Customer Reviews

Lysistrata

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In his comic play, Lysistrata, Aristophanes provides a fantasy account of the Peloponnesian War between the Spartans and Athenians. The women of Greece, disheartened by all of the bloodshed and damage caused by the war attempt to take the matter into their own hands. Led by Lysistrata, the women of Sparta and Athens band together and institute a sex-strike which will continue until the men agree to a cease-fire. Henderson is very liberal with his translation, which stands in contrast to some of the pruder translations from the Victorian era and even ones from this century. The play is filled with graphic sexual innuendos, which were repressed in other editions, but are fully presented here to retain the original comic power of the play. The vernacular used is modern and uninhibited, and is not recommended for young audiences (University level minimum).

I think this is the best presentation of a Greek text, because there is a good introduction, a lot of help behind in the book, but no translation. So this is the ideal Lysistrata for students.