Puns

The puns presented throughout Lysistrata were extremely interesting to me and added comic relief to the otherwise dramatic situations presented throughout the play and involving the two sexes. I am aware that the content of our English translation is basic compared to that of the actual Greek plays and other translations. It is said that Americans are unable to handle the crudeness of the original Greek plays and that it would be extremely offensive however I believe that I would find it interesting and more humorous to read the harsher version. I am curious to know what controversy, if any, would be provoked if these plays were to be translated and produced with the full effect of their original puns. However, it was difficult for me to catch most of the puns and many of them had to be explained to me before I fully realized them; others, were fairly obvious. My personal favorite pun involves the interaction between Myrhhine and Kinesias during which Myrhhine is constantly returning to the Akropolis for items apparently meant to comfort Kinesias provoking Kiniseas to state, "What a lovefeast! Only the table gets laid".