Monday, March 2, 2009

First Thoughts On Lysistrata

Lysistrata is indeed full of crude sexual humor. I believe it is very well translated by Sarah Ruden. She does a good job of making as many jokes as possible, funny to a modern audience. I found the play extremely funny, enjoyable and quick read.

One of my favorite characters from this story is the choruses of old men and women. Today in class we were talking about how today we look to "shelter" older people instead of them sheltering us, but that definitely doesn't apply here. The old members of the story are as crude as their younger counterparts. They mostly argue with other and don't hold back on the insults. At one point the chorus of women says "Fine. Try it. Here's a cheek for you to smack. And then I'll tear your balls off like a bitch." By the end they have resolved their differences and have become one united chorus, but their arguments are definitely a constant source of enjoyment throughout the play.

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