Lysistrata - by Aristophanes

In order to put an end to war Lysistrata hits on a startling way of forcing husbands to stay home and become pacifists: deny them sex !

I hit on a way to stop the war: forgo sex !

Society in classical Greek times is known to have been patriarchal and misogynistic (hatred of women), segregating females from public life and confinig them to soldier-raising and housework tasks. Nonetheless, Aristophanes comes again with a satirical and absurd masterpiece that reconciles women, making them intelligent schemers of a worldwide plot to bring war to an end.

Just to gain a little comprehension of the time and setting needed to fully understand the poem I must point out that this play was written in 411 BC, which situates it in the center of The Peloponessian War (431 BC to 404 BC) with Athens and Sparta fighting for supremacy in the Greek mainland.

The story

While men are away in battle, Lysistrata - an average Athenian wife - gathers women from all over the Peloponnese to share her stratagem against male and their endless desire to battle.

- The salvation of our State rests with us (...)

- If all us women united en masse - Beotians, Spartans, and us - we all together could save Greece (...)

And here comes the brilliantly unexpected slant, funny enough to make the reader think:

- Precisely that's what we're going to need to save Greece: a seductive wardrobe, our rouge, our negligees (...) to stop every living man (...) from ever lifting a shield or (...) springing a dagger (...)

- What we are going to have to forgo is ... penis (...)

- (...) Imagine it: us lolling around all tarted up, our pussies' sweet little triangles neatly plucked, and we float past them in our see-throughs, and our men get stiff as rods and want to screw, but we elude them and hold ourselves aloof - why, they'll sue for peace real quick. That you can bet.

Women realize they can gain total control of men through sex; or in this case ... through the absence of it. Now take a look at the sexual, entertaining and hysterical oath women do:

- No man whatsoever, whether husband or lover shall (...) come near me with a rampant cock. (...) I'll live at home in continence unrutting (...) all tarted up in my saffron frock (...) so that my husband is bursting to erupt (...) while I stay aloof and adamant (...).

- Set him on fire with pangs of desire. Tantalize him to the hilt (...) Promise him his every want except what on the wine cup we swore we wouldn't.

By now you might have guessed the end of the story: because of the boycott of sex by the women of both Athens and Sparta men start to show signs of priapism (painful and persistent erection of the penis). They have no way out but to submit to women's will and sign peace with each other.

- Now that everything's worked out so well its time you Spartans got back your wives, and you Athenians yours. So, my dears, let each husband stand beside his woman while each wife stands beside her husband. And let us celebrate this happy bond and thank the gods with dance. And let us swear never to make the same mistakes again and be so dense (...).