On page 103, Lysistrata begins by speaking directly to the Spartans. She says " Recall Perikleidas: fifty years ago, he clung to our altar, his face dead-white above his crimson robe, and pleaded for an army." By going back in history, Lysistrata is able to point out specific instances where the Spartans begged for assistance from the Athenians. She proves to the men that both sides of the country need each other. And in case the Spartans did not believe it, she then speaks to the Athenians. She asks the Athenians to recall when the Spartans helped them to "cut down the pride of Thessaly" (pg 104) and dispossess the oppressors who were ruling over them. Lysistrata uses history to prove the cliche that actions speak louder than words. These two groups of men want to continue the fight, but their actions in the past prove otherwise. Lysistrata helps to create what will hopefully be a long-lasting peace.
The image below is a cartoon of the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Greece. The men fighting are so similar it's hard to tell which side they are fighting for. This shows that the war between the two city-states was meaningless and needed to end. Lysistrata was finally able to get this point across to the men.
This post strongly relates to the metaphor in Lysistrata that compares women and men to water and fire. The expression, "you can't fight fire with fire," is strongly demonstrated as well. Both groups of men are fighting with blind rage which solves nothing and simply creates more fire. However when Lysistrata finally shows the men how meaningless their war truly is, she puts out the fire with her cool rationalization.
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