Aristophanes’ play "Thesmophoriazusae"

E480057

Aristophanes’ play "Thesmophoriazusae" is a classical Athenian comedy that satirically portrays women plotting against the tragedian Euripides during the secretive Thesmophoria festival.

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Observed surface forms (1)

Surface form Occurrences
Thesmophoriazusae 0

Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Ancient Greek comedy play
Old Comedy
addressesTopic Freedom of speech on the comic stage
Male anxiety about women’s gatherings
approximateDate Early 5th century BCE
c. 411 BCE
author Aristophanes NERFINISHED
centralTheme Gender roles in classical Athens
Parody of tragic conventions
Satire of Euripides NERFINISHED
Women’s agency and speech
containsChorusOf Women celebrating the Thesmophoria
culturalContext Athenian democracy during the Peloponnesian War
dramaticStructure Includes prologue, parodos, agon, and comic episodes typical of Old Comedy
extantStatus Survives nearly complete
featuresCharacter Agathon NERFINISHED
Euripides NERFINISHED
Mnesilochus NERFINISHED
Women attending the Thesmophoria
firstPerformanceContext City Dionysia festival NERFINISHED
firstPerformancePlace Athens NERFINISHED
genre Comedy
Satire
hasForm Verse drama
hasModernTitleVariant The Thesmophoriazusae NERFINISHED
The Women at the Thesmophoria NERFINISHED
influencedField Classical reception studies NERFINISHED
Modern feminist readings of Greek comedy
literaryPeriod Classical Athens NERFINISHED
literaryTechnique Metatheatre
Parody
Role reversal and cross-dressing
meter Primarily iambic trimeter in spoken dialogue
Various lyric meters in choral songs
originalLanguage Ancient Greek
parodiesGenre Greek tragedy
parodiesSpecificWork Euripides’ plays and tragic style in general
parodiesWorkOf Euripides NERFINISHED
plotDevice A male relative of Euripides infiltrates the women’s festival in disguise
plotSummary Women at the Thesmophoria plot revenge against Euripides for his negative portrayals of women
preservedIn Medieval manuscript tradition
relatedWorkByAuthor Lysistrata NERFINISHED
The Clouds NERFINISHED
The Frogs NERFINISHED
religiousContext Thesmophoria festival in honor of Demeter and Persephone
setting Athens NERFINISHED
Thesmophoria festival NERFINISHED
studiedIn Classics curricula
survivalStatus Extant play

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Thesmophoria documentedIn Aristophanes’ play "Thesmophoriazusae"