Customer Reviews

Assembly of Women (Literary Classics)

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A specter is haunting Athens, the specter of communism.

This premise animates the plot of Aristophenes' comedy "Ecclesiazusae" (or "Assembly of Women"), wherein the heroine Praxagora leads a conspiracy of hags dressed as men to vote themselves into power. Fresh from her victory, Praxagora unveils her plan for a brave, new world where all property, children and sex are held in common. What follows is an uproariously funny, shockingly vulgar, tremendously insightful satire of communists and the logical consequences of their ideology.

Mayhew's translation and introduction would make for a perfect adjunct to any discussion of Plato's *Republic*, especially in an introductory Greek Lit & Civ course. First, Aristophenes has arguably innovated aspects of communism that would later influence Plato. Second, the play contains so many allusions to contemporary events (helpfully explained by Mayhew), that it provides a useful introduction to ancient history, political philosophy, and dramatic literature. Last, the comedy is funny enough for anyone (particularly sophomores!) to enjoy, and if it's the only play they actually read, they'll know something important about ancient Athens, thanks to the guidance of Robert Mayhew.

Aristophanes is at the top of his form here, despite what some critics say. His lampooning of several ideas floating around Athens at the time(women's rights, communism, free love, etc, to use modern terms) is hilarious, and this praise is coming from an avid supporter of everything he's satirizing. The raunchy sex jokes are just as entertaining and twice as intelligent as anything coming out of Hollywood these days, and the political humor teaches one a great deal about contemporary events in Athens. The actual political and social order depicted in the play is very reminiscent of Plato's Republic(written later); as the previous reviewer has stated, this play is excellent in conjuction with Plato's writings on the subject. A class dealing with both works was how I came across this play in the first place, and it provided excellent fodder for discussion.

In terms of this specific edition, Mayhew translates every joke with absolute faith to the witty, vulgar original. The footnotes are unobtrusive, but they provide just the right amount of explanation of obscure references and odd figures of speech. They even mention which sections were expurgated by uptight Victorian translators! Accept nothing less than this version. (PS: If you loved this play, Lysistrata is at least as good, if not even better.)