How we cite our quotes: Line
Quote #7
First Wife: "I want to go home. I've got some Milesian woolens in the house, and the moths are chomping them all up."
Lysistrata: "Moths indeed! Get back inside."
First Wife: "By the Two Goddesses, I'll be right back; just let me spread them on the bed!"
Lysistrata: "Don't you spread anything, or go anywhere."
First Wife: "So I'm supposed to let my woolens be wasted?"
Lysistrata: "If that's what it takes."
Second Wife rushes from the Acropolis.
Second Wife: "Oh my god, my god, my flax! I forgot to shuck it when I left the house!"
Lysistrata: "Here's another one off to shuck her flax. March right back here."
Second Wife: "By our Lady of Light, I'll be back in a flash; just let me do a little shucking."
Lysistrata: "No! No shucking! If you start doing it, some other wife will want to do the same."(728-741)
Wait, where's the sex in this? We thought this was nothing more than a clean, family-friendly discussion from some housewives who want to go home and attend to some chores: you know, the chores of "spreading" and "shucking." Once again we see that the women of Lysistrata sure love sex, and the strike is every bit as hard on them (pun intended: we take our pun cues from Aristophanes) as it is on the men. Fortunately, they've got Lysistrata around to keep them in line—otherwise all hell would break loose. All we want to know is: how come Lysistrata is immune to the sex fever that seems to be affecting everyone else?
Quote #8
Myrrhine: "Lift up now, upsy daisy. There, is that everything?"
Cinesias: "Everything for sure. Now come here, my little treasure!"
Myrrhine: "I'm just getting my breastband off. But remember: don't break your promise about a peace settlement."
Cinesias: "So help me Zeus, I hope I die if I do!"
Myrrhine: "You don't have a blanket."
Cinesias: "It's not a blanket I want—I want a f***!"
Myrrhine: "Don't worry, that's just what you're going to get. I'll be back in a flash."
Cinesias: "That woman will drive me nuts with all her bedding!"
Myrrhine (returning with a blanket): "Get up."
Cinesias: "I've already got it up!" (929-937)
So close and yet so far! Here, Cinesias thinks he is finally about to get some relief from the painful swelling that has been tormenting him. The problem is, Myrrhine, his wife, is only leading him on; for all her seductive behavior, she has no intention of actually sleeping with him. (Not right now, at least.) These lines of dialogue show Lysistrata's plan in action (make that, inaction), and the pain and frustration it causes to the men of Athens.
Quote #9
Cinesias: "Ah, what shall I do? Whom shall I screw,
cheated of the loveliest of them all!
How will I raise and rear this orphaned cock?
Is Fox Dog out there anywhere?
Lease me a nursemaid!"
Men's Leader: "Yes, frightful agony, you wretch,
does rack the soul of one so sore bediddled.
Sure I do feel for you, alas!
What kidney could bear it,
what soul, what balls,
what loins, what crotch,
thus stretched on the rack
and never getting a morning f***!"
Cinesias: "Ah Zeus! The cramps attack anew!" (954-967)
These lines give us a bit more of the men's perspective on the goings-on in Athens. As you can see, they are seriously ticked off, and are desperate for some relief. For example, Fox Dog was the name of a notorious pimp of Aristophanes' day, and the nursemaid that Cinesias thinks he can "lease" is, in fact, a hooker. Is it any surprise that, for that all the Magistrate's talk earlier about how women are eager to commit infidelity, we now learn that men are interested in sleeping around as well? In fairness, we never actually see Cinesias stray from the bonds of matrimony—but that might just be because the peace treaty gets concluded before his "cramps" become too excruciating.