Lysistrata gambit

Lysistrata

Aristophanes

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Aristophanes (~450-385 BC)

Born during the “Golden Age” of Athens

Wrote most plays while the Peloponnesian War was being waged

Lived to see Athens stripped of glory by the Spartans

Was opposed both to the war and the political structure of Athens

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More about Aristophanes...

Was immortalized in Plato’s Symposium

Immortalized Socrates in the drama, The Clouds

Was known to be vulgar, drunken, and possibly corrupt

Spoke vehemently against Athens’ involvement in various conflicts

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The cast

The Plot

Lysistrata and women from various city states in Greece come together to discuss ways to end the Pelopponesian War. At Lysistrata’s instruction, the women take an old to abstain from sex with their husbands until their husbands agree to bring an end to the war. After intense negotiatons between the women and the men (and a chorus of men and a chorus of women), a peace agreement is ultimately reached.

The women

The men

The pledge

Leaders of the Male and Female Chorus

Myrhinne and Cinesias

More big words...

Horatian satire—gentle satire in the manner of the Roman writer Horace; gently ridicules its subjects. Lysistrata contains elements of this type of satire

Burlesque (a form of comedy characterized by exaggeration and distortion)

Parody—a literary work that imitates the serious manner and characteristics of more serious genres

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Satire--Literary art of diminishing a subject by making it ridiculous and evoking toward it attitudes of amusement, contempt, scorn or indignation. Takes its form from the genre it spoofs.

Horatian satire--After the Roman satirist Horace: Satire in which the voice is indulgent, tolerant, amused, and witty. The speaker holds up to gentle ridicule the absurdities and follies of human beings, aiming at producing in the reader not the anger of a Juvenal, but a wry smile.

Juvenalian satire--After the Roman satirist Juvenal: Formal satire in which the speaker attacks vice and error with contempt and indignation Juvenalian satire in its realism and its harshness is in strong contrast to Horatian satire.

Burlesque-- A form of comedy characterized by ridiculous exaggeration and distortion.A serious subject may be treated frivolously or a frivolous subject seriously. The essential quality that makes for burlesque is the discrepancy between subject matter and style. That is, a style ordinarily dignified may be used for nonsensical matter, or a style very nonsensical may be used to ridicule a weighty subject.

Parody--A composition that imitates the serious manner and characteristic features of a particular work, or the distinctive style of its maker, and applies the imitation to a lowly or comically inappropriate subject. Often a parody is more powerful in its influence on affairs of current importance--politics for instance--than its original composition. It is a variety of burlesque.

Irony--Saying one thing and meaning another.

Caricature--A character portrayed very broadly and in a stereotypical fashion, ordinarily objectionable in realistic literature.

The Councilor and Chorus of Men

Issues to notice...

The historical context

The role of the choruses

Differences in translations

The importance of the sight gags

The inefficacy of government

The hardship of war

War as the concern of women

The political situation as a ball of yarn that can be carefully unraveled

Women as the real victims of war, forced to watch helplessly as their sons and husbands are killed

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Popularity Today

While no definitive film version of Lysistrata has been made to date, the play is frequently performed at theaters and colleges. Often the costumes and language are updated; for a 2000-year-old piece of literature, Lysistrata is extremely modern.

On TV Tropes.com, Lysistrata is credited as the “trope namer” for the “Lysistrata Gambit,” which is defined as withholding sex either as punishment or to force an issue.

Productions of Lysistrata

Modern images

Lysistrata Jones, the musical

Give peace a chance…

Web sites

http

https://global.oup.com/academic/product/lysistrata-9780198144960?cc=us&lang=en&:// americanrepertorytheater.org/node/256

http://www.bloomsbury.com/us/looking-at-lysistrata-9781472519962 /

http://theatreuaf.org/archives/lysistrata /

http://www.tamswitmark.com/shows/lysistrata-jones /

http:// americanrepertorytheater.org/node/256

https://www.mtholyoke.edu/media/mhcs-lysistrata-plays-out-battle-sexes

Web Sites

http:// www.reviewingthedrama.com/2011/12/lysistrata-jones.html

http:// news.gonzaga.edu/2010/gu-theatre-to-present-aristophanes-lysistrata-march-25-28

http:// coursesite.uhcl.edu/HSH/Whitec/texts/Tragedy/Lysistrata.htm

http:// lyricstranslate.com/en/aristophanes-lyrics.html