Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Review: The Assembly of Women by Aristophanes

Title: The Assembly of Women
Author: Aristophanes
Genre: Classics / Classical Literature / Plays
Origin: 391 B.C.

Rating: 7 out of 10

The Assembly of Women, or, Ἐκκλησιάζουσαι, reminded me very strongly of my favorite Aristophanes, Lysistrata. If you loved that play as much as I did, you will enjoy this one as well.

The first scene starts off with a group of wives in Ancient Athens stealing their husband's clothes and setting off to speak at the male-only Assembly. Their novel ideas, which concern land ownership, equality, and even sex, are met with a mixture of both outraged indignation and curious popularity.

This play was very fun, and I loved the spirited, mischievously intelligent women. I cannot leave out their exaggeratedly slow witted husbands, who were hilarious.

Aristophanes is perhaps the world's first champion of women's rights, and he puts his ideas into comedy very well.

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