Lysistrata

Lysistrata has planned a meeting between all women of Greece to discuss the plan to end the Peloponnesian War. As Lysistrata waits for the women of Sparta, Thebes and other areas to meet her she curses the weakness of women. She plans to as the women to refuse sex with their husbands until a treaty for peace has been signed. She also made plans with the older women of Athens to seize the Acropolis later that day. The women from the various regions finally assemble and she convinces them to swear an oath that they will with hold sex from their husbands until both sides sign a treaty of peace. As the women sacrifice a bottle o wine to the gods in celebration of their oath, they hear the sounds of the older women taking the Acropolis. The Chorus of Men plan to smoke the women out of Acropolis, but the women put out the fires using jugs of water. The Chorus of women is victorious in the contest between the choruses and triumphantly pours the jugs of water over the heads of the men. The Commissioner comes to Acropolis seeking funds for naval ships. To his surprise he finds the women at the Acropolis and he orders his policemen to arrest Lysistrata and the other women. In a humorous battle, that involves physical contact, the policemen are scared off by the threats of women to castrate them. The Commissioner takes the opportunity to tell the men of Athens that they have been to generous and allowed too much freedom with the women of the city. As the policemen run off, the Commissioner and Lysistrata are left to argue about the war. She argues that the war is a concern for women especially and she adds her two cents as to how the city should be run, drawing an elaborate analogy to show that Athens should be run be structures as women would spin wool. She tells the Commissioner that war is a concern for women because they have sacrificed greatly for it--women have given their husbands and their sons to the effort. She adds that it is now difficult for a woman to find a husband. The women mockingly dress the Commissioner as a woman.

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