Assemblywomen

Assemblywomen is a satirical comedy by Aristophanes on the idea that women might be better than men at running the state.

The play is about a group of women, and their leader Praxagora. She has decided that the women must convince the men to give them control of Athens, because they could rule it better. The women, in the guise of men, sneak into the assembly and vote the measure, convincing some of the men to vote for it because it is the only thing they have not tried.

The women set up a government in which the state feeds, houses, and generally takes care of every Athenian. They enforce an idea of equality by allowing every man to sleep with every woman, but that the man must sleep with an ugly woman before he may sleep with a beautiful one.

There is a scene in which two men are talking. One of them is going along with the new government, giving his property to the women, and obeying their orders. The other does not wish to give up his property, but he is more than willing to take advantage of the free food.

Background

After the oligarchy put in place after the war fell, Athenians asserted their democracy and equality very strongly. The play makes its point that excessive democracy has its problems.

Longest word

In the play is what appears to be an exceptionally long word: Lopado­­temacho­­selacho­­galeo­­kranio­­leipsano­­drim­­hypo­­trimmato­­silphio­­parao­­melito­­katakechy­­meno­­kichl­­epi­­kossypho­­phatto­­perister­­alektryon­­opte­­kephallio­­kigklo­­peleio­­lagoio­­siraio­­baphe­­tragano­­pterygon

In reality it is a series of words stuck together, not a genuine word. It describes is a fictional food dish mentioned in Assemblywomen.[1] Liddell and Scott translate this as "name of a dish compounded of all kinds of dainties, fish, flesh, fowl, and sauces".[2] The Greek word contains 171 letters, which far surpasses that of Shakespeare's 27-letter long word, "honorificabilitudinitatibus" in his Love's Labour's Lost V.I.

It is a transliteration of the Ancient Greek word λοπαδο­τεμαχο­σελαχο­γαλεο­κρανιο­λειψανο­δριμ­υπο­τριμματο­σιλφιο­καραβο­μελιτο­κατακεχυ­μενο­κιχλ­επι­κοσσυφο­φαττο­περιστερ­αλεκτρυον­οπτο­κεφαλλιο­κιγκλο­πελειο­λαγῳο­σιραιο­βαφη­τραγανο­πτερύγων. It is the longest word to appear in literature.[3]

The dish has at least 16 ingredients, including:

References

  1. "Aristophanes, Ecclesiazusae (ed. Eugene O'Neill, Jr.), line 1163". Perseus.tufts.edu.
  2. Liddell and Scott lopado...pterygon
  3. Guinness Book of World Records, 1990 ed, pg. 129 ISBN 0-8069-5790-5

[[Category:Ancient Greece]