About the work
Aristophanes' comedy „Lysistrata" was first performed in 411 BC — in the midst of the Peloponnesian War, when Athens was weakened after the catastrophic Sicilian expedition. The play is the most famous anti-war comedy of antiquity and, with its anti-sex-strike idea, contains one of the earliest plots of female solidarity in theatrical history.
Plot
The Athenian woman Lysistrata summons women from every Greek state to a secret assembly on the Acropolis. Her plan: until the men make peace, all women — Athenian, Spartan, Boeotian — will refuse their husbands any sexual relations. The women, hesitant at first, swear the oath. They occupy the Acropolis and with it the state treasury, without which the war cannot be financed. The men come singly and in groups, sexually desperate; in caricaturally exaggerated scenes they try to win their wives back. Finally Athenian and Spartan envoys meet, equally aroused, and through Lysistrata's mediation make peace — presented as the allegory of the nude figure of Diallage (Reconciliation).
Cultural significance
Lysistrata is one of the most popular ancient plays and since the twentieth century has been the flagship for feminist and anti-militarist productions. Its performance history runs from Vietnam-era readings to the global „Lysistrata Project" of 2003 (against the Iraq war, read simultaneously in 59 countries). The formal elegance — a women's chorus set against a men's chorus in sharp counterpoint — remains theatrically gripping.