Lysistrata Themes

Lysistrata gives us a front-row seat to the lives of women in Ancient Greece. Okay, maybe ladies didn't habitually go around hiding helmets under their tunics in order to fake pregnancy… but we s...

In terms of sheer word count, Lysistrata must have more references to sex than any other Ancient Greek play… though some of Aristophanes' other comedies definitely come close. This play is explod...

One of the most striking features about Lysistrata is the fact that the male characters are—almost without exception—portrayed as bumbling, incompetent fools, in contrast to the play's powerful...

The basic message of Lysistrata is that war is bad. Fair enough. But it goes into a bit more detail than that. One of the most important points the play makes is that women suffer in war just as mu...

Reading Lysistrata is kind of like peering in the windows of a middle-class Athenian home… except not creepy. We get all sorts of interesting tidbits from this play about home-life in Ancient Gre...

The Athens of Lysistrata was one of the most progressive cities of its time. As a democracy, it left political decision-making and government management up to the people… but the definition of "t...

On a basic level, Lysistrata is about a struggle for power. The men of the city want to hang on to the power they've got, and the women of the city (led by Lysistrata) want to increase their own po...

The no-nooky strike organized by Lysistrata is all about perseverance: not doin' it isn't easy, after all. The women's success is largely due to the perseverance of Lysistrata herself, who steadfas...