410 BC

LYSISTRATA
by Aristophanes

anonymous translator
CHARACTERS IN THE PLAY

LYSISTRATA
CLEONICE

MYRRHINE
LAMPITO

MAGISTRATES
CINESIAS

CHILD OF CINESIAS
HERALD OF THE LACEDAEMONIANS

ENVOYS OF THE LACEDAEMONIANS
AN ATHENIAN CITIZEN

CHORUS OF OLD MEN
CHORUS OF WOMEN

LYSISTRATA
LYSISTRATA

(SCENE:-At the base of the Orchestra are two buildings, the house
of LYSISTRATA and the entrance to the Acropolis; a winding and

narrow path leads up to the latter. Between the two buildings is the
opening of the Cave of Pan. LYSISTRATA is pacing up and down in

front of her house.)
LYSISTRATA

Ah! if only they had been invited to a Bacchic revelling, or a
feast of Pan or Aphrodite or Genetyllis, why! the streets would have

been impassable for the thronging tambourines! Now there's never a
woman here-ah! except my neighbour Cleonice, whom I see approaching

yonder.... Good day, Cleonice.
CLEONICE

Good day, Lysistrata; but pray, why this dark, forbidding face, my
dear? Believe me, you don't look a bit pretty with those black

lowering brows.
LYSISTRATA

Oh, Cleonice, my heart is on fire; I blush for our sex. Men will
have it we are tricky and sly....

CLEONICE
And they are quite right, upon my word!

LYSISTRATA
Yet, look you, when the women are summoned to meet for a matter of

the greatest importance, they lie in bed instead of coming.
CLEONICE

Oh! they will come, my dear; but it's not easy, you know, for
women to leave the house. One is busy pottering about her husband;

another is getting the servant up; a third is putting her child asleep
or washing the brat or feeding it.

LYSISTRATA
But I tell you, the business that calls them here is far and

away more urgent.
CLEONICE

And why do you summon us, dear Lysistrata? What is it all about?
LYSISTRATA

About a big thing.
CLEONICE (taking this in a different sense; with great interest)

And is it thick too?
LYSISTRATA

Yes, very thick.
CLEONICE

And we are not all on the spot! Imagine!
LYSISTRATA (wearily)

Oh! if it were what you suppose, there would be never an absentee.
No, no, it concerns a thing I have turned about and about this way and

that so many sleepless nights.
CLEONICE (still unable to be serious)

It must be something mighty fine and subtle for you to have turned
it about so!

LYSISTRATA
So fine, it means just this, Greece saved by the women!

CLEONICE
By the women! Why, its salvation hangs on a poor thread then!

LYSISTRATA
Our country's fortunes depend on us-it is with us to undo

utterly the Peloponnesians.
CLEONICE

That would be a noble deed truly!
LYSISTRATA

To exterminate the Boeotians to a man!
CLEONICE

But surely you would spare the eels.
LYSISTRATA

For Athens' sake I will never threaten so fell a doom; trust me
for that. However, if the Boeotian and Peloponnesian women join us,

Greece is saved.
CLEONICE

But how should women perform so wise and glorious an
achievement, we women who dwell in the retirement of the household,

clad in diaphanous garments of yellow silk and long flowing gowns,
decked out with flowers and shod with dainty little slippers?

LYSISTRATA
Ah, but those are the very sheet-anchors of our salvation-those

yellow tunics, those scents and slippers, those cosmetics and
transparent robes.

CLEONICE
How so, pray?

LYSISTRATA
There is not a man will wield a lance against another...

CLEONICE
Quick, I will get me a yellow tunic from the dyer's.

LYSISTRATA
...or want a shield.

CLEONICE
I'll run and put on a flowing gown.

LYSISTRATA
...or draw a sword.

CLEONICE
I'll haste and buy a pair of slippers this instant.

LYSISTRATA
Now tell me, would not the women have done best to come?

CLEONICE
Why, they should have flown here!

LYSISTRATA
Ah! my dear, you'll see that like true Athenians, they will do

everything too late.... Why, there's not a woman come from the
shore, not one from Salamis.

CLEONICE
But I know for certain they embarked at daybreak.

LYSISTRATA
And the dames from Acharnae! why, I thought they would have been

the very first to arrive.
CLEONICE

Theagenes' wife at any rate is sure to come; she has actually been
to consult Hecate.... But look! here are some arrivals-and there are

more behind. Ah! ha! now what countrywomen may they be?
LYSISTRATA

They are from Anagyra.
CLEONICE

Yes! upon my word, 'tis a levy en masse of all the female
population of Anagyra!

(MYRRHINE enters, followed by other women.)
MYRRHINE

Are we late, Lysistrata? Tell us, pray; what, not a word?
LYSISTRATA

I cannot say much for you, Myrrhine! you have not bestirred
yourself overmuch for an affair of such urgency.

MYRRHINE
I could not find my girdle in the dark. However, if the matter

is so pressing, here we are; so speak.
CLEONICE

No, let's wait a moment more, till the women of Boeotia arrive and
those from the Peloponnese.

LYSISTRATA
Yes, that is best.... Ah! here comes Lampito. (LAMPITO, a husky

Spartan damsel, enters with three others, two from Boeotia and one
from Corinth.) Good day, Lampito, dear friend from Lacedaemon. How

well and handsome you look! what a rosy complexion! and how strong you
seem; why, you could strangle a bull surely!

LAMPITO
Yes, indeed, I really think I could. It's because I do

gymnastics and practise the bottom-kicking dance.
CLEONICE (opening LAMPITO'S robe and baring her bosom)

And what superb breasts!
LAMPITO

La! you are feeling me as if I were a beast for sacrifice.
LYSISTRATA

And this young woman, where is she from?
LAMPITO

She is a noble lady from Boeotia.
LYSISTRATA

Ah! my pretty Boeotian friend, you are as blooming as a garden.
CLEONICE (making another inspection)

Yes, on my word! and her "garden" is so thoroughly weeded too!
LYSISTRATA (pointing to the Corinthian)

And who is this?
LAMPITO

'Tis an honest woman, by my faith! she comes from Corinth.
CLEONICE

Oh! honest, no doubt then-as honesty goes at Corinth.
LAMPITO

But who has called together this council of women, pray?
LYSISTRATA

I have.
LAMPITO

Well then, tell us what you want of us.
CLEONICE

Yes, please tell us! What is this very important business you wish
to inform us about?

LYSISTRATA
I will tell you. But first answer me one question.

CLEONICE
Anything you wish.

LYSISTRATA
Don't you feel sad and sorry because the fathers of your

children are far away from you with the army? For I'll wager there
is not one of you whose husband is not abroad at this moment.

CLEONICE
Mine has been the last five months in Thrace-looking after

Eucrates.
MYRRHINE

It's seven long months since mine left for Pylos.
LAMPITO

As for mine, if he ever does return from service, he's no sooner
home than he takes down his shield again and flies back to the wars.

LYSISTRATA
And not so much as the shadow of a lover! Since the day the

Milesians betrayed us, I have never once seen an eight-inch gadget
even, to be a leathern consolation to us poor widows.... Now tell

me, if I have discovered a means of ending the war, will you all
second me?

CLEONICE
Yes verily, by all the goddesses, I swear I will, though I have to

• unable [ʌn´eibəl] a.不能的；无能为力的 (初中英语单词)
• greece [gri:s] n.希腊 (初中英语单词)
• threaten [´θretn] v.恐吓；有....的危险 (初中英语单词)
• glorious [´glɔ:riəs] a.光荣的；辉煌的 (初中英语单词)
• actually [´æktʃuəli] ad.事实上；实际上 (初中英语单词)
• consult [kən´sʌlt] v.商量；磋商；请教 (初中英语单词)
• damsel [´dæmzəl] n.姑娘，未婚少女 (初中英语单词)
• practise [´præktis] v.实践(行，施)；提倡 (初中英语单词)
• thoroughly [´θʌrəli] ad.完全地，彻底地 (初中英语单词)
• abroad [ə´brɔ:d] ad.海外；到处；广泛 (初中英语单词)
• shield [ʃi:ld] n.盾牌；防御 v.保护 (初中英语单词)
• orchestra [´ɔ:kistrə] n.管弦乐队 (高中英语单词)
• summon [´sʌmən] vt.召集；号召 (高中英语单词)
• mighty [´maiti] a.强有力的 ad.很 (高中英语单词)
• salvation [sæl´veiʃən] n.救助；拯救 (高中英语单词)
• dainty [´deinti] a.秀丽的 n.美味 (高中英语单词)
• girdle [´gə:dl] n.腰带 vt.用带束(缠) (高中英语单词)
• honesty [´ɔnisti] n.诚实，老实 (高中英语单词)
• ending [´endiŋ] n.结尾，结局 (高中英语单词)
• retirement [ri´taiəmənt] n.退休；撤退；幽静处 (英语四级单词)
• superb [su:´pə:b, sju:-] a.宏伟的；极好的 (英语四级单词)
• blooming [´blu:miŋ] a.正开花的；妙龄的 (英语四级单词)
• consolation [,kɔnsə´leiʃən] n.安慰，慰问 (英语四级单词)
• verily [´verili] ad.真实的；肯定地 (英语四级单词)
• athenian [ə´θi:njən] a.雅典(人)的n.雅典人 (英语六级单词)
• sleepless [´sli:pləs] a.失眠的；寂静的 (英语六级单词)