Aristophanes, Ecclesiazusae [Women in Council]

Robert Tordoff (York University)

Ed. by Vaios Liapis, Open University of Cyprus
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.1.1: Greek Writing and Culture: Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic and Imperial, -800--100.
Vol. editors: Jonathan Burgess (University of Toronto), Anca Dan (École Practique de Hautes Études PSL), Martine Diepenbroek (University of Johannesburg), Giacomo Fedeli (University of Exeter), Victoria Fendel (University of Oxford), Emily Kneebone (University of Nottingham), Vaios Liapis (Open University of Cyprus), Elodie Paillard (University of Sydney), Mali Skotheim (Ashoka University), Laura Swift (The Open University), Guendalina Daniela Maria Taietti (University of Liverpool)

Dates

First circulation or publication c. -391

Places

Ancient Greece (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Comedy
Play

Resources

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Recommended Reading

The

Ecclesiazusae

, or “The women attending the Assembly”, is the second to last of Aristophanes' surviving plays. It therefore belongs to the period of Athenian history after the end of the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE), during which all Aristophanes' surviving plays except

Ecclesiazusae

and

Wealth

were written, and after the oligarchic coup of 404 BCE and the restoration of the democracy in the following year. The date of the original performance is controversial but it was certainly between 393 and 389 BCE (probably in either 391 or 390: for the arguments see the introduction in Sommerstein (1998)). In the shape of its plot, the play has many affinities with the earlier

Lysistrata

(411 BCE) insofar as the women of Athens, led by an altruistic heroine, conspire to take over the…

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3118 words

Citation: Tordoff, Robert. "Ecclesiazusae". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 October 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=13326, accessed 22 November 2024.]

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Aristophanes, Ecclesiazusae [Women in Council]

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