“all shall be equal, and equally share All wealth and enjoyments, nor longer endure That one should be rich, and another be poor, That one should have acres, far-stretching and wide, And another not even enough to provide Himself with a grave”
~ ‘The Ecclesiazusae’ by Aristophanes (Benjamin B. Rogers translation. GB5 - p. 621)
The play opens with Praxagora, an Athenian woman, dressed up in her husband’s clothes and shoes, out on a street with a lamp in her hand, looking for signs of others. It is very early in the morning, and she has asked other women to gather here disguised as men. Slowly, the women come in, and Praxagora reveals her plan to infiltrate the Athenian assembly and vote. She mentions that men have not been doing a good job, and women are better at managing state affairs since they manage the household well. They practice manly walks and speeches and find that most are not so good at talking. They decide that it would be better if Praxagora talks at the assembly since she is very good at it, and they go there.
Then the scene shifts to Blepyrus, Praxagora’s husband, waking up and finding his clothes missing. He wears his wife’s clothes and comes out to find that his neighbor also has the same problem - his wife is missing and his clothes are gone. While they are talking, Chremes, another neighbor, comes in and reports that the assembly got over sooner this time. There were a lot of pale-faced fellows resembling shoe-makers. He describes in detail what happened at the assembly. Different people speak, and when a pale-faced youth who resembled Nicias (we know that this is Paxagora) makes a passionate speech about giving governance to women, a lot of people in the assembly cheered, though some opposed. He says that the assembly passed this new proposal, and now women are in control.