Lysistrata

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. Think about what you know about the Peloponnesian War. Between whom was the war fought? When was it fought? Why was it fought? Situate the war within the larger context of ancient Greek history. Why was this war so important?

Teaching Suggestion: The Peloponnesian War began in 431 BCE, as the two most powerful city-states, Athens and Sparta, escalated their competition for power and influence into armed conflict. At the time of The Peloponnesian War’s start, Greek culture was experiencing a golden age, but by its conclusion, the stage was set for the conquest of the Greek world by Alexander the Great. This war was the subject of one of the most important ancient Greek historical works, Thucydides’s History of the Peloponnesian War.

• This entry on Pericles from History.com explains Athenian dominance during the “golden age” of Greek culture, which came to an end with the Peloponnesian Wars.  
• This article contains a helpful timeline of the Peloponnesian War and the events leading up to it.

2. What is comedy? What do you know about ancient or classical comedy? What distinguishes classical comedy (such as the comedies of Aristophanes or Plautus) from classical tragedy?

Teaching Suggestion: In ancient Greece, comedy was a type of dramatic performance characterized by humor, including ribald and topical jokes and political satire. The plays of Aristophanes are the only surviving examples of Greek “Old Comedy,” the term used for the exuberant satirical plays of the fifth century BCE. This period also saw the development of another type of dramatic performance, tragedy, which differed from comedy in its reliance on more serious, mythical subjects. The most important classical tragedians are Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides.

• This introduction to Steve Martin’s MasterClass course on comedy introduces many of the basic principles of comedy.
• This brief article discusses ancient Greek theater and its connection to civic and religious events.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the text.

Reflect on some wars from modern history. Why were these wars fought? How have these wars impacted local and global communities? What might it be like to live through a war today?

Teaching Suggestion: Some recent wars to compare include the Afghanistan War, the Gulf War, the Israel-Palestine Conflict, and Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. If students struggle to come up with ideas, you may wish to share some photographs from the 2023 Israel-Palestine conflict by NPR photographers. (Warning: some images are graphic.) For aural learners, consider reading “We Lived Happily During the War” by Ilya Kaminsky out loud and ask students about the conflicted feelings of the speaker.