PORNOKRATES: Lysistrata - Illustrations by Aubrey Beardsley

At the end of the 19th Century, confronted with an Industrial Revolution, which had enthroned the power of the bourgeoisie, Romanticism took on an extreme form: decadence. In the name of decorum, Victorian society required that the debauchery to which it was secretly addicted be passed over in silence. A new race of artists focused on the object of repression: sexuality. Their strategy? Dandyism: making the most scabrous subject as beautiful as possible. The female body was evoked in terms of the tarantula lurking at the heart of the luxuriant exotic flower. For woman was now seen as being essentially demonic. It was the devil that had bestowed on her the gift of temptation.

~ from "Erotica Universalis" by Gilles Nèret

	Lysistrata Shielding her Coynte
Cinesias Entreating Myrrhina to Coition A wicked thing, as I repeat. O Zeus, O Zeus, Canst Thou not suddenly let loose Some twirling hurricane to tear Her flapping up along the air And drop her, when she's whirled around, Here to the ground Neatly impaled upon the stake That's ready upright for her sake from "Lysistrata" by Aristophanes, 410 b.c.
	Lysistrata Defending the Acropolis LYSISTRATA By the Goddesses, you'll find that here await you Four companies of most pugnacious women Armed cap-a-pie from the topmost louring curl To the lowest angry dimple from "Lysistrata" by Aristophanes, 410 b.c.
The Lacedaemonian Ambassadors CHORUS Here come the Spartan envoys with long, worried beards. Hail, Spartans how do you fare? Did anything new arise? SPARTANS No Need for a clutter o'words. Do ye see our condition? CHORUS The situation swells to greater tension. Something will explode soon! from "Lysistrata" by Aristophanes, 410 b.c.
	The Examination of the Herald MAGISTRATE Are you a man or a Priapus? HERALD Don't be stupid! I am a herald, of course, I swear I am, and I come from Sparta about making peace. MAGISTRATE But look, you are hiding a lance under your clothes, surely. HERALD No, nothing of the sort. MAGISTRATE Then why do you turn away like that, and hold your cloak out from your body? Have you got swellings in the groin from your journey? HERALD By the twin brethren! the man's an old maniac. MAGISTRATE But you've got an erection! You lewd fellow! from "Lysistrata" by Aristophanes, 410 b.c.