Lysistrata

by

Aristophanes

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Commissioner of Public Safety Character Analysis

When the Chorus of Old Men fails to secure the Acropolis, the Commissioner of Public Safety comes on the scene to bring Lysistrata and her women to justice. The embodiment of patriarchal authority, law, and order in Athens, the Commissioner orders his squad of four police (or rather, Scythian archers, the Athenian equivalent of our police) to arrest the rebels, but Lysistrata, Kleonike, Myrrhine, and Ismenia fiercely drive them off with household goods. Although the Commissioner is bullheaded and loathes what he calls the “MORAL CHAOS” brought on by the women, he is also intent on understanding the women’s motives. Lysistrata tries to explain, but when the Commissioner becomes outraged by what he thinks is female presumptuousness, she and her cohorts shut him up by forcibly dressing him up like a woman. Later, the Commissioner takes even worse: when he urges a reinvigoration of the war effort, the women attack him until he staggers offstage. By the play’s end, however, even the Commissioner gets a little drunk and only plays at being an enforcer of the rules.

Commissioner of Public Safety Quotes in Lysistrata

The Lysistrata quotes below are all either spoken by Commissioner of Public Safety or refer to Commissioner of Public Safety. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
War and Peace Theme Icon
).
Lines 254 – 705 Quotes

Commissioner:
I DO NOT WANT TO BE SAVED, DAMMIT!

Lysistrata:
All the more reason.
It’s not only Sparta: now we’ll have to save you from
you.

Related Characters: Lysistrata (speaker), Commissioner of Public Safety (speaker)
Related Symbols: Athena and the Acropolis
Page Number: 522-523
Explanation and Analysis:
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Commissioner of Public Safety Quotes in Lysistrata

The Lysistrata quotes below are all either spoken by Commissioner of Public Safety or refer to Commissioner of Public Safety. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
War and Peace Theme Icon
).
Lines 254 – 705 Quotes

Commissioner:
I DO NOT WANT TO BE SAVED, DAMMIT!

Lysistrata:
All the more reason.
It’s not only Sparta: now we’ll have to save you from
you.

Related Characters: Lysistrata (speaker), Commissioner of Public Safety (speaker)
Related Symbols: Athena and the Acropolis
Page Number: 522-523
Explanation and Analysis: