Assemblywomen facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Assemblywomen
Aristophanes
Written by	Aristophanes
Chorus	Athenian Women
Setting	An 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. The play invents a scenario where the women of Athens assume control of the government and institute reforms that ban private wealth. The play aimed to criticize the Athenian government at the time.

Characters

The dramatis personae based on Jeffrey Henderson's translation are:

• Praxagora an Athenian Wife
• First Woman a neighbor of Praxagora
• Second Woman Praxagora's neighbor
• Blepyrus Praxagora's Husband
• Neighbor of Blepyrus
• Chremes
• Selfish Man
• Herald a woman appointed by Praxagora
• First Old Woman
• Girl
• Epigenes a young man
• Second Old Woman
• Third Old Woman
• Maid of Praxagora

Silent Characters

• Sicon and Parmenon neighbor's slaves
• Two Girls

Historical background

In the early 4th century BC, Athens was reeling from the Peloponnesian War and remained in the midst of continuing battles with Sparta. Athens and its allies, Thebes, Corinth and Argos experienced over two years struggling to rid themselves of the Spartans with many successes and failures along the way. While Athens was in a position to regain naval authority in the Aegean Sea thanks to alliances forged with Persia and King Evagoras of Cyprus, the people of Athens were impoverished. For this reason, the poor favored war as it ensured future employment while the wealthy favored peace, as war required disbursements. Continuation of the Corinthian War inevitably led to increased confiscations and forced contributions from wealthy Athenians. This atmosphere resulted in a material and moral anxiety that was illustrated in the Athens represented by Aristophanes.

Longest word

The play contains the longest word in Greek, transliterated as:

Lopado­temacho­selacho­galeo­kranio­leipsano­drimhypo­trimmato­silphio­karabomelito­katakechymeno­kichlepikossyphophatto­peristeralektryonopte­kephallio­kigklopeleio­lagoiosiraio­baphetragano­pterygon,

or, in the Greek alphabet:

λοπαδο­τεμαχο­σελαχο­γαλεο­κρανιο­λειψανο­δριμυπο­τριμματο­σιλφιο­καραβομελιτο­κατα­κεχυμενο­κιχλεπικοσσυφοφαττο­περιστεραλεκτρυονοπτο­κεφαλλιο­κιγκλοπελειο­λαγῳοσιραιο­βαφητραγανο­πτερύγων. (1169–74)

Jeffrey Henderson translated the word as a stew of "limpets and saltfish and sharksteak and dogfish and mullets and oddfish with savory pickle sauce and thrushes with blackbirds and various pigeons and roosters and pan-roasted wagtails and larks and nice chunks of hare marinated in mulled wine and all of it drizzled with honey and silphium and vinegar, oil and spices galore." The Greek word contains 171 letters, which far surpasses that of Shakespeare's 27-letter long word, "honorificabilitudinitatibus" in his Love's Labour's Lost V.I.

See also

In Spanish: Las asambleístas para niños