Aristophanes’ Lysistrata is one of the few Ancient Greek plays still around today.  It continues to entertain and intrigue audiences more than two thousand years after it was written.  Although Aristophanes wrote Lysistrata for the specific purpose of protesting the war and to play a certain part in Ancient Greek theater, it is still relevant to life in the twenty-first century due to the universal nature of its themes.
    Aristophanes wrote Lysistrata during a time of turmoil in Greece.  During the Persian Wars, Greek city-states banded together to share their wealth and weapons in their struggles against Persia.  They formed the Delian League, in which the city-state of Sparta took no part, to protect the mainland from attack. Athens controlled this league, and eventually made membership mandatory via force.  Also by force, Athens took the league’s treasury, to which all members were required to pay exorbitant dues, to the Acropolis for “safekeeping”.  This money was then used for the beautification of Athens in buildings such as the Parthenon and many statues.
    Athens also started a campaign to gain more territory on the mainland by taking over its neighbors.  This angered Sparta and Corinth, the two other major powers at this time.  In 440 BC, Sparta and Athens fought briefly, and then signed a treaty to guarantee them peace for the next thirty years.  This did not last, as Corinth and Athens still did not agree on many things, such as Athens trying to gain an empire.  In 431 BC, war broke out between Athens and Thebes, which had tried to attack one of Athens’ allies.  Sparta and Thebes were allies, as well as Sparta and Corinth, and so they all chose sides and prepared for battle.
    By the time Aristophanes wrote Lysistrata in 411 BC, war had been raging for twenty years.  Due to marauding Spartans, people were forced to live inside the walls of Athens and deplorable conditions ensued.  Plagues broke out, supplies ran low, and trade suffered.  Due to blunders on Athens’ part, by 411 BC, Athens was almost certainly going to lose the war.  Athens had tried defending its city only, making false treaties, and even sending its navy to Sicily to cut off trade to Sparta.  This failed because Athens tried to arrest the leader of the military while en route to Sicily on this secret mission.  He had defaced some statues the night before his departure, and the Athenian government thought this unexcusable.  He jumped overboard, swam to Sparta, and told them the Athenian plans.  After almost all the ships were destroyed, Athenian soldiers were stranded in hostile territory and many were killed (Knox).
    Aristophanes was one of the most popular comedy writers in Ancient Greece.  He wrote in a style called Old Comedy, in which ridicule of important people and political institutions both entertained people and made them re-think their ideas (Jacobus 161).  By using this style, Aristophanes could critique political ideas he did not agree with in a non- (or less) threatening environment than presenting them to the rulers of Athens.  Aristophanes is also one of the most prolific playwrights of Ancient Greece, writing at least thirty plays in his lifetime.  Lysistrata is one of his best known plays, and was also very well liked in Greece.  Indeed, contrary to tradition, Lysistrata was performed more than once in Aristophanes’ life-time (Jacobus 163).
    Aristophanes’ apparent purpose in writing Lysistrata was to challenge the political desire to continue the long and obviously lost war against Sparta.  Lysistrata provided a means with which people could think about the disadvantages of fighting longer versus the merits of peace.  It is not as clear, however, if Aristophanes meant to also spark discussion on the role of women in Greek society.  In any case, these two ideas of peace and women’s empowerment create the two central themes of Lysistrata.
    The more conspicuous theme of the play, that of peace, is ever present throughout Lysistrata.  Indeed, it is so pervasive, it would be impossible to discuss it in all its detail.  Even the plot of the play deals with the theme of peace.  The women, who represent Aristophanes and other pacifists, want peace because they feel everything will be easier and better if Athens were not always at war.  The foolish men, who represent the leaders of Athens, stubbornly refuse until they are forced to obey.  The happy festival after the conclusion of the treaty belies Aristophanes’ belief that peace is the answer to Athens’ troubles.  Indeed, this theme is so prominent that George Wellwarth argues on page one that Lysistrata is only a political play.
    It is not clear weather Aristophanes intended women’s empowerment to be a second theme of the play, or if he simply gave the women in Lysistrata uncommon freedom in order to make his point about peace.  In 411 BC, it would have been impossible for the women to act as they did in Lysistrata.  Women were not treated as equal members of society in Ancient Greece.  For example, they were not allowed to leave the house except in the company of a slave or an old female relative for fear they would sleep with another male.
    In addition, women were not chosen as wives for their sex appeal, but for their ability to bear children.  Ancient Greeks distrusted love, because of the great power it could wield.  So, they separated love into two categories: passion and companionship.  A good Greek would never satisfy his desires for these two types of love with the same woman, because the woman would then have power over him.  Therefore, wives usually fulfilled the role of the companion, or friend, and men took lovers to find passion.  These lovers oftentimes were young boys.
    So, by presenting a world in Lysistrata where women have unreasonable power according to the times, Aristophanes both provokes laughter and thought.  Most Greeks would laugh at the idea of women being sensible enough to organize anything more difficult than their hair.  However, seeing women preside over men and force peace might have sparked some interesting discussion over whether women were being given the benefit of the doubt with regard to their abilities.
    Lysistrata continues to be relevant and interesting to audiences today because of these same two themes, and this is shown in the modern adaption by Yiannis Negrepontis.  In this movie, there are many references to America, which in the seventies and eighties was considered the world’s hope for peace.  In the scene where Lysistrata and her companions are defending the Acropolis against the army, the American Flag is used as a curtain through which women appear to taunt the men.  The women in this scene also display underwear with the peace symbol—a symbol popularized in America during the sixties.  Finally, one of the songs the women sing while marching is put to the tune of the Marine Corps Anthem.  Yiannis Negrepontis takes the theme of peace even further in his film by using these American symbols to bring to mind world peace.
    While the theme of women’s empowerment is not highlighted as much as that of peace, Yiannis Negrepontis both supports the Ancient Greek stereotypes and calls attention to the differences between the women’s accepted roles in society and their actions.  Women in Ancient Greece were seen as flighty, and the women in the film also appear so as they cross their fingers while taking the oath of celibacy.  However, they do fight back against the men, and in so doing present an interesting contrast.  They use vegetables, brooms, and other domestic items to push back the men.  In other words, by having the women win by using the items connected to their expected roles in life, Negrepontis emphasizes their flight from their proper place in society.  Looking at it another way, however, these reminders of the women’s roles serve to keep them connected to their lower status.
    Lysistrata is best understood when considering the historical context in which it was written.  Aristophanes had a definite purpose in mind while writing the play—to protest the war.  This constitutes a major theme, that of peace.  The other theme of the play is women’s empowerment.  Although it is unclear whether Aristophanes intended this to be a theme or not, it is part of the reason why, as seen in Yiannis Negrepontis’ adaption, Lysistrata continues to be relevant today.
 

Atkinson, Brooks.  “Review of Lysistrata.”  New York Times 1930.  Rpt. in The Bedford Introduction to Drama 4th Edition.  Ed. Lee A. Jacobus.  Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2001.  183-184.
 

Brooks Atkinson, a critic for the New York Times, appreciates the staging of the play, including lavish costumes and sets.  He spends quite a bit of time talking about the bawdiness of the play, and mentions that policemen attended the opening night to make sure no one’s morals would be compromised.  It seems that Atkinson enjoyed the play both for its staging and for its story line.  Since I did not see this particular play, I cannot comment about the staging, but I do agree that the play is memorable and hilarious.  Atkinson helped me realize the extent to which Lysistrata uses “gutter humor” to entertain the audience.

Fitts, Dudley.  “Lysistrata: An English Version.”  Aristophanes: Four Comedies.  Harcourt, 1954.  Rpt. in The Bedford Introduction to Drama 4th Edition.  Ed. Lee A. Jacobus.  Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2001.  164-183.
 

Dudly Fitts translated Lysistrata in 1954, and it remains a sound representation today.  He divided the play up into scenes, which Aristophanes had not done, but this helps the modern reader understand the play better.  He uses less offensive words than it would seem Aristophanes had intended for the private parts referred to in the play, but these were probably very vulgar in 1954.

Jacobus, Lee A.  “Aristophanes.” The Bedford Introduction to Drama 4th Edition.  Ed. Lee A. Jacobus.  Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2001.  161-164.
 

Lee Jacobus gives a basic introduction to Aristophanes’ life and the basic theme of peace contained in Lysistrata.  He defines the political atmosphere in 411 BC.  Although it is too short to contain any depth about either Aristophanes or the play, this provided me with a background with which to start my research.

Knox, E. L. Skip. “Western Civilization.” 22 June 1995.  4 April 2001.  http://history.idbsu.edu/westciv.
 

Skip Knox maintains this website for a course in Western Civilization at Boise State University.  He gives a comprehensive review of the Peloponnesian War, which I used to supplement my basic knowledge of Greek History.  He does not mar the facts with personal opinion on the Ancient Greeks.

Lysistrata / Zervoulakos.  Videocassette.  Adapted by Yiannis Negrepontis.  Pref. Jenny Karezi, Costas Kazakos.  Brooklyn, NY : New York Film Annex, 1987.
 

Yiannis Negrepontis portrays a faithful version of Lysistrata in this film in that the words (at least the subtitles) seem to be very true to the original.  He uses song to make the play both more interesting and more unrealistic.  As discussed in my paper, he brings the themes of peace and women’s empowerment to the forefront of the play through various props.  The near porn scene at the end of the movie is fitting, as the sexual innuendo throughout the play insinuates there will be a lot of sex when the men finally make peace.  I thought this interpretation of the play to be entertaining and the representation of the two themes really made an impression on me.

Wellwarth, George E.  Introduction.  Themes of Drama.  Ed. George Wellwarth.  New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1973.  1-3.
 

George Wellwarth believes Lysistrata contains only one theme; that of peace.  He summarizes the reasons that Aristophanes wrote the play, and deals only with the idea of him protesting against the war.  I do not agree that there is only one theme in the play, but reading this work made me step back and think if Aristophanes really meant to include the theme of women’s empowerment.

Whitman, Cedric H.  “War Between the Sexes.”  Aristophanes and the Comic Hero.  Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1964.  Rpt. in Drama in the Western World.  Ed. Samuel Weiss.  Chicago: U. of Illinois, 1968.  83-88.
 

Cedric Whitman argues that Lysistrata is mainly about the conflict between the goddesses Aprodite and Hestia.  He analyzes how each of the female goddesses is represented in Lysistrata, and their eventual place in society after the women win.  He argues that the women must repress the Aphrodite in themselves in order to get the men to make peace.  Therefore, they must become like Hestia and Athena, the only people ever able to resist Aphrodite.  Although I think Whitman might be reading a bit much into the play, it is an interesting idea to consider the women as representatives of the goddesses.  I was intrigued as I found the women in Negrepontis’ adaption to be dressed either as Aphrodite (the younger ones) or Hestia (the elder ones).