Character	Description
Lysistrata	Lysistrata, the play's determined heroine, concocts a clever plan to end war between Athenians and their traditional allies. Read More
Myrrhine	Myrrhine is a beautiful young wife who plays a crucial role in dramatizing Lysistrata's sex strike. Read More
Cinesias	Cinesias is Myrrhine's husband, recently back from war and desperate to sleep with her. Read More
Magistrate	The Magistrate is a member of the Probouloi, a wartime board of retired citizens given extraordinary powers over the populace during a crisis in the Peloponnesian War. Read More
Chorus of Old Women	The Chorus of Old Women, headed by the Leader of the Women's Chorus, are feisty elderly wives and mothers and champions of social cohesion who take over the treasury at the Acropolis. Read More
Chorus of Old Men	Under the Leader of the Men's Chorus, the Chorus of Old Men are mean-spirited, foul-mouthed, entitled veterans dependent on the treasury to pay their small stipends. Read More
Athenian ambassador	The Athenian ambassador is an elder statesman who leads a delegation sent at Cinesias's request to negotiate peace with Sparta.
Athenian delegates	The Athenian delegates are a group of lesser Athenian representatives who accompany the Athenian ambassador.
Calonice	Calonice, Lysistrata's devoted friend, is a mature, bawdy, booze-loving woman of Athens. Calonice is sometimes spelled Kalonike.
Child	The child is the son of Myrrhine and Cinesias.
Ismenia	Ismenia is a young woman from Thebes, a part of Greece, who answers Lysistrata's call to meeting.
Lampito	Lampito is a Spartan woman who answers Lysistrata's call to meeting.
Leader of the Chorus	The Leader of the Chorus heads the Chorus of Old Men and the Chorus of Old Women after they reconcile and become one chorus.
Leader of the Men's Chorus	The Leader of the Men's Chorus heads the group of entitled, grumpy old men who storm the Acropolis after Lysistrata and her cohort occupy it.
Leader of the Women's Chorus	The Leader of the Women's Chorus heads the feisty group of older women who defend the female occupation of the Acropolis from the Chorus of Old Men.
Manes	Manes is nurse to the son of Myrrhine and Cinesias.
Public guards	The public guards, played by three or four actors, accompany the Magistrate to the Acropolis.
Reconciliation	A young woman enlisted by Lysistrata represents both a goddess named Reconciliation and a map of Greece.
Scythian girl	The Scythian girl is Lysistrata's servant.
Spartan ambassador	The Spartan ambassador is a long-bearded elder statesman who leads a delegation from Sparta to negotiate peace with Athens.
Spartan delegates	The Spartan delegates are lesser Spartan representatives who accompany the ambassadors.
Spartan herald	The Spartan herald is a messenger from Sparta who comes to the Acropolis to deliver a proposal for peace talks.
Woman A	Woman A is an Athenian woman who tries to sneak out of the Acropolis with the excuse that worms are eating her cloth back home.
Woman B	Woman B is an Athenian woman who tries to sneak out of the Acropolis with the excuse that she has to strip flax (a fiber used to make linen) back home.
Woman C	Woman C is an Athenian woman who tries to sneak out of the Acropolis with the excuse that she is about to give birth.
Woman D	Woman D is an Athenian woman who tries to sneak out of the Acropolis because owls (Athena's symbol) are hooting and keeping her awake all night.

Lysistrata | Study Guide

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Characters

Lysistrata | Characters