For Wednesday: Aristophanes, "Lysistrata" (pp.141-161)

REMEMBER: No class on Monday (Labor Day); if you have a different edition of Lysistrata, read to the argument between Lysistrata and the Magistrate 

NOTE: As you read this play, think of it as a show like The Office or Parks and Recreation--something silly and over-the-top. It's a comedy about women who decide to withhold sex from their husbands to stop the war between Athens and Sparta in ancient Greece. While that alone is funny, the playwright also satirizes the power of women in a society where women were little more than slaves (and many were literally slaves). Could women really fight men on their own terms? Should women have a voice in the 'male' world? While we obviously live in a much more equal society, many of the sentiments expressed in this play are still familiar today, reminding us of why Aristophanes wrote it in the first place. 

The "Rainbow" Group (Group C) should answer TWO of the following

Q1: Many people are shocked by how 'dirty' Lysistrata is, particularly those who assume old literature is dry and boring. Why do you think Aristophanes throws in so many sexual innuendos and dirty puns? Does this detract from the message of the work? Could the play still work if it was more 'polite' and clean? 

Q2: How does this play help us understand the common biases and stereotypes of women in this period? Why were women not taken seriously by men (even by their husbands?), and why do many women not even take themselves seriously, as we see in the very beginning: "In our hands? Then Greece hasn't much hope."

Q3: In what way is Lysistrata a lot like Sappho? How do they both express some of the same ideas and values? Is there a particular speech or line of Lysistrata's that sounds like Sappho could have written it? 

Q4: How does the play try to turn the tables on men and make them experience a female position in Greek society? Consider the exchange between Lysistrata and the Magistrate when she says, "We must see that you're safe, my dear sir," and he answers, "Even if I don't want you to?" to which she says, "All the more if you don't!"