1 Λυ.Ἀλλ' εἴ τις εἰς Βακχεῖον αὐτὰς ἐκάλεσεν,

ἢ 'ς Πανὸς ἢ 'πὶ Κωλιάδ' εἰς Γενετυλλίδος,

οὐδ' ἂν διελθεῖν ἦν ἂν ὑπὸ τῶν τυμπάνων.

Νῦν δ' οὐδεμία πάρεστιν ἐνταυθοῖ γυνή·

5 πλὴν ἥ γ' ἐμὴ κωμῆτις ἥδ' ἐξέρχεται.

Χαῖρ', ὦ Κλεονίκη.

Lysistrata(alone) Ah! if only they had been invited to a Bacchic revelling, or a feast of Pan or Aphrodité or Genetyllis, why! the streets would have been impassable for the thronging tambourines! Now there's never a woman here-ah! except my neighbour Calonicé, whom I see approaching yonder.... Good day, Calonicé.

Τί συντετάραξαι; Μὴ σκυθρώπαζ', ὦ τέκνον·

οὐ γὰρ πρέπει σοι τοξοποιεῖν τὰς ὀφρῦς.

CalonicéGood day, Lysistrata; but pray, why this dark, forbidding face, my dear? Believe me, you don't look a bit pretty with those black lowering brows.

Λυ.Ἀλλ', ὦ Κλεονίκη, κάομαι τὴν καρδίαν,

10 καὶ πόλλ' ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν τῶν γυναικῶν ἄχθομαι,

ὁτιὴ παρὰ μὲν τοῖς ἀνδράσιν νενομίσμεθα

εἶναι πανοῦργοι—

LysistrataOh! Calonicé, my heart is on fire; I blush for our sex. Men will have it we are tricky and sly....

CalonicéAnd they are quite right, upon my word!

Λυ.εἰρημένον δ' αὐταῖς ἀπαντᾶν ἐνθάδε

βουλευσομέναισιν οὐ περὶ φαύλου πράγματος,

15 εὕδουσι κοὐχ ἥκουσιν.

LysistrataYet, look you, when the women are summoned to meet for a matter of the last importance, they lie abed instead of coming.

ἥξουσι· χαλεπή τοι γυναικῶν ἔξοδος.

Ἡ μὲν γὰρ ἡμῶν περὶ τὸν ἄνδρ' ἐκύπτασεν,

ἡ δ' οἰκέτην ἤγειρεν, ἡ δὲ παιδίον

κατέκλινεν, ἡ δ' ἔλουσεν, ἡ δ' ἐψώμισεν.

CalonicéOh! they will come, my dear; but 'tis not easy, you know, for women to leave the house. One is busy pottering about her husband; another is getting the servant up; a third is putting her child asleep, or washing the brat or feeding it.

20 Λυ.Ἀλλ' ἕτερα τἄρ' ἦν τῶνδε προὐργιαίτερα

αὐταῖς.

LysistrataBut I tell you, the business that calls them here is far and away more urgent.

ἐφ' ὅ τι ποθ' ἡμᾶς τὰς γυναῖκας ξυγκαλεῖς;

Τί τὸ πρᾶγμα; Πηλίκον τι;

CalonicéAnd why do you summon us, dear Lysistrata? What is it all about?

LysistrataAbout a big affair.

CalonicéAnd is it thick too?

Λυ.Νὴ Δία παχὺ ⟨πάνυ⟩.

LysistrataYes indeed, both big and great.

CalonicéAnd we are not all on the spot!

25 Λυ.Οὐχ οὗτος ὁ τρόπος· ταχὺ γὰρ ἂν ξυνήλθομεν.

Ἀλλ' ἔστιν ὑπ' ἐμοῦ πρᾶγμ' ἀνεζητημένον

πολλαῖσί τ' ἀγρυπνίαισιν ἐρριπτασμένον.

LysistrataOh! if it were what you suppose, there would be never an absentee. No, no, it concerns a thing I have turned about and about this way and that of many sleepless nights.

Κλ.Ἦ πού τι λεπτόν ἐστι τοὐρριπτασμένον;

CalonicéIt must be something mighty fine and subtle for you to have turned it about so!

Λυ.Οὕτω γε λεπτὸν ὥσθ' ὅλης τῆς Ἑλλάδος

30 ἐν ταῖς γυναιξίν ἐστιν ἡ σωτηρία.

LysistrataSo fine, it means just this, Greece saved by the women!

Κλ.Ἐν ταῖς γυναιξίν; Ἐπ' ὀλίγου τἄρ' εἴχετο.

CalonicéBy women! Why, its salvation hangs on a poor thread then!

Λυ.Ὡς ἔστ' ἐν ἡμῖν τῆς πόλεως τὰ πράγματα,

ἢ μηκέτ' εἶναι μήτε Πελοποννησίους—

LysistrataOur country's fortunes depend on us--it is with us to undo utterly the Peloponnesians....

Κλ.Βέλτιστα τοίνυν μηκέτ' εἶναι νὴ Δία.

CalonicéThat would be a noble deed truly!

35 Λυ.Βοιωτίους τε πάντας ἐξολωλέναι.

LysistrataTo exterminate the Boeotians to a man!

Κλ.Μὴ δῆτα πάντας γ', ἀλλ' ἄφελε τὰς ἐγχέλεις.

CalonicéBut surely you would spare the eels.

Λυ.Περὶ τῶν Ἀθηνῶν δ' οὐκ ἐπιγλωττήσομαι

τοιοῦτον οὐδέν, ἀλλ' ὑπονόησον σύ μοι.

Ἢν δὲ ξυνέλθωσ' αἱ γυναῖκες ἐνθάδε,

40 αἵ τ' ἐκ Βοιωτῶν αἵ τε Πελοποννησίων

ἡμεῖς τε, κοινῇ σώσομεν τὴν Ἑλλάδα.

LysistrataFor Athens' sake I will never threaten so fell a doom; trust me for that. However, if the Boeotian and Peloponnesian women join us, Greece is saved.

Κλ.Τί δ' ἂν γυναῖκες φρόνιμον ἐργασαίατο

ἢ λαμπρόν, αἳ καθήμεθ' ἐξηνθισμέναι,

κροκωτοφοροῦσαι καὶ κεκαλλωπισμέναι

45 καὶ Κιμβερίκ' ὀρθοστάδια καὶ περιβαρίδας;

CalonicéBut how should women perform so wise and glorious an achievement, we women who dwell in the retirement of the household, clad in diaphanous garments of yellow silk and long flowing gowns, decked out with flowers and shod with dainty little slippers?

Λυ.Ταῦτ' αὐτὰ γάρ τοι κἄσθ' ἃ σώσειν προσδοκῶ,

τὰ κροκωτίδια καὶ τὰ μύρα χαἰ περιβαρίδες

χἤγχουσα καὶ τὰ διαφανῆ χιτώνια.

LysistrataNay, but those are the very sheet-anchors of our salvation--those yellow tunics, those scents and slippers, those cosmetics and transparent robes.

Κλ.Τίνα δὴ τρόπον ποθ';

CalonicéHow so, pray?

50 ἀνδρῶν ἐπ' ἀλλήλοισιν αἴρεσθαι δόρυ—

LysistrataThere is not a man will wield a lance against another ...

Κλ.Κροκωτὸν ἄρα νὴ τὼ θεὼ 'γὼ βάψομαι.

CalonicéQuick, I will get me a yellow tunic from the dyer's.

Λυ.μηδ' ἀσπίδα λαβεῖν—

Lysistrata... or want a shield.

CalonicéI'll run and put on a flowing gown.

Λυ.μηδὲ ξιφίδιον.

Lysistrata... or draw a sword.

CalonicéI'll haste and buy a pair of slippers this instant.

Λυ.Ἆρ' οὐ παρεῖναι τὰς γυναῖκας δῆτ' ἐχρῆν;

LysistrataNow tell me, would not the women have done best to come?

55 Κλ.Οὐ γὰρ μὰ Δί' ἀλλὰ πετομένας ἥκειν πάλαι.

CalonicéWhy, they should have flown here!

Λυ.Ἀλλ', ὦ μέλ', ὄψει τοι σφόδρ' αὐτὰς Ἀττικάς,

ἅπαντα δρώσας τοῦ δέοντος ὕστερον.

Ἀλλ' οὐδὲ Παράλων οὐδεμία γυνὴ πάρα,

οὐδ' ἐκ Σαλαμῖνος.

LysistrataAh! my dear, you'll see that like true Athenians, they will do everything too late.... Why, there's not a woman come from the shoreward parts, not one from Salamis.

60 ἐπὶ τῶν κελήτων διαβεβήκασ' ὄρθριαι.

CalonicéBut I know for certain they embarked at daybreak.

Aristophanes, Lysistrata — Greek text with English translation