Aristophanes · c. 446-386 BC
Ecclesiazusae
ἘκκλησιάζουσαιRead our guide to Assemblywomen. The Ecclesiazusae, also known as Assemblywomen, was produced about 391 BC. Praxagora and the women of Athens, disguised in their husbands' cloaks and beards, slip into the Assembly before dawn, vote the government into their own hands, and then decree a communism of property and of love. The sections follow the play's dramatic units and keep the standard line numbers of the Greek text.
Contents · 9 passages
- 1–129Prologue: the women gather before dawn1058 words
- 130–310Episode: the women rehearse their speeches and march to the Assembly1637 words
- 311–477bEpisode: Blepyrus and Chremes; the decree of the Assembly1428 words
- 478–570Episode: the women return; Praxagora's excuse to Blepyrus835 words
- 571–727Agon: Praxagora's new order of common property and common life2032 words
- 728–876Episode: Chremes and the neighbour who will not give up his goods1361 words
- 877–975Episode: the Old Woman and the Girl quarrel over the Youth872 words
- 976–1111Episode: the law of the old women1238 words
- 1112–1183Exodos: the maid, the feast and the last song634 words
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English translation by Benjamin Bickley Rogers (1924). Original text: Greek text: F. W. Hall and W. M. Geldart (eds.), Aristophanis Comoediae, Oxford Classical Texts, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906-1907, as digitised by Perseus. English: Benjamin Bickley Rogers, Aristophanes, vol. III, Loeb Classical Library, London: William Heinemann, and New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1924.
Greek text and translation from the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, Greek: CC BY-SA 4.0 (Perseus Digital Library); translation public domain (Rogers). Introductions, summaries and notes © GreekMythology.com.
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