How we cite our quotes: Line
Quote #7
Chorus Leader: "Their condition seems to jibe with these others. Now, does this cramping seize you in the wee hours?"
First Athenian Delegate: "Yes, and what's worse, we're worn absolutely raw by being in this condition! I mean, if someone doesn't reconcile us soon, there's no way we won't be f***ing Cleisthenes!"
Chorus Leader: "If you've got any sense, you'll cover up there: you don't want one of the Herm-Docker clan to spot you."
First Athenian Delegate: "That's certainly good advice." (1088-1095)
Aristophanes has worked in a reference to contemporary politics (contemporary for him, anyway) into this quote. The first thing you need to know is what a "herm" is. Basically, a "herm" is a special type of ancient statue sacred to the god Hermes. What made this statue special was that it was actually just a rectangular pillar, with a sculpture of Hermes's head on top… and an erect phallus at waist level. You can see a picture of these weird doohickeys here. These statues were used on the streets for various purposes, as boundary markers, sign-posts, and so on.
What's this all have to do with Athenian politics? Oddly enough, one night in 415 BCE (4 years before Lysistrata's theatrical debut), some hooligans went through the streets and smashed the faces and genitals of the herms. This was considered especially bad luck because it was right before Athens sent a massive naval expedition against its enemies in Sicily—an expedition that ended in total failure. When Lysistrata was performed, the culprits in the "Herm-Docking" had not all been identified, and Aristophanes is hinting that some of them might be in the audience (making the First Athenian Delegate want to cover up).
Quote #8
Lysistrata: "Now that you're my captive audience I'm ready to give you the tongue-lashing you deserve—both of you. You two sprinkle altars from the same cup like kinsmen, at Olympia, at Thermopylae, at Pytho—how many other places could I mention if I had to extend the list—yet when enemies are available with their barbarian armies, it's Greek men and Greek cities you're determined to destroy. That takes me through one of my arguments."
First Athenian Delegate: "My cock is bursting out of my skin and killing me!" (1128-1136)
Uh, so what does this have to do with politics, exactly? Aha! That's exactly the point. The point is that, in politics, not every decision gets made for stereotypically political reasons. Sure, Lysistrata is giving the Spartans and Athenians a "tongue-lashing" in the form of a reasoned series of arguments. But it seems like the First Athenian Delegate is less interested in listening to well-wrought arguments and more interested in, uh, getting off. Maybe necessity really is the mother of political invention.
Quote #9
Lysistrata: "Next, Spartans, I'm going to turn to you. Don't you remember when Pericleidas the Spartan came here once and sat at the altars as a suppliant of the Athenians, pale in his scarlet uniform, begging for troops? That time when Messenia was up in arms against you and the god was shaking you with an earthquake? And Cimon went with four thousand infantrymen and rescued all Sparta? After being treated that way by the Athenians, you're now out to ravage the country that's treated you well?"
First Athenian Delegate: "They're guilty as can be, Lysistrata!"
Spartan Delegate: "We're guilty, but what an unspeakably fine arse!" (1137-1147)
Even while Lysistrata is giving her balanced speech, turning to one side, now the other like a conflict-negotiation expert, her audience's mind is elsewhere. They are hankering to relieve themselves from the sexual torment that has gripped them ever since the women went on their sex-strike, and so they are willing to do anything to make a deal. They will even do that hardest of things, admitting that they were wrong—as the Spartans do at the end of this passage.