Sexual humor (Motif)
A major motif in the play is the use of sexual humor to move the plot along. Aristophanes' text, translated here by Edward Einhorn, is filled with double entendres and bawdy sex jokes that allude to the campaign that Lysistrata has launched to stop the war. Characters speak suggestively, characterize non-sexual things in sexual terms, and come close to having sex onstage. Cinesias and the Spartan herald both sport erections when they are onstage. These raunchy jokes remind the audience time and again that the play is about sex and the attraction between the genders as much as it is a political satire.
Wine (Symbol)
The wine over which the women swear their oath of celibacy is a symbol. They discuss the fact that often an oath is sworn over animal entrails and real blood, then decide that it would be better to just use wine. In this way, the women choose wine as a symbol of the peace and joy they are fighting for. Once the war is over, this symbol suggests, they will be able to drink wine and celebrate an end to the war. The end of their oath alludes to this symbolic meaning, as they say, "If I keep my oath, let my cup be filled with nothing but wine. And if I break it, let it be filled with nothing but water."
The Acropolis (Symbol)
In the Acropolis of Athens, the women gather to discuss their plans, and then later, they take the Acropolis over during their sex strike. This location is symbolically significant in that it represents the centralized power of the Athenian state as the storehouse for the money that Athens treasures and protects. In this sense, it is at the center of the military conflict taking place between the nation-states. The Acropolis is also symbolic because it acts as the passageway to the temple of the goddess, Athena. The figure of Athena is important because she represents wisdom and victory in war. Thus, the women outside the Acropolis of Athens can be thought to be channeling Athena's power in order to bring peace to the nation.
"Peace" (Symbol)
At the end, in the final scene, Lysistrata enters accompanied by a naked, walking statue that she calls "Peace." The statue represents both the peace that the women want to achieve (as indicated by her name), as well as the ways that they will exploit the men's libidos in order to achieve this goal. The men signing the peace treaty ogle "Peace" and her feminine beauty, and this is what ultimately moves them to agree on a compromise.
Erections (Motif)
One of the ways that Aristophanes represents the fact that the men are overcome by desire is having them often have large and visible erections. This comic sight gag makes their desire and sexual frustration rather evident throughout and becomes a running joke. Every time a man enters, from the middle of the play onward, they have an erection.
