The Assembly Women (Ecclesiazusae or Contionantes) - Aristophanes

Aka The Assemblywomen; (Ecclesiazusae; Ἐκκλησιάζουσαι Ekklesiazousai) Congresswomen, Women in Parliament, Women in Power, and A Parliament of Women.

Produced ca 393-391 BC.

Skene
A significant portion of the play revolves around the Pnyx, which was the actual Athenian assembly meeting place on a hill overlooking the Agora. Other scenes may depict various Athenian streets or public areas.

Dramatis Personae

Praxagora (The main character who devises the plan for women to take over the Assembly)
Blepyrus (Praxagora's husband)
Chorus (Group of women disguised as men)
Chremes (A citizen returning from the Assembly meeting)
Citizen/Selfish Man (A man opposed to sharing wealth under the new female-led government)
Epigenes (A young man struggling with the new law requiring him to sleep with an old woman first)

Plot

In Aristophanes' comedy, Assemblywomen, frustration with the Athenian government fuels a radical plan by a woman named Praxagora, the wife of Blepyrus, to take power:-

Disgruntled Women, Daring Plan: Praxagora, tired of the men's political ineptitude, hatches a plan to seize power. The women of Athens will disguise themselves as men and in a coup d'état take control of the citizens' Assembly [Ecclesia]. Together they will institute a new social order where women will hold all the power.

The Women take over of the Assembly: The women in their clever disguises succeed, and they manage to infiltrate the Assembly and to vote themselves into leadership. Athens is going to get some major reforms: in session at the Assembly they manage to pass a series of laws, including the abolition of private property, and institute the communal sharing of wives, and the equal distribution of wealth.

Thereby a Communist Utopia is set up: Praxagora enacts a series of reforms creating a kind of Utopian communist society. Private property is abolished, and everything including wives is shared communally. 

Equality Rules (Even in Love): Forget wealth and status determining relationships between men and women; love and procreation become the prime duties, with everyone – young, old, attractive, and less attractive – sharing equally the burden of mating and giving birth to the next generation. Slaves are excluded from these proposals, though. As the new order takes hold, chaos ensues as traditional gender roles are overturned, and men find themselves subjected to the whims of their wives.

Men's Grumbling Acceptance: The men, initially resistant, eventually find some benefits in this new arrangement and system, especially the readily available meals. Only the selfish ones who hoard possessions are unhappy.

So, is it a happy-ever-after situation? Aristophanes' play uses bawdy and absurd humour to satirise the Athenian government and society's norms. The ending is open to interpretation. While the women appear to be in control, the long-term viability of this unusual social experiment remains unclear. In the end, the absurdity of rule by women becomes apparent, and the natural order according to Aristophanes is restored, albeit with a lesson learned about the dangers of radical social experimentation.

References

Assemblywomen - Wikipedia

A Guide to Ancient Greek Drama: Synopsis of Aristophanes' Assembly-Women

Crowell's handbook of classical drama pp 123- : Hathorn, Richmond Y. - Internet Archive

Dithyramb, Tragedy and Comedy pp. 327-328 - Internet Archive
Analysis of Play: Ecclesiazusae

Aristophanes: Ecclesiazusae - Tom's Learning Notes

Ecclesiazusae - Aristophanes - Ancient Greece - Classical Literature

Assemblywomen by Aristophanes - GreekMythology.Com

Ecclesiazusae - World History Encyclopedia

Ecclesiazusae - World History Encyclopedia

The Ecclesiazusae Summary - SuperSummary

Praxagora Study Resources - Course Hero

Google Scholar Search = Aristophanes Ecclesiazusae

JStor Search = Aristophanes Ecclesiazusae

Core UK Search = Aristophanes+Ecclesiazusae

Library of Congress Search = Aristophanes+Ecclesiazusae

Hulley, Karl K. “The Prologue of the Ecclesiazusae.” The Classical Weekly, vol. 46, no. 9, 1953, pp. 129–131. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/4343346.

Olson, S. Douglas. “Anonymous Male Parts in Aristophanes’ Ecclesiazusae and the Identity of the Δεσπότης.” The Classical Quarterly, vol. 41, no. 1, Cambridge University Press, 1991, pp. 36–40, http://www.jstor.org/stable/639021.

Tsoumpra, Natalia. “Undressing and Cross-Dressing: Costume, Ritual, and Female Empowerment in Aristophanes.” Illinois Classical Studies, vol. 45, no. 2, University of Illinois Press, 2020, pp. 368–98, https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/illiclasstud.45.2.0368.

Casement, William. “Political Theory in Aristophanes’ Ecclesiazusae.” Journal of Thought, vol. 21, no. 4, Caddo Gap Press, 1986, pp. 64–79, http://www.jstor.org/stable/42589924.

Greek Versions

Aristophanous komoidiai. Comedies Volume V Aristophanes  Frogs Ecclesiazusae- Internet Archive

Aristophanis Ecclesiazusae edited by J.W. Van Leeuwen

Loeb Edition: L179 Aristophanes III Lysistrata Thesmophoriazusae Ecclesiazusae Plutus - B.B. Rogers

Translations

Delphi Complete Works of Aristophanes: Assemblywomen

The Congresswomen (Ecclesiazusae) trans by Douglass Parker

Birds and Other Plays (Oxford World's Classics) : Aristophanes -  Internet Archive

The knights ; [and], Peace ; [and], the birds ; [and], the assemblywomen ; [and], Wealth : Aristophanes : - Internet Archive

Aristophanes; tr. Alan H. Sommerstein (1998). Ecclesiazusae. Volume 10 of Comedies of Aristophanes. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-85668-708-2.

The Knights; Peace; Wealth; The Birds ; The Assemblywomen [1986]
by Aristophanes; Translated by David Barrett and Alan H. Sommerstein
ISBN 0140443320 9780140443325
https://archive.org/details/knightspeacewea00aris/mode/1up