then sent back to organize the women's movement in her native Sparta. And the other women
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march on to the Acropolis and bar themselves inside. Now the women also hold the treasury
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of Athens in their keeping. In retaliation, the chorus of old men clash with the chorus of women
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in a storm of words, which then leads to the men trying to start a fire to smoke the women out,
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until Stratilus, one of the elder women, is apprehended. The women douse the men in water,
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quenching their fires and leaving the men ignominiously drenched. The ruckus draws in an
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Athenian magistrate, who had been on his way up to the Acropolis to withdraw some money from the
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treasury for the oars of the Athenian warships. Lysistrata informs the magistrate that the women
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will now handle the Exchequer, which they will have a natural aptitude for, given that they
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manage the household finances. Up until now, through this long war, we kept silent about all
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those things you men were doing. We were being modest, and you did not allow us to speak up,
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although we were not happy. But still, we listened faithfully to you, and often inside the house we
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heard your wretched plans for some great deed. And if we ached inside, we'd force a smile and simply
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ask, today in the assembly, did the men propose a treaty carved in stone decreeing peace? But our
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husband said, is that your business? Why don't you shut up? And I'd stay silent. So there I am at home,
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saying nothing. Then you'd tell us of another project, even stupider than before. We'd say,
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how can you carry out a scheme like that? It's foolish. Immediately, he'd frown and say to me,
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if you don't sping your thread, you'll get a major beating on your head. War is men's concern. Is that
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sensible? Not to take advice when what you're proposing is so silly? Then we heard you speaking
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in the streets, asking openly, are there any men still left here on our land? And someone said,
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by God, there's no one. Well then, after that, it seemed to us we had to rescue Greece
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by bringing wives into a single group with one shared aim. Why should we delay? If you'd like
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to hear us give some good advice and start to listen, keep your mouths quite shut the way we did.
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We'll save you from yourselves. After berating the Magistrate, Lysistrata then emasculates him
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further by adorning him with her headdress and forcing a basket into his arms. Lysistrata is driven
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by a single-minded purpose. She is tenacious, fending off all who would sabotage her plans,
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both from outside and within. Many of the women, insatiable with lust and crumbling in principle,
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plead with Lysistrata to let them leave the Acropolis, for a profusion of comical reasons.
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They cannot uphold the sex strike. Lysistrata retreats indoors to bring discipline to her
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rebellion. And coming closer, an Athenian warrior is seen in the distance. It is Senecius,
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husband of Myrone, and he has brought their son and servant. Myrone goes out to him,
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flirtatiously teasing him with her sensuality, driving him mad with sexual frustration.
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You'd like to. Then, my little Myrone, lie down right here. You must be joking. In front of our
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dear baby child? No, by god. Manus, take the boy back home. Alright then, lad's no longer in the
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way. Lie down. But you silly man, where do we do it? Where? The Cave of Pan is an excellent place.
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But, over and over, Myrone pretends to give in to her husband's desires, and leverages his
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frustration into supporting a peace agreement. She then returns to the Acropolis, leaving her
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husband humiliated and unsatisfied. He is not the only man in such a state. As a herald from Sparta
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arrives, he comes beseeching an audience with the Athenian senate, with the intention of reaching a
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settlement and ending the war. But Senecius, suspicious of the enemy's man, asks, if he is here for peace,
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then why does he hand a lance beneath his cloak? Oh yes, is this one too? He indicates towards his
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own phallus. You needn't think I'm a fool. What is the present situation in Sparta? It's a total
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cock-up through all Laconia. All our allies are risen, and they're standing absolutely firm.
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We've no got Pelion. The proud men of Sparta have been brought to heel by the sex strike, thanks to the
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intervention of Lampeto. Upon the news of peace, the chorus of men and women fuse together,
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finally uniting the two sexes in harmony. Lysistrata comes forward as a great peacemaker,
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along with a woman of divine beauty and sexuality, known simply as Reconciliation.
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Now unto you, O Spartans, do I speak. Do you forget how your own countrymen, Periclidus,
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once came hither suppliant before our altars, pale in his purple robes, praying for an army when in
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Mycenae, danger growling, and the sea god made earth quaver? Then with four thousand hoplites,
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Simmon marched and saved all Sparta. Yet basing greats now, you are ravaging the soil of your
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preservers. By Zeus. They do great wrong, Lysistrata. Great wrong indeed. Oh, what a luscious wench.
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And now I turn to the Athenians. Have you forgotten too, how once the Spartans, in days when you wore
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slavish tunics, came and with their spears broke a Thessalonian host, and all the partisans of Hippias?
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They alone stood by your shoulder on that day. They freed you. So that for the slaves' short skirt,
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you should wear the trailing cloak of liberty. I've never seen a noble woman anywhere.
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Sex-starved Athenian and Spartan hosts negotiate who gets which part of the woman, I mean Greece's
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regions. The Peloponnesian War is brought to an end. Gaiety and merriment erupt, with the Athenians
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and Spartans dancing and drinking with one another, finally bringing about peace.
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