Aristophanes was really ahead of his time, and I think that Lysistrata is proof of that. In this play, a group of women all agree to abstain fron any sexual contact until their husbands stop going off to war. In general, this plan seems to work alright in the end.

First of all, to have a women-centric play is nice, because many plays from this time focused on the typical hero or manly man figure. I enjoy a play that attacks this cliche, especially by presenting it fromt he viewpoint of the women who constantly have to take the brunt for their "manly man" husbands. Furthermore, Aristophanes can make this humorous!

Leste en norsk, moderne oversettelse og er helt frelst!!! Lenge leve Lysistrata

Primera vez en un clásico griego, sorprendente la forma en la que muestran su sociedad, probablemente exagera todo con motivo de la comedia. La historia es jocosa y guarra, pero no deja de tener ese mensaje profundo de la iniciativa femenina para contener ese afan destructivo de la sociedad, aunque sea de esa manera presentada, logrando un poder politico real y propiciando un dialogo que muestra que las partes pueden realmente llegar a comprenderse.

This modern translation by Douglass Parker is HORRENDOUS! Got it, the Athenians consider the Spartan Lampito a country bumpkin, but I can not read another line of "Shuckins, whut fer you tweedlin'me up so? I feel like a heifer come fair-time." in this CLASSIC drama. Harumph!

Douglass Parker's footnote for "I calklate so" is "In employing a somewhat debased American mountain dialect to render the Laconic Greek of Lampito and her countrymen, I have tried to evoke something like the Athenian attitude toward their perennial enemies. They regarded the Spartans as formidably old-fashioned bumpkins, imperfectly civilized, possessed of a determined indifference to more modern value systems." PAH, I say to that!

I want to give this translation a one-star rating, but unfortunately it affects the ratings for the drama itself.

I would appreciate a recommendation of a good translation!

The only other Aristophanes i've read is The Birds and this is a little too similar to that but i guess that was about religon and this is more war and sex of course.

I read the gutenberg version with illustrations by Norman Lindsey :lol . I'll leave it to others to praise properly, its really good (and naughty).
However i centainly could have done without the scotch accent, i don't know who translated my version, but accent writing... never a good idea. Also some scene breaks would have been nice and there's some references i didn't get but nothing major.

Its short, especially since it has no scenes its hard to stop befre the end. Really, really funny in places and great satire.
Just like with The Birds, amazed what Aristophanes was able to get away.

Looking at the themes of sex and gender, this bawdy anti-war sex comedy, of which I found rather amusing, was first staged in 411 BCE. In simplistic terms, the play is the account of one woman's extraordinary mission to end the Peloponnesian War, as Lysistrata convinces the women of Greece to withhold sexual privileges from their husbands as a means of forcing the men to negotiate a peace. In other words its like a sex strike! Lysistrata, a strong minded Athenian with a great sense of individual responsibility, reveals her plan to take matters into her own hands and end the interminable war between Athens and Sparta. She has convened a meeting of women from various city states in Greece and, with support from the Spartan Lampito, she explains to the other women her plan, which Leads to some really laughable moments.

Modern adaptations of the play are often performed with a feminist and/or pacifist viewpoint, but the original all the way back then was neither particularly feminist nor unreservedly pacifist. Even while apparently demonstrating empathy with the female condition, Aristophanes still tended to reinforce sexual stereotyping of women as irrational creatures in need of protection from themselves and from others. Certainly, it seems clear that Aristophanes was not actually advocating real political power for women.

Lysistrata herself, though, is clearly an exceptional woman and, even when the other women waver in their resolution, she remains strong and committed. She is usually quite separate from the other women: she does not herself exhibit any sexual desire, has no obvious lovers or husband and does not purposely flirt with men; she is smarter, wittier and generally adopts a more serious tone than the other women. the humour throughout is highly topical and the playwright expected his audience to be familiar with myriad local personalities, places and issues, a difficulty faced by any producer trying to stage Lysistrata for modern audiences. As well as the slapstick comedy and the raucous and risqué double-entendres, much of the humour in the play derives from the audience’s knowledge of specific figures from Athens’ public life and recent history.

Known as the 'Father of Comedy', this was great fun, and I just can't quite believe its as old as it is. I imagine it will never feel dated, long live Aristophanes!

È guerra, gli uomini sono via da mesi: le donne prendono in mano la situazione, sotto la guida di Lisistrata. Faranno sciopero del sesso, rimanendo sull'Acropoli, finché non sarà siglata la pace, senza cedere ad alcuna tentazione. Gli uomini, dal canto loro, sono subito fuori controllo: tutte le città sono piene di lamenti per il mancato piacere! Avremo un lieto fine, come in ogni commedia, e la risata costante per tutta la sua durata: grazie Aristofane!

This was a fun read, I even laughed out loud at some points. It wasn't anything particularly memorable which is mostly I think is for the reason that I haven't understood any of the historical references that were there (since I don't know anything about the history of Ancient Greece, so totally my fault). But even without understanding certain references, it was still funny, because there are a lot of moments that would be understandable and humorous even for the modern reader.

So if you want a quick fun read and some ancient Greek literature, go ahead and read it :) it will be a fun time :)

It is impossible not to like this play about a sex strike to make men come to their senses and cease making war.

Continua la mia (ri)scoperta dei classici greci e latini. A questo giro ho preso, a caso, “Lisistrata” di Aristofane, in una edizione Feltrinelli. Leggendo l’introduzione, ho scoperto che si tratta di una traduzione recente (2020) che si prefigge più la recitabilità che l’aderenza filologica al greco. Questa scelta mi aveva incuriosito molto, però, una volta iniziato a leggere la traduzione, mi sembrava di sentir parlare delle giovani donne contemporanee. Attualizzare un testo non è un male, anzi. Spesso si rischia, però, di portare all’estremo l’operazione di svecchiamento.

Un’altra nota negativa è la scelta di utilizzare “grazie a Iddio” o “Vergine santissima” nelle esclamazioni. È una scelta fuorviante perché i greci erano politeisti e, al massimo, potevano invocare Zeus o Atena, visto che l’azione si svolge ad Atene. Non comprendo questa scelta.

Rileggerò l’opera in una traduzione più vecchia per confrontare le varie scelte traduttive.

One of the funniest plays I've ever read. At one point in time, humans did indeed have a sense of humor despite current evidence.

Honestly a banger and a lovely end to my Aristophanes for now. It's the play about being a girlboss I believe.

Helps to surrender all conceptions of sexual realism - that or just assume everybody was both completely irresistible and completely hormonal at the time.

I think Aristophanes is seen as quite a conservative figure, so it's curious he seems so sympathetic to Lysistrata herself in the court scene. One would consider that to be an irresistible moment for satire, but it's all handled quite reasonably, even If the thread metaphor is a little facetious.