Summary "Lysistrata" introduces you to one of the most famous comedies of the ancient Greek author Aristophanes. It was written around 411 BC. It tells about a woman who managed to stop the war between Athens and Sparta in a very original way.
Author
The summary of Lysistrata will help you quickly refresh the main episodes of this work. For her author, she became one of the most successful creations in her career. It is known that in all he wrote 44 plays, only 11 works have survived to this day. Among the most popular creations of Aristophanes are also called "Birds" and "Frogs".
The author of the play "Lysistratus" was born in Athens around 446 BC. It is believed that he directed the first comedy under the pseudonym in 427 BC.
It is interesting that the works of the comedian have been criticized more than once by the authorities. For example, when he ridiculed the demagogue Cleon in the Babylonians, calling him a tanner, he accused him of putting Athens' policy in a ridiculous way. Against Aristophanes, even a case was instituted in the unlawful appropriation of Athenian citizenship.
In response, the comedian once again attacked Cleon in the play "The Riders", presenting him in the image of Paflagonets. The image was painted so repulsively that Aristophanes himself had to play this role.
The ancient Greek author died about 386 BC.
What is comedy about?
A summary of Lysistrata will help you remember what this comedy is about. The main character organizes a strike, gathering for conspiracy deputies from all over Greece at the Acropolis of Athens. They are at a meeting slowly, as they are constantly distracted by household chores and worries about the household. They discuss that everyone has already missed their husbands, they want the war to end. Lysistrata invites them to refuse men sex until they conclude a truce. They take a solemn oath over a wine cooler.
After this, the female choir occupies the acropolis. They are attacked by a chorus of old people, as all other men disappear in the war. Old men threaten them with torches, and women with buckets of water. Bickering begins, which flows into the fray, the elderly are doused with water, soaked, they are forced to retreat. The choirs continue to bicker after that.
Dispute
When the most ancient old man appears on the scene, the main part of any ancient Greek drama begins - the argument. Retelling the short content of "Lysistrata" it is impossible not to mention it.
The adviser tries to reason women, assuring that they are not getting into their own business. Those in response argue that war is also a female affair, since they constantly lose husbands, are forced to give birth to children, who are then killed on the battlefield. When the adviser is amazed that women wished to rule the state, they parry, reminding him that they have long been managing business affairs, and it turns out pretty well for them.
After this, the choirs again move on to a hassle, which ends with a brawl. The winners again come out of it women.
However, a complete victory is still far away. Women themselves begin to miss their husbands. Lysistrata has to follow them so that they do not run away from the acropolis, although they constantly come up with the most incredible and ridiculous pretexts.
Finally, one of the abandoned husbands appeared under the walls, who began to persuade his wife to return to him. All persuasion does not lead to anything. A woman teases him, and then hides, and the unfortunate can only writhe from passion and sing about her torment. The appeared chorus of old people begins to sympathize with him in every possible way.
Denouement
Realizing that their situation is hopeless, men decide to reconcile. Athenian and Spartan ambassadors meet. At the same time, the author clarifies that their phalluses were already so large that they immediately understood each other without words.
Lysistrata expresses a desire to take part in the negotiations, which reminds them of union and old friendship, praises them for valor and courage, but at the same time accuses them of absurd grumpy. At the same time, a favorable mood reigns around, since everyone wants to make peace as soon as possible.
Negotiators do not even bargain, giving away everything that was captured by some in exchange for captured by others. At the same time, everyone looks with admiration at Lysistrata, amazed at her intelligence, harmony and beauty. At this time, in the background, the female choir begins to flirt with the choir of old people. Those in response lament that living with women is completely impossible, but they can’t do without them.
After the official conclusion of the worlds, both choirs sing that evil will now be forgotten. In the finale, the Spartan and Athenian husbands make out their wives, with the dances they diverge from the stage.
Analysis
You need to know that the comedy about Lysistratus was created in conditions when the situation of Athens was complicated due to the Peloponnesian war. Sparta, which led her, strengthened its power, gaining all new allies, one of them was Persia.
Of great importance in the analysis of Aristophanes' Lysistrata is the fact that the initiators of the conclusion of peace are women of all Greece, who have already suffered from the hardships of wartime, they can no longer endure losses and separation.
Thus, the author turns to what is able to unite all the warring men, regardless of which side they are on. This is the need for sex and love. She is threatened when women unite, renouncing men's love, until they end the war.
Comedy has an important humanistic and pacifist significance. Interestingly, such precedents happened in reality. In 2003, a similar campaign by women in Liberia stopped the civil war.
Reviews
The reviews of Lysistratus emphasize that this is also a feminist work, which remains relevant until now, despite the fact that almost two and a half millennia are left behind. After all, it is not the relentless relevance that determines the significance of a literary work.
Critics and readers note that the author was able to clearly demonstrate how men in every possible way try to dominate women in all matters, only for the sake of satisfying their basic instinct they are ready to make big concessions.