Assemblywomen

This article is about Aristophanes' Ecclesiazusae (Ἐκκλησιάζουσαι). For women in parliament or government, see assembly and women in government.
Assemblywomen
Aristophanes portrait bust
Aristophanes[1]
Written byAristophanes
ChorusAthenian Women
SettingAn Athenian street

Assemblywomen (Greek: Ἐκκλησιάζουσαι Ekklesiazousai; also translated as, Congresswomen, Women in Parliament, Women in Power, and A Parliament of Women) is a comedy written by the Greek playwright Aristophanes in 391 BC.[2] The play invents a scenario where the women of Athens assume control of the government and institute reforms that ban private wealth and enforce sexual equity for the old and unattractive. In addition to Aristophanes' political and social satire, Assemblywomen derives its comedy through sexual and scatological humor. The play aimed to criticize the Athenian government's expropriation of land and wealth at the time.[3]

  1. ^ "Aristophanes – Greek dramatist". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2016-10-23.
  2. ^ Henderson, Jeffrey (2002). Aristophanes IV: Frogs, Assemblywomen, Wealth. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. pp. 411. ISBN 0674995961.
  3. ^ Zumbrunnen, John. "Fantasy, Irony, And Economic Justice In Aristophanes' Assemblywomen And Wealth." American Political Science Review 100.3 (2006): 319–333. International Bibliography of Theatre & Dance with Full Text. Web. 25 Sept. 2016.