French Literature Reviews - 2026

Aristophanes: Lysistrata (Paperback)
Theatre and Performance

Aristophanes
Lysistrata

Translated from the Greek by Lætitia Bianchi and Raphaël Meltz

Arlea
Coll. "Retour aux grands textes"
Available in two formats: hardcover and paperback
2007,
Paperback:
ISBN: 2-86959-769-X
EAN: 9782869597693
110 p
€7.00

Overview (publisher's website):

While the famous slogan "Make love, not war" is a passionate plea for peace, it certainly lacks the power to end an actual war or the strength to convince armed soldiers on campaign.
In 411 BC, in Lysistrata, Aristophanes devised a much more effective rallying cry for women: "To stop the war, deny yourselves to your husbands." While Athens and Sparta are locked in conflict, Lysistrata, a brilliant and daring Athenian woman, persuades the women of all the Greek city-states to launch and sustain a total sex strike until the men come to their senses and lay down their arms.
In Lysistrata, Aristophanes brilliantly intertwines affairs of state with the most intimate details of daily life, resolving a grave political crisis through outrageous comedy while gleefully playing on every cliché of the battle of the sexes.
Today, Aristophanes is frequently dismissed as a vulgar author, and most translations of his comedies attempt to tone down his daring inventions and obscene puns—softening them, sometimes relegating them to footnotes, or even translating them into Latin to shield the reader.
This new translation restores the vibrant energy of a play whose sharp relevance and raw candor will astonish many contemporary readers.

Written during the prolonged hostilities between Athens and Sparta, ancient Greek comedy frequently engaged with contemporary civic anxieties through outrageous theatrical devices and structured fantasy. The tradition of Old Comedy, as practiced by Aristophanes, famously mingled political commentary, satirical allegory, and bodily humor, placing affairs of state directly alongside the intimate realities of domestic life. Readers interested in classical drama, ancient Athenian literature, or translation approaches for the theatrical canon may find this edition relevant.