Summary
Scene 3. Lysistrata enters from the Acropolis, looking troubled. She tells the chorus of women that she is sad about "the frail hearts of women." The chorus presses her to tell them more details and she eventually admits, "In brief—the women want to get laid."
The chorus laments the fact that the women are losing their resolve. Lysistrata tells them, "They slip out everywhere. One of them was digging a hole out next to the shrine to Pan. Another tried to climb down by rope. A third has disappeared altogether. A fourth attempted to have a giant sparrow fly her out, so she could visit some stud. I had to drag her back by her hair. They make up all sorts of lies."
As a woman tries to sneak out, Lysistrata questions her about where she's headed and she insists that she needs to run home to check that her wool isn't getting eaten by moths. Lysistrata insists that she stay there, as another woman insists that she needs to go check on her flax.
The woman tries to make an excuse, but Lysistrata forbids her from going also. A third woman tries to sneak out, suggesting that she is about to have her baby, but Lysistrata insists, "But you weren't pregnant yesterday." A helmet falls out from under her clothes, but the woman still insists that she is pregnant.
The other women implore Lysistrata to let them leave, telling her that they do not like sleeping on the floor of the temple. Lysistrata levels with them, "I know you miss your husbands. But they miss you as well. They are spending terrible nights without us. I am sure of it. And I have an oracle right here which assures us we will be victorious in the end."
At the women's encouragement, Lysistrata passes along the oracle's prophecy: "Forsooth, there shall come a day when the swallows are gathered together upon a hilltop, and they shall shun boinking and keep themselves chaste, and yea, Zeus himself shall put those that were under over and those that were over under... But if these swallows should bicker and try to flee their hilltop and make up stories about flax, all will say that there is no baser bird than the swallow, forevermore.”
One of the women notes that the oracle seems very specific (implying that Lysistrata made it up herself), and Lysistrata ushers them all back into the Acropolis.
Chorus 3. The men sing about "a savvy little boy," who did not miss the company of women, and could find joy in nature. The women then sing about a man named "Timon," who ran away from society and lived in the wild, because he was afraid of other men.
Analysis
Lysistrata and her campaign to stop the war hits a stumbling block when the women begin to grow restless and want to have sex again. In a comedic moment at the beginning of Scene 3, Lysistrata enters looking upset, as if something seriously bad has happened, but then reveals that the source of her troubles is the fact that "the women want to get laid." While the women begin their project heartily and with high spirits, they eventually fall prey to the very desire the satisfaction of which they are trying to deprive the men in their lives.
The script, translated here by Edward Einhorn, is filled with double entendres and rather lewd sexual jokes. For instance, when the woman wants to sneak home to check her wool blanket, Lysistrata says, "You’re not going to spread out anything on that bed today," implying that the woman is just looking for an excuse to have sex with her husband. Then, when the second women sneaking out tries to make the excuse that she is going home to check her flax, she misspeaks, saying, "I forgot to comb its little clit, I mean to comb it a little bit." Aristophanes peppers his play with sexual lines that serve as comic relief and further explicate the sexual stakes of Lysistrata's campaign.
The play uses comedy to illustrate its political points throughout. The central premise, even—that women deny men sex in order to stop a war—is more like a joke than a serious political platform. Then, the text itself is full of antics and comedic flourishes, double entendres and ridiculous reversals. Aristophanes infuses the play with joy and silliness, even though it also addresses more serious topics. In a way, these comedic tactics bring the subject matter to life in a way that is more digestible for an audience.
Throughout it all, Lysistrata remains strong. Even though the women complain they are uncomfortable sleeping on the floor of the temple, Lysistrata insists that they are doing good work, and the oracle is predicting that they will be victorious. She is one of the only forces for the women staying on track and completing their project successfully, in that she discourages the women from succumbing to their bodily urges and abandoning their protest.
The choral scene that follows depicts an image of men as not necessarily needing the love and erotic attention of women. In their chorus, they sing about a young boy who did not need girls, because "he sought joy in nature which he found/Did not annoy, but was more profound." In this chorus, they dig into the women, suggesting that they not only do not need them, but they also have far superior diversions, such as nature. The women suggest that the men are running away from their problems, and that their plan is beginning to work.
