Exploration Notes: Plots and Sub-Plots of "Lysistrata"

Simply stated, the plot of "Lysistrata" depicts Athenian women who are fed up with the Peloponnesian War, so they barricade themselves in the Akropolis. They orchestrate a sex strike in order to force their husbands to vote for peace with Sparta.
The play's action occurs on a street in Athens in front of a gate to the Akropolis, which looms in the background. As the play begins, Lysistrata, an Athenian woman, is pacing back and forth, waiting for the women of various Greek states to gather to form an alliance for peace. Finally Kleonike, another Athenian woman, arrives. …