{"id":3903,"date":"2022-03-08T20:56:34","date_gmt":"2022-03-08T20:56:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/greek\/?p=3903"},"modified":"2022-03-08T20:56:34","modified_gmt":"2022-03-08T20:56:34","slug":"the-story-of-lysistrata","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/greek\/the-story-of-lysistrata\/","title":{"rendered":"The Story of Lysistrata"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today <\/span>in Greece<\/span> we celebrate <\/span>\u03c4\u03b7\u03bd \u0397\u03bc\u03ad\u03c1\u03b1 \u03c4\u03b7\u03c2 \u0393\u03c5\u03bd\u03b1\u03af\u03ba\u03b1\u03c2 <\/b><\/span>(<\/span>International Women’s Day <\/em>). However, the general mood is not festive, as the present war creates an atmosphere of uncertainty and fear. This is probably the right time to talk about \u03c4\u03b7\u03c2 \u03b9\u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03c1\u03af\u03b1 \u03c4\u03b7\u03c2 \u039b\u03c5\u03c3\u03b9\u03c3\u03c4\u03c1\u03ac\u03c4\u03b7\u03c2 <\/b>(the story of Lysistrata<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Photo by Uta Scholl<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Aristophanes was the most important <\/span>\u03ba\u03c9\u03bc\u03b9\u03ba\u03cc\u03c2 \u03c0\u03bf\u03b9\u03b7\u03c4\u03ae\u03c2 <\/b><\/span>(<\/span>comed<\/span><\/em>y writer<\/em>)<\/span> \u03c3\u03c4\u03b7\u03bd \u0391\u03c1\u03c7\u03b1\u03af\u03b1 \u0395\u03bb\u03bb\u03ac\u03b4\u03b1<\/b><\/span>. <\/span> He was born in Athens, around 446 BC, at the time when the construction of <\/span>\u03a0\u03b1\u03c1\u03b8\u03b5\u03bd\u03ce\u03bd\u03b1\u03c2<\/b><\/span> (<\/span>the Parthenon<\/span><\/em>)<\/span> began, in <\/span>the area which is known today as <\/span>\u03a0\u03bb\u03ac\u03ba\u03b1<\/b><\/span> (Plaka<\/em>)<\/span>. <\/span>\u0395\u03af\u03c7\u03b5 \u03b1\u03c1\u03b9\u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03ba\u03c1\u03b1\u03c4\u03b9\u03ba\u03ae \u03ba\u03b1\u03c4\u03b1\u03b3\u03c9\u03b3\u03ae<\/b><\/span> (he was an aristocrat, literally: he was of aristocratic origin<\/em>) <\/span>, criticized the Democrats and defended <\/span>\u03b5\u03b9\u03c1\u03ae\u03bd\u03b7<\/b><\/span> (peace<\/em>)<\/span>. He was interested in the prosperity of the Athenians and in his <\/span>comedies<\/span> he refers to the economic and social problems that afflicted Athens at that time. <\/span>O \u03a0\u03bb\u03ac\u03c4\u03c9\u03bd\u03b1\u03c2<\/b><\/span> \u03c4\u03bf\u03bd \u03b5\u03ba\u03c4\u03b9\u03bc\u03bf\u03cd\u03c3\u03b5 \u03c0\u03bf\u03bb\u03cd <\/b><\/span>(Plato had a very high opinion of<\/em> him<\/em>)<\/span>. He wrote over <\/span>forty<\/span> comedies, <\/span>eleven<\/span> of which <\/span>survive. <\/span>Nine <\/span>of them were written during the <\/span>\u03a0\u03b5\u03bb\u03bf\u03c0\u03bf\u03bd\u03bd\u03b7\u03c3\u03b9\u03b1\u03ba\u03cc<\/b><\/span> \u03a0\u03cc\u03bb\u03b5\u03bc\u03bf<\/b><\/span> (<\/span>Peloponnesian War<\/span><\/em>)<\/span> (431-404 BC). <\/span><\/p>\n

One of his most famous works is <\/span>\u039b\u03c5\u03c3\u03b9\u03c3\u03c4\u03c1\u03ac\u03c4\u03b7<\/b><\/span> (<\/span>Lysistrata<\/em><\/span>) <\/span>which was written around 411 BC. The play takes place in ancient Athens during the Peloponnesian War. Lysistrata secretly persuade<\/span>d <\/span>the women <\/span>in <\/span> Athens <\/span>and <\/span>also women from other cities, to <\/span>practice <\/span>\u03c3\u03b5\u03be\u03bf\u03c5\u03b1\u03bb\u03b9\u03ba\u03ae \u03b1\u03c0\u03bf\u03c7\u03ae <\/b><\/span>(sexual abstinence<\/em>) <\/span>in <\/span>order to punish their husbands who started the war <\/span>. <\/span>The women<\/span> d<\/span>id <\/span> not agree but <\/span>after<\/span> the Spartan <\/span>\u039b\u03b1\u03bc\u03c0\u03b9\u03c4\u03ce<\/b><\/span> (<\/span>Lampito<\/span><\/em>)<\/span> was<\/span> convinced, <\/span>\u03ad<\/b><\/span>\u03b2\u03b1\u03bb\u03b1\u03bd \u03c4\u03bf \u03c3\u03c7\u03ad\u03b4\u03b9\u03cc \u03c4\u03bf\u03c5\u03c2<\/b><\/span> \u03c3\u03b5 \u03b5\u03c6\u03b1\u03c1\u03bc\u03bf\u03b3\u03ae<\/b><\/span> (<\/span>the<\/span><\/em>y followed their plan<\/em>)<\/span>. <\/span>First, they occupied <\/span>\u0391\u03ba\u03c1\u03cc\u03c0\u03bf\u03bb\u03b7<\/b><\/span> (Acropolis) and then they started the abstinence. <\/span>The <\/span>men <\/span>attacked the women but did not succeed to end the abstinence. Finally, with the help of<\/span> a young and pretty woman, named \u0394\u03b9\u03b1\u03bb\u03bb\u03b1\u03b3\u03ae<\/strong> (Reconciliation<\/em>), <\/span>the war came to an end and the women organized <\/span>\u03ad\u03bd\u03b1 \u03c3\u03c5\u03bc\u03c0\u03cc\u03c3\u03b9\u03bf <\/b><\/span>(banquet). <\/span>This comedy is not only about peace but also about the conjugal love. <\/span><\/p>\n

The elements of \u03c0\u03b1\u03c1\u03c9\u03b4\u03af\u03b1<\/strong> (parody<\/em>) \u03ba\u03b1\u03b9 \u03c3\u03ac\u03c4\u03b9\u03c1\u03b1<\/strong> (satire<\/em>) are present in all Aristophanes\u2019 comedies. Sometimes, they are expressed in <\/span>\u03c5\u03c0\u03b5\u03c1\u03b2\u03bf\u03bb\u03b9\u03ba\u03cc \u03c4\u03c1\u03cc\u03c0\u03bf <\/b><\/span>(extravagant way<\/em>) and some others in a restrained way but through these elements <\/span>\u03c4\u03bf \u03ba\u03bf\u03b9\u03bd\u03cc \u03b5\u03c0\u03b9\u03ba\u03bf\u03b9\u03bd\u03c9\u03bd\u03b5\u03af \u03bc\u03b5 \u03c4\u03bf\u03c5\u03c2 \u03b7\u03b8\u03bf\u03c0\u03bf\u03b9\u03bf\u03cd\u03c2<\/b><\/span> (the audience communicate with the actors<\/em>).<\/span><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, we don\u2019t know what the aftermath of the \u201cmodern\u201d war will be. <\/span>Let\u2019s hope that it will end soon. <\/span><\/p>\n

If you are interested in Ancient Greece, you can read about the Parthenon here<\/a>. You can also check this<\/a> and this<\/a>.<\/p>\n