Lysistrata

English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Λυσιστράτη (Lusistrátē, “army disbander”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /laɪˈsɪstrətə/, /ˌlɪsəˈstrɑːtə/

Proper noun

Lysistrata

1. A comedy by Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes, a comic account of one woman's (Lysistrata) extraordinary mission to end the Peloponnesian War by denying men sex.
   • 1920 [1887], George Saintsbury, A History of Elizabethan Literature‎^[1]:

     The authors have drawn to some extent on the Lysistrata to aid them, but have fallen as far short of the fun as of the indecency of that memorable play.

   • 1998 April 26, Jenny Lyn Bader, “Is Sex Necessary?”, in The New York Times‎^[2], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:

     The idea of a sex strike is as old as Aristophanes. Undoubtedly after a tiff with Mrs. Aristophanes, he wrote his “Lysistrata,” a comedy about wives who end the Peloponnesian War by resisting their husbands.

     (Can we archive this URL?)

   • 2024 April 17, Eric Grode, quoting Bekah Brunstetter, “Video Games Are a Playwright’s Muse, Not Her Hobby”, in The New York Times‎^[3], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:

     So I created the same women and started with the same story, but then just played it out in a contemporary setting. Also, unlike in “Lysistrata,” the sex strike doesn’t work.

     (Can we archive this URL?)

   • 2025 February 5, Kwame Anthony Appiah, “Is It OK That I’m Withholding Sex Until My Husband Sorts Out His Invoices?”, in The New York Times Magazine‎^[4], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:

     Making sex a quid for some quo can be, as in “Lysistrata,” a dramatic strategy, but it probably isn’t the best one.

     (Can we archive this URL?)

   • 2025 September 30, Suzy Exposito, “I don’t like dating apps – I went to a ‘flirting party’ instead”, in The Guardian‎^[5], →ISSN:

     Seeing our sexual culture through this data, one might think we are at war, and Lysistrata a real person.

2. (uncommon) A female given name from Ancient Greek.
   • 1960 October, Pauline Ashwell, “The Lost Kafoozalum”, in Analog Science Fact & Fiction‎^[6]:

     I drop the note on the floor and take another sheet and write "YES. Lysistrata Lee."

Derived terms

• Lysistratan

Translations

Ancient Greek comedy

• Czech: Lysistrata f

See also

• sex strike

Noun

Lysistrata (plural Lysistratas)

1. A woman who withholds sex in order to get her way.
   • 1993, Jane Caputi, quoting Stan Steiner, Gossips, Gorgons and Crones: The Fates of the Earth, page 225:

     Lysistratas among the Indian [Iroquois] women proclaimed a boycott on lovemaking and childbearing.

   • 2020, Helen Morales, Antigone Rising: The Subversive Power of the Ancient Myths:

     Despite all this, the Western media framed these women as modern-day Lysistratas.

Further reading

• “Lysistrata”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• Lysistrata on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Czech

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Λυσιστράτη (Lusistrátē, “army disbander”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlɪsɪstrata]

Proper noun

Lysistrata f

1. Lysistrata (Ancient Greek comedy)

Declension

Declension of Lysistrata (sg-only hard feminine)

	singular
nominative	Lysistrata
genitive	Lysistraty
dative	Lysistratě
accusative	Lysistratu
vocative	Lysistrato
locative	Lysistratě
instrumental	Lysistratou

Further reading

• “Lysistrata”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025