THESMOPHORIAZOUSAI

Introductory Information

(based on D. M. MacDowell)*

The play has practically no political references, which is rare in Old Comedy. It is especially unusual, because it was produced in 411, probably just before the political upheavals that resulted in the temporary overthrow of the Athenian democracy, and the institution of the mixed constitution of 'The 400,' and then of 'The 5000,' before the democratic constitution was restored. Aristophanes chooses to avoid politics in this politically charged atmosphere. We do not know why.

Thesmophoriazousai contains characters whose sexual ambiguity provides much of the play's humor. Male actors always portrayed women on the Athenian stage, but in this play we see an effeminate playwright (Agathon), whose female garb provides laughs, and a beardless man (Kleisthenes) who is the only male allowed among the women at the all-female Thesmophoria, because he is similar to them in nature, and is 'woman crazy' (574-576). The Kinsman spends most of his time on stage disguised as a woman, and plays mock-tragic woman's roles (as Andromeda and Helen). Finally, Euripides dresses as an woman at the play's end, as a 'madam' in charge of a courtesan who teases the Scythian.

The setting of this play is unique, too, in that it takes place in the middle of a festival of Demeter and Persephone, the Thesmophoria, where men were not allowed. It is not even certain that Aristophanes knew what transpired at this place. His depiction of the activities of the women there is mostly a parody of male-led assemblies. The actual site of the real cult, the Athenian Thesmophorion, has not yet been positively identified. Suggestions have been the Pnyx, where the Athenian demos met, and the Eleusinion, a sanctuary of Demeter between the Agora and the Acropolis.

Women are the focus of the drama, and the jokes about them involve their 'tricks' against their husbands: women are bibulous, adulterous, and anxious to pass off someone else's boy child as their own if they have been unable to bear a male heir to their husband. The jokes are all ­ of course ­ from a man's point of view, and as such provide fairly convincing evidence that the play's audience was exclusively male.

From a literary point of view, the Thesmophoriazousai offers an excellent view of comic parody of tragedy. The Kinsman, trapped by the women, participates in knock-offs of four of Euripides' plays, only one of which is extant. First he plays Telephos, who takes a hostage at the altar in order to get the opportunity to plead his case; but instead of the baby Orestes (as in Euripides' Telephos), the baby he snatches turns out to be a wineskin. Next the Relative is Oiax, from Euripides' play Palamedes, trying to get a message sent across the sea. This stratagem also fails, and he next plays Helen, stranded in Egypt, but rescued by her husband Menelaos. Euripides' Helen preserves comparable lines, allowing close examination of the parody. When this also fails to free the Kinsman, he is tied to a plank and guarded by a Scythian archer. Finally he plays Andromeda, chained to a cliff, in imitation of Euripides' (lost) Andromeda. Euripides plays Perseus, who comes to rescue the damsel in distress. This scene includes a parody of the 'echo' effect that Euripides had included in his play the year before.

Of note also is the Scythian archer, 'the largest barbarian role in any of Aristophanes' plays' (MacDowell 270). He speaks broken Greek that may indeed resemble the way foreigners like him spoke. The play ridicules him for his speech and his stupidity. He does not understand the tragic parody he hears; he cannot speak Greek properly; he is easily led away from his duty by the promise of a sexual tryst with a young prostitute, and allows the Kinsman to escape with Euripides. The chorus leader easily misleads him as he chases his prey.

*"Women at the Thesmophoria" Chapter 11 in Aristophanes and Athens: An Introduction to the Plays (Oxford, 1995), Douglas M. MacDowell, pp. 251-273. Summary by D. B. Levine. January 7, 2009.

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