It’s the year 411 BCE. Athens and Sparta are at war. And Aristophanes (above) is at his laptop and on deadline. His comedy, “Lysistrata” is opening tonight on Broadway and managers at the Theatre of Dionysus on 44th Street are demanding script changes.
(It’s well known that Ari used a Lenovo laptop and not a Macbook because he didn’t need the graphic capability.)
Anyway, the upshot is Lysistrata gets the women of both sides together and persuades them to refuse sex to men who won’t negotiate peace. Other women (singles, mostly) take over the Athenian treasuries. No money, no war.
On the Saturday following the inauguration of the current President, a gazillion women and some men gathered in Washington and dozens of other places to show their displeasure with the president’s views and even more so with his means of presenting them as well as his attitude toward women.
There’s a lot of power in that. And it leads to a course of action that Lysistrata would approve.
So, ladies, here’s the plan. Make Bobby sleep on the couch until he sees things your way. Stand by your man. But not too close.
Back to the play. A bunch of geezer men show up at the gates to the Acropolis… where the money is. They try to force open the gates. But just as they’re hobbling into action along comes a bunch of geezer women who throw water on the plans. Literally. They soak the men.
Then the courts get involved. The judges are angry with the men for not being able to control the women.
Further there were ancient Greek women who felt they must yield to their husbands. If forced, Lysistrata preached that the woman should do a lousy job of it, leaving their husbands either unsatisfied or otherwise troubled.
Lysistrata was single. But that didn’t mean she was celibate.
The war between the city states had raged for more than 20 years. The current war has gone on much longer. And today’s men are not the brave guys who lived in and fought for Athens all those centuries ago.
Betty Friedan and company could have learned a few from this tough lady.
In the so-called Great Democracies of ancient Greece, women did not have the right to vote. You do now.
So, what are you waiting for?
TODAY’S QUOTE:
--“Facts and the truth are not partisan. They are the bedrock of our democracy. And you are either with them, with us, with our Constitution, our history, and the future of our nation, or you are against it. Everyone must answer that question.” --Dan Rather on Facebook.
NON-ALTERNATIVE FACTS:
-The new temporary chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Ajit Pai, opposes current net neutrality which if erased will put this and many other sites into the horse and buggy lane while all the corporate sites will buy their way onto the express.
I’m Wes Richards. My opinions are my own but you’re welcome to them. ®
Please address comments to wesrichards@gmail.com
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