UCLA SNF – Book Club: “Lysistrata” by Aristophanes
This conversation is presented by the UCLA SNF Center for the Study of Hellenic Culture and the Consulate General of Greece in Los Angeles
Saturday, November 9, 2024
10 a.m. Los Angeles / 8 p.m. Greece
Via Zoom
Led by Professor Sharon Gerstel, Director of the UCLA SNF Center for the Study of Hellenic Culture, and the Honorable Christina Valassopoulou, Consul General of Greece in Los Angeles, this academic year’s book club will feature Greek books in translation. For future book selections and meeting dates, click here.
The discussion will be held in English.
From the publisher: Aristophanes’ play, Lysistrata, takes place toward the end of the Peloponnesian War and centers on the lives of the soldiers’ wives. One woman, Lysistrata, under the impression that a man’s libido is ultimately his driving force in life, comes up with an interesting peace solution: to deny their husbands sexual relations until they can settle on a peace agreement that will end the war. However, Lysistrata’s strategy effectively creates even more war than before as the sexes begin to feud with each other. Aristophanes’ play is both comic and poignant as it reveals the relationship between men and women in classical Athens society.
This program is held under the auspices of the Consulate General of Greece in Los Angeles and is made possible thanks to the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).
