Lysistrata and Wordplay

There are a lot of wonderful themes that run throughout Lysistrata. Gender roles, the beginning of a feminist (or not-so-feminist) movement, the Peloponnesian War. But rather than delve into the social politics of 5th century Athens, I'd like to talk about the comedic aspect of the play -- namely, why is it funny?

"Is it butts? It's butts, isn't it?"

(img: source)

I'm a big fan of words. Words are nice. They happen all the time, so much that sometimes we forget words are even a thing. We base an entire civilization of communication (and this includes "comedy") around words, when they're really just mouth noises we eventually wrote down as a series of squiggly lines.

Behold, the English language.

(img: source)

Lysistrata, for all its humor, is the direct result of a biased interpretation based off the original text. So delving too deep into the wordplay of Aristophanes' piece will be fairly useless unless I have a degree in Ancient Greek lying around in my closet somewhere. Barring that, while talking about Aristophanes' play, naturally I'm talking about the translator's choice of words as well. 

And what sorts of squiggly lines were we treated to in this play? For now, I'd like to talk about two specific types of wordplay...

Innuendo

"The sap should rise eventually." (p 383)

"If you lay a finger on her, you won't be able to stop the swelling!" (p 387)

"TO EVERY MAN JACK, A CHALLENGE: ARISE!" (p 401)

For those with minds free from a tumble in the gutter, I'll tell you what's happening here: dick jokes. An acre of them. A field of jokes that end with uncomfortable words such as swelling and jack. I don't profess to know why Aristophanes morphed into a 7-year-old child and giggled at anatomy while writing this play, only that I laughed along with him.

My Hypothesis: Either the squishy parts on humans are hilarious no matter what time you live in, or there's something about the wording of an innuendo -- a cleverly disguised slander -- that incites comedy. In a way, the interaction between audience and actor becomes an inside joke between friends.

"You said 'wood' but you weren't talking about trees! We must be best friends!"

(img: source)

Consonance (???)

"If they start waving lumber, we don't want to be encumbered." (p 379)

"Well, look here, Lookout. I'd like to see Myrrhine. How's the outlook?" (p 420)

Aristophanes often uses a combination of syllabic sounds to push home the point of pointed humor. He plays with his words, like the above "lumber and "encumber" (a rhyme hiding an innuendo), or the way "look," "Lookout," and "outlook" dance around each other.

My Hypothesis: Honestly, I'm not sure if "consonance" is the proper term to identify what Aristophanes is doing here. It's obviously a play on words, but it's not quite alliteration, and it's not quite a rhyme. I'm not sure exactly what to call that. Regardless, the way he crafts sounds is meant to have a comedic impact.

"Hahahaha you said impact!"