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How Does Aristophanes Use Sex In Lysistrata

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Aristophanes begins the first scene of Lysistrata with a bang by giving the reader a taste of what he or she should expect throughout the rest of the play. On page 24, Lysistrata speaks to Kleonike and several words are mentioned that imply alternate sexual meanings such as “teeny” “immense” “tense” “seconding motions” “kneading it, mulling it, filing it down” and “lies.” This clever word choice presents alternate meaning that can be closely associated with sex while carrying on an otherwise normal conversation about the meeting that is about to happen. This scene is also important because it presents all the women of Lysistrata as having sex at the forefronts of their minds, which is typically male stereotype. To Lysistrata,

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