Lysistrata by Aristophanes | Characters

Aristophanes’s Lysistrata explained with scene summaries in just a few minutes! Course Hero Literature Instructor Russell Jaffe explains the main characters in Aristophanes’s play Lysistrata. Download the free study guide and infographic for Lysistrata here: In Aristophanes’s classic play Lysistrata, the heroine of the title leads the women of the warring Athens and Sparta in a sex strike, hoping to persuade their husbands to sue for peace. Though the effect is comic, with the stymied men of Greece ultimately caving to the demands of their wives, the action reflects a more sober reality. The Peloponnesian War was a savage, three decade conflict between two factions of Greek city-states vying for dominance of the region. Written in the latter half of the conflict, the play’s comic relief would have been especially welcome in the playwright’s home of Athens, which ultimately lost the conflict. Greek comedic and satirical writer Aristophanes created Lysistra