Assemblywomen

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Aristophanes' Assemblywomen (or in Greek, Ecclesiazousae ) is a play similar in theme to Lysistrata in that a large portion of the comedy concerns women involving themselves in politics. This play is even more infused with gender issues than is Lysistrata. It also reveals a change in the style of Classical Greek comedy after the short period of oligarchy following the Peloponnesian War, or at least an attempt at such change. It represents a merging of two styles that works at the outset but fails in the end.

The play presents a group of women, the leader of which is Praxagora. She has decided that the women must convince their men to hand over control of Athens, because they could rule it better. The women, in the guise of men, sneak into the Assembly and vote the measure, convincing some of the men to vote for it as well, because it's the only thing they haven't tried yet.

The women then establish a proto-Communist government, in which the state feeds, houses, and generally cares for every Athenian. They enforce "equality" by allowing every man to sleep with every woman but also insist that each man must sleep with an older, uglier woman before he can sleep with a younger, more beautiful one. This comic theme explores the then-standard view of women: since they could not own anything, women were more likely to push for common ownership, in a "proto-Communist" manner. The enforced equality is also something of a political statement, in addition to being a social manifesto. After the fall of the oligarchy put into place after the war, Athenians asserted their democratic and egalitarian demands very strongly, to the point that, while the play is a clear exaggeration, it takes a clear and strong position on "excessive democracy".

One well-known scene involves two men in conversation. One of them is accepting the new government, giving his property to the women and obeying their orders. The other doesn't wish to give up his property but is more than willing to take advantage of the free food!

In fact, this play includes the longest word in Greek, transliterated as: lopadotemachoselachogaleokranioleipsanodrimupotrimmatosilphioliparomelitoaktakexhumenokichlepikossuphophattoperisteralektruonop topiphallidokinklopeleioplagoosiraiobaphetragalopterugon, or λοπαδοτεμαχοσελαχογαλεοκρανιολειψανοδριμυποτριμματοσιλφιοκαραβομελιτοκατακεχυμενοκιχλεπικοσσυφοφ αττοπεριστεραλεκτρυονοπτοκεφαλλιοκιγκλοπελειολαγῳοσιραιοβαφητραγανοπτερύγων in the Greek alphabet (1169-74). Liddell and Scott translate this as the "name of a dish compounded of all kinds of dainties, fish, flesh, fowl, and sauces."