Lysistrata
by Aristophanes · Λυσιστράτη
Assigned by 2 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 411 BCE
- Form
- Comedy
- Language
- Greek
- Length
- Short · 80 ppunder 120 pages
- Difficulty
- Moderate2 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendLysistrata and Other Plays, translated by Alan H. SommersteinPenguin Classics, 2002Frank, accurate and funny; the volume also has The Acharnians and The Clouds.
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In the twentieth year of the war with Sparta, the Athenian woman Lysistrata gathers the wives of Greece and persuades them to refuse sex with their husbands until the men make peace. The older women seize the Acropolis and the treasury. A magistrate who comes to reclaim it is dressed up as a woman and sent away. The strike holds despite desertions, the men of both sides arrive in visible distress, and Lysistrata brokers a treaty over the body of a naked girl called Reconciliation.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns Lysistrata are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
