eBook - ePub
Lysistrata
Aristophanes
This is a test
Share book
- 50 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
Lysistrata
Aristophanes
Book details
Book preview
Table of contents
Citations
About This Book
When the Peloponnesian War goes on too long, the women of Athens, led by the beautiful Lysistrata, take matters into their own hands, withholding their passion as a way to force their men to negotiate a peace treaty. But the women's vow to deny their husbands and lovers does little to force peace, and instead ignites a battle between the sexes.
Aristophanes' Lysistrata was first performed in 411 B.C., and was one of the first comedies to explore sexual dynamics between men and women. The play continues to be performed in modern times.
HarperTorch brings great works of non-fiction and the dramatic arts to life in digital format, upholding the highest standards in ebook production and celebrating reading in all its forms. Look for more titles in the HarperTorch collection to build your digital library.
Frequently asked questions
How do I cancel my subscription?
Can/how do I download books?
At the moment all of our mobile-responsive ePub books are available to download via the app. Most of our PDFs are also available to download and we're working on making the final remaining ones downloadable now. Learn more here.
What is the difference between the pricing plans?
Both plans give you full access to the library and all of Perlegoās features. The only differences are the price and subscription period: With the annual plan youāll save around 30% compared to 12 months on the monthly plan.
What is Perlego?
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, weāve got you covered! Learn more here.
Do you support text-to-speech?
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.
Is Lysistrata an online PDF/ePUB?
Yes, you can access Lysistrata by Aristophanes in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Literature & Ancient & Classical Drama. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Scene II
[STRATYLLUS, CHORUS OF OLD MEN, and CHORUS OF OLD WOMEN.]
STRATYLLUS
Cease ho!āwhat tumultās this, O wicked wretches?
For good and pious men had neāer thus acted.
CHORUS OF OLD MEN
This deed comes unexpected to our sight.
The female swarm is aiding at the doors.
CHORUS OF OLD WOMEN
Why fear ye us?āthink you that we are many?
And yet ye see not our ten thousandth part.
CHORUS OF OLD MEN
O Phaedria, shall we suffer them to prate so?
Must not one beat them till he break his staff?
CHORUS OF OLD WOMEN
Let us, too, place our pitchers on the ground.
That if a man against us lift his hand
These may be no impediment.
CHORUS OF OLD MEN
By Jove,
Had any one struck their jaws twice or thrice,
Like Bupalusā, they would have had no voice. [20]
CHORUS OF OLD WOMEN
Lo, here I standālet any one assault me,
Iāll show myself such that no other dog
Can ever seize you.
CHORUS OF OLD MEN
If you wonāt be silent.
In killing you Iāll pound my age to grains.
CHORUS OF OLD WOMEN
Come, and but touch Stratyllis with a finger.
CHORUS OF OLD MEN
And what if I should maul her with my fists?
What dreadful evil wilt thou do to me?
CHORUS OF OLD WOMEN
Iāll bite thy lungs, and tear thine entrails out.
CHORUS OF OLD MEN
There is no poet than Euripides
More wise, for thereās no animal so shameless
As woman.
CHORUS OF OLD WOMEN
Let us, O Rhodippe, take
Our water pitcher.
CHORUS OF OLD MEN
But on what account,
O hated by the gods, art thou come hither.
Bearing the water?
CHORUS OF OLD WOMEN
And why thou the fire,
O neighbour to the tomb, [21] as if about
Tā ignite thyself?
CHORUS OF OLD MEN
I, having rearād a pile,
Would set thy friends on fire.
CHORUS OF OLD WOMEN
And I would quench
Thy flame with this.
CHORUS OF OLD MEN
Wilt thou my fire extinguish?
CHORUS OF OLD WOMEN
The deed will quickly show you this.
CHORUS OF OLD MEN
I know not
Whether to burn them with this lamp I hold.
CHORUS OF OLD WOMEN
If thou by chance art filthy, I will give
A bath.
CHORUS OF OLD MEN
To me a bath, O dirty wretch?
CHORUS OF OLD WOMEN
And that a nuptial one.
CHORUS OF OLD MEN
Hear you her boldness?
CHORUS OF OLD WOMEN
It is that I am free.
CHORUS OF OLD MEN
I will restrain
Thy present noise.
CHORUS OF OLD WOMEN
But thou wilt be no more
A Heliastic judge.
CHORUS OF OLD MEN
Ignite her hair.
CHORUS OF OLD WOMEN
O Achelous, do thy work.
CHORUS OF OLD MEN
O me
Unhappy!
CHORUS OF OLD WOMEN
Was it warm?
CHORUS OF OLD MEN
How, warm? wilt thou
Not cease? what art thou doing?
CHORUS OF OLD WOMEN
Watering thee,
That thou mayāst spring again.
CHORUS OF OLD MEN
But I am now
All dry and trembling.
CHORUS OF OLD WOMEN
Then, since thou hast fire,
It will be in thy power to warm thyself.
[Enter a MAGISTRATE.]
MAGISTRATE
Hath then the womenās wantonness shone outā
Frequent drum-beatings and Sabazian rites; [22]
And on the roofs this weeping for Adonis,
Which I so late in the assembly heard?
Demostratus [23] (ill-fated may he perish!)
Advisād the armament āgainst Sicily;
But his wife, dancing, criesāāAh! for Adonis!ā
Demostratus advisād us to enrol
The heavy-armād Zacynthian [24] soldiery;
But his inebriate wife upon the roof
ToId them to beat their bosoms for Adonis;
While the godās hate, that wretch Cholozyges,
Was forcād to raise his voice to a high strain,
So loud and so indecent were their songs.
CHORUS OF OLD MEN
And what, if you should hear their insolence?
Who with their tongues revile, and from their pitchers
Bathe us with such a stream, that we may shake
Our reeking clothes, as if weād wet ourselves.
MAGISTRATE
I swear, by Neptune, the marine, ātis just: [25]
For when ourselves in evil courses join
With women, and in luxury instruct them,
Counsels like these spring from themāthen we speak
After this fashion in the workmenās shopsā
āGoldsmith, that necklace, which thou hast preparād.
As my wife frolickād in the evening dance.
An acorn from its setting fellāfor me,
I am obliged to sail for Salamis;
But, if thou art at leisure, by all means
At even come to her and reset the nut.ā
Another to a shoemaker will say,
Whose youth with more than boyish vigour glowsā
āO shoemaker, my wifeās shoe-latchet pinches
Her little toe, it is so delicateā
Then come thou at mid-day and loosen it,
That it may fit more widely.ā Such result
Have I encounterād from these accidents.
I being then a senator, whose care
Is to supply the rowers with provision; [26]
Now, when there is necessity for money,
Am by the women shut out from the gates.
But thereās no profit in this standing stillā
Bring bars, that I may curb their insolence.
Why gapest thou, O wretch? engagād in nought,
But, turning toward the liquor-shop thine eyes?
Will y...