Play FactsCC 301 1st Edition Lecture 22 Outline of Last Lecture I. Cover of Hippolytus by Euripedes Outline of Current Lecture II. Background HistoryIII. Play FactsCurrent LectureBackground HistoryThe Assemblywomen of Aristophanes dates from approximately 392 BCE, a time of continuing trouble for a city state — Athens — that had suffered a crushing defeat and loss of empire some twelve years earlier, and had just renewed hostilities with its erstwhile conqueror, Sparta.Thus the Athens of our play reflects historical reality: that of a poor city still feeling the after-shocks of oligarchic stasis following defeat in 404. That oligarchy is gone, but, at least for the purposes of this play, a strong sense of unity of purpose (homonoia) has yet to return. To be sure,democracy has been in place since the overthrow of oligarchy in 403, but the optimism of the Periclean age has not. Riven by smoldering resentments and continuing wealth disparity, Athenians are at a loss for what to do.Enter Praxagora. As characterized in our play, she brings resourceful thinking and a woman's natural eloquence (so the play — more in class) to the technical mastery gained from living within earshot of assembly debates. Thus she is well placed to mastermind and carry out a daringcoup d'état, one that will (a) shift all political power and responsibility from men to women, and (b) replace private property, indeed, the whole economic and social structure of Athens, with communal property shared by one, big, civic family also sharing living quarters, spouses, children, and so on. Lovers and spouses are also to be shared, senior citizens to the head of the line. Under this new system of sex-rationing and shared wealth, all the prostitutes have been sacked.So, how does it go? Does gynaecocracy ("rule by women") combined with communalism work?What problems (if any) are solved? What problems (if any) are created? What does Aristophanes seem to be trying to say about persuasion and its application?These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.Play Facts- Playwright: Aristophanes (ca. 445-380s)- Produced at Athens, probably in 392 BCE- Political-intellectual backgroundo Political situation After being defeated by Sparta in 404 BCE, Athens briefly an oligarchy. Democracy restored in 403, amnesty intended to to restore civic harmony Athens recovering, but suffering economically Sparta, now the leading state in Greece, now also an imperial power From 395 to 387, Argos, Athens, Corinth, Thebes combine to fight Sparta in a destructive, but inconclusive, war (The "Corinthian War")o Intellectual situation Under the influence of professional speech-writers like Lysias and Isaeus, the teaching ofrhetoric at Athens is gaining ground (rhetoric teachers are still called sophists) Striking that the gunaikokratia ("women's-regime") imposed by Praxagoraand her followers results in communalism, one of the key features of the ideal state in Plato'sRepublic But unlikely that Plato copies Aristophanes; rather, commununalist notionsprobably "in the air" at time- Dramatic situation: Fed up with the mess Athenian men have made of things (gap between poor and rich, selfishness, assembly attendance motivated only by pay), the women, under the leadership of Praxagora ("She Who Gets Things Done through Political Speech"), plot to infiltrate the all-male assembly and induce it to turn the state over to the women - that to bring soteria, "salvation," to the state. What is the result? . . .- Characters include:o Praxagora, leader of the coup, as a result of which she is chosen generalissimao Blepyrus, Praxagora's husbando Next-door-neighbor, with whom Blepyrus discusses the goings ono Chremes, who prepares to march his things to the communal collection pointo Citizen, who interrogates Chremes as to the wisdom of communalismo "Hags," i.e., old women who seek to "manhandle" a. . .o Young Man, who's come to for a tryst with. . .o Girl, who's in love with the young man- Play structure. The play can be thought of as split into three, basic sections, as follows:o Planning and execution of the women's coup by Praxagora and her female cohorts.o Conception and enactment of communalism by Praxagora.o Communalism in action, where this whole new order seems to be put to the