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The odd Thesmophoria of Aristophanes' Thesmophoriazusae
Habash, Martha
Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies; Spring 1997; 38, 1; ProQuest
pg. 19

The Odd Thesmophoria of 
Aristophanes' Thesmophoriaz usae 

Martha Habash 

A:.EXPECTED FROM THE TITLE, Aristophanes' Thesmophoria­
zusae does in fact concern the Thesmophoria, that 

annual, secret women's festival of Demeter and Kore 
held thoughout the Greek world. From line 277 the play is set 
at a Thesmophoria, but a very odd Thesmophoria, in which the 
poet demonstrates his bold, inventive, and creative genius at 
work in reshaping this 'festival'.1 Aristophanes employs suf­
ficient elements of the real Thesmophoria to make the pro­
ceedings recognizable, but he also adds as major components 
several non-Thesmophoric elements, introduced in part for 
sheer comic effect, and in part, I shall argue, to shape his Thes­
mophoria and his play into a form more arpropriate to the civic 
and religious purposes and atmosphere 0 the festival in which 
it was presented, the City Dionysia. 2 

I For studies of the poet's presentation of genuine Thesmophoric elements 
and themes, see H. Hansen, U Aristophanes' Thesmophoriazusae: Theme, Struc­
ture, and Production," Philologus 120 (1976) 165-85; A. Bowie, Aristophanes: 
Myth, Ritual and Comedy (Cambridge 1993); the role of mimesis in this play: 
F. Zeitlin, uTravesties of Gender and Genre in Aristophanes' Thesmo­
phoriazousae, " in H. Foley, ed., Reflections of Women in Antiquity (New 
York 1981) 169-217; M. DETIENNE, MThe Violence of Wellborn Ladies: 
Women in the Thesmophoria," in M. Detienne and J.-P. Vernant. edd., The 
Cuisine of Sacrifice among the Greeks, tr. P. Wissing (Chicago 1989: hereafter 
'Detienne') 129-47, details the women's participation in various blood sacri­
fices throughout Greece and discusses at length their activities at the Thesmo­
phoria in particular. 

2 Cf B. ROGERS, The Thesmophoriazusae of Aristophanes (London 1904: 
hereafter 'Rogers') xxviii-xxxviii, and A. Sommerstein, U Aristophanes and the 
Events of 411," JHS 97 (1977) 112-26, for discussion of the play's date. Som­
merstein and T. Hubbard, The Mask of Comedy (Ithaca 1991) 187-99, argue 
convincingly that Lys. was produced at the Lenaea and Thesm. at the City 
Dionysia in the year 411. 

19 



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20 THE ODD THESMOPHORIA OF ARISTOPHANES 

I 

Let us begin with a review of what is known about the Thes­
mophoria in Athens. 3 This ancient rite, celebrated exclusively 
by women to promote human and agricultural fertility, was one 
of the most widespread festivals in the Greek world. At 
Athens, the deme4 that appointed the priestess and her 
assistants (archousai) oversaw the expenses5 of this three-day 
festival at various sites in Attica on 11-13 Pyanopsion,6 soon 
after another festival of Demeter, the Stenia, on 9 Pyanopsion.7 

The first day of the Thesmophoria was called anodos from the 
procession of women to the Thesmophorion, probably located 
on high ground in Athens. 8 Tents9 erected in the temenos of De-

J Cf U. Kron, "Frauenfeste in Demeterheiligtiimern: das Thesmophorion 
von Bitalemi, eine archaologische Fallstudie," AA (1992) 611-50, and P. 
BRuNEAu, Recherches sur les Cultes de Delos a l' epoque hellenistique et a I' 
epoque imperiale (Paris 1970: hereafter 'Bruneau'); more recently, N. Robert­
son, "The Festival Proerosia," GRBS 37 (1996) 319-79, esp. 333f, 358ff, 377ff. 

• At Eleusis, the one Attic exemption, the state administered the sanctuary. 
Cf K. Clinton, "The Thesmophorion in Central Athens and the Celebration 
of the Thesmophoria in Attica," in R. Hagg, ed., The Role of Religion in the 
Early Greek Polis (=Proceedings of the Third International Seminar on 
Ancient Greek Cult [Stockholm 1996]) 114f. 

5 Cf IG IF 1184; O. Broneer, "The Thesmophorion in Athens," Hesperia 11 
(1942) 250-74. 

6 L Ar. Thesm. 80. The Thesmophoria in Halimus, however, began on 10 
Pyanopsion: cf LAr. Thesm. 80; Clem. AI. Protr. 2.34.2.1£ Mondesert. 

7 Cf LAr. Thesm. 834. Clinton (supra n.4: 115ff) argues convincingly 
against the popular belief that the Stenia, held on 9-10 Pyanopsion, were 
joined to the Athenian Thesmophoria to form a five-day celebration. He 
bases his argument on exposure of a misinterpretation of LAr. Thesm. 80 that 
connected the celebration of the Thesmophoria in Halimus, which began 10 
Pyanopsion, to that held in Athens beginning 11 Pyanopsion. The problem 
seems to have arisen from a very early corruption of Thesm. 80: £It£1 'tPt'tT] 'O'tl 
8EOIl0<POptWV it Il£OTj. 'tPl'tTj makes no sense, as the middle day is the Nesteia, 
held on the second day of the festival. Clinton argues that an Alexandrian 
scholar probably solved this textual problem by connecting the festival in 
Halimus, beginning 10 Pyanopsion, with the Athenian, thereby making the 
third day from 10 Pyanopsion, the Nesteia. 

8 The exact location remains uncertain. Broneer (supra n.5: 250-74) argues 
against a location near the Pnyx. A sanctuary of Demeter may have been lo­
cated on the northwest slope of the Acropolis: A. SOMMERSTElN, ed., Aris­
tophanes, Thesmophoriazusae (Warminster 1994: hereafter 'Sommerstein') 
n.658. Clinton (supra n.4: 119f), however, suggests that the audience of the 
Thesm. might have identified the poet's Thesmophorion with that located in 
the deme Melite, just west of the Agora. 

9 Cf Ar. Thesm. 658. H. Thompson, ·Pnyx and Thesmophorion," Hesperia 
5 (1936) 189, finds other evidence for setting up temporary shelters in the sanc-



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MARTHA HABASH 21 

meter indicate that the women remained there for the length of 
the festival. The procession may have begun at night, and 
torches were carried. 10 The women sacrificed to the two Thes­
mophoric goddesses on the first and third days of the festival 
proper. ll In addition, the ritual involved dancing on one or all 
three days.12 

The fasting on 12 Pyanopsion gave this day its name, nesteia. 13 

The women sat on the earth during the fast,14 a posture that may 
have been related to the legend of Demeter l5 and her choice of 
a simple stool over an illustrious couch in the palace of Eleusis 
(Hymn. Hom. Cer.193-99). Pine or willow fronds may have 
cushioned the hard ground. 16 

On 13 Pyanopsion, called kalligeneia, the women sacrified (cf 
Alciphron 3.39) and perhaps prayed for blameless childrenY 
Because of the character of the kalligeneia, the women attending 
were probably married. IS Children, except infants, were appar­
ently excluded, and the status of prostitutes and slaves is un­
clear. 19 Isaeus (3.80) indicates that a three-talent fortune made it 

tuaries for festivals of some length; cf IG V.l 1390. Cf also Bruneau (269-75) 
for numerous epigraphical references to ·poles" and ·couches" at Thesmo­
phoria. 

10 Many votive offerings at the sanctuary of Demeter in Corinth, for 
example, show women carrying torches. 

11 l: Ar. Thesm. 376. Bruneau (286-90) demonstrates that blood sacrifices 
were offered: numerous references in the Delian inscriptions mention 
charcoa~ pigs, and expiatory victims. 

12 Cf Polyaenus, Strat. 1.20: men disguised as women and wearing garlands 
dance and play in imitation of women celebrating a festival of Demeter at 
Kolias-presumably the Thesmophoria. 

13 Cf Ath. 6.307F; Ar. Av. 1519; Pluto Dem. 30.5 dates the day of fasting to 16 
Pyanopsion, but J. Mikalson, The Sacred and Civil Calendar of the Athenian 
Year (Princeton 1975) 72f, rejects his date on the basis of l:Ar. Thesm. 80, 
Photo S.V. 8E<1WxpoptwV, and Alciphron 3.39.1£ for 12 PyanopsiolL 

14 Cf Pluto Mor. 378D-E, who at 166A records that sitting on the ground is 
itself a purification ritual. 

15 H. Parke, Festi1Jais of the Athenians (Ithaca 1977) 86. 
16 Steph. Byz. 5.1J. MtA:rp:o<;; E. Fehrle, Die kultische Keuschheit im Altertum 

(Giessen 1910) 139. 
17 L. D EllNER, Attische Feste (Berlin 1932: hereafter 'Deubner') 57. 
18 Cf !sae. 3.80; CalliflL fro 63 pfeiffer. By Lucian's time (Dial. Meret. 2.1) 

young, unmarried girls attended this festival with their mothers. 
19 Detienne (137) cites Lys. 1.19 as evidence that courtesans could not attend 

the Thesmophoria. This passage, however, is inconclusive: a slave merely men­
tions that her mistress attended the festival with her lover's mother. Detienne 
cites Isae. 6.49f as evidence that slaves were barred from attending, but here a 



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22 THE ODD THESMOPHORIA OF ARISTOPHANES 

obligatory for husbands to provide a feast for their wives at the 
Thesmophoria,20 which was probably held on this day to break 
their fast. 

The best account of the secret rites of this festival is at 
kLucian 275.23-76.28 Rabe: 

In honor of Eubouleus pigs are thrown into the chasms of 
Demeter and Kore.21 Women called "fetchers" ... bring up the 
decayed remains of what was thrown into the pits below ... 
and having brought up (the remains) lay them on the altars.22 
They think that whoever takes hold of these remains and 
throws them in with his sowing will have a good harvest. And 
also here they bring up secret, holy objects prepared from the 
tallow of grain, imitations of snakes and of male forms. And 
they take the branches of the pine-tree because this tree is pro­
lific. And these things are tossed into the pits, as these inner­
most sanctuaries are called, and piglets too ... because their fer­
tility is a symbol of the reproductive generation of produce 
and of men. 

Here, the secret rites are performed to promote the fertility of 
both human and plant life, and involve handling objects associ­
ated with fertility: snakes, male 'forms', pine branches, and pig-

woman who should not have participated in the rites is described as being 
both a slave and one who lives shamefully. Therefore, it is unclear which of 
the two conditions or both made the woman unfit for celebrating the rites of 
Demeter. Some attendant slaves are present at Aristophanes' festival: a wet­
nurse (609) and a servant Mania (728, 739, 754). As for courtesans, Aristoph­
anes has Euripides bring in a dancer from outside the festival for the Scythian 
policeman (ll77ff). 

20 Cf also Men. Epit. 749f Sandbach, where Smicrines warns his daughter, 
Pamphila, of becoming the wife of a man who has to contribute to the 
Thesmophoria and Skira on behalf of both his wife and mistress. 

21 Cf l:Ar. Eeel. 18, who claims that the Thesmophoria was united with 
another festival of Demeter, the Skira, held on 12 Skirophorion, some three 
and a half months before the Thesmophoria. The scholiast maintains that 
piglets, pine branches, and models of phalloi and snakes were thrown into 
pits at the Skira. W. Burkert, Greek Religion, tr. J. Raffan (Cambridge [Mass.] 
1985) 243, does not think, however, that the remains of the pigs fetched up 
during the Thesmophoria had to be the remains of pigs thrown into the 
megaron during the Skira. 

22 Deubner 50; Parke (supra n.15) 159f. For a brief summary of the archaeo­
logical remains of these hollow chambers (megara) into which the piglets were 
thrown, see Burkert (supra n.21) 243. SEC XXIII 80 line 27 col. 1 refers to 
·wood for altar" at the Thesmophoria; ef Bruneau 269-75 for numerous 
epigraphical references on Delos to wood and altars. 



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MARTHA HABASH 23 

lets. Models of female genitalia may also have been worshiped. 23 
In addition, another activity to promote fertility, the use of 
aischrologia,24 was a characteristic feature of the Thesmophoria: 
Cleomedes (De motu, circu/. corp. cae/. 2.1. 166.5ff Todd) 
compares the women's language at this festival to that of 
whores; Apollodorus (1.5.1: OKW1t'tEtV) and Diodorus (5.4.6£: 
atOXPoAoy£tV) both record that taunting and raillery were part 
of the Thesmophoria. 25 

II 

Aristophanes' Thesmophoria features non-Thesmophoric ele­
ments that reshape the 'festival', though maintaining the Thes­
mophoric atmosphere. The Thesmophoria has been anticipated 
since line 76, when Euripides reveals to his Relative that "this 
day" will determine whether he lives or dies. The Relative in­
forms Euripides and the audience that this is unlikely because 
neither the dikasteria nor the boule is meeting, due to the cele­
bration of the middle day of the Thesmophoria (78ff).26 Eurip­
ides, in turn, responds that the women will hold an ecclesia in 
the Thesmophoria to decide his fate for slandering women in 
his tragedies (81-85). After failing to convince the effeminate 
poet, Agathon, to enter the festival and to speak on the poet's 
behalf, Euripides sends off the Relative, disguised as a woman, 
and pledges to help him should he encounter trouble in his 
endeavors. 

23 Cf Theodoret Graecorum Affectionum curatio 3.84 Raeder: women at 
the Thesmophoria deemed representations of the female genitalia appro­
priate; Heracleides of Syracuse (Ath. 14.647 A) said that women at the Thesmo­
phoria made cakes shaped like the pubis and carried them around for the 
goddesses. Also, the women may have slept on 1CVtropov plants, which 
according to Hesychius (s.v.) represent the female genitalia. 

24 Aischrologia was a common feature of cults of Demeter and seems to be 
reflected in Demeter's encounter with Iambe (Hymn. Hom. Cer. 200-205), 
where aischrologia is employed to relieve Demeter's mourning. Cf N. Rich­
ardson, The Homeric Hymn to Demeter (Oxford 1974) 216£f, for the con­
nection between jesting and mourning, and mourning and fertility festivals. 

25 Parke (supra n.ls: 86£) thinks that the women may have used aischrologia 
at the end of the day of fasting, possibly as a way to satisfy the release of 
irritation from hunger. Callim. fro 21.8ff Pfeiffer perhaps demonstrates a link 
between fasting and aischrologia at a festival of Demeter. 

26 Mikalson (supra n.D) 193-97. See Sommerstein n.78 for a discussion of 
the Council's ability to pass a death sentence. 



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24 THE ODD THESMOPHORIA OF ARISTOPHANES 

Although the Chorus of female celebrants naturally gives the 
best possible account of the activities of the poet's 'festival', the 
Relative, even as an outsider, is equally important, for he easily 
blends in with the women and shows a familiarity with the rites. 
Further, his presence among the women provides comic 
tension, as stories of an illicit intrusion of a male into this festival 
demonstrate the fierceness of the women in guarding the secret 
rites of Demeter. Aelian (fr. 44 Hercher) records that in 
Cyrene celebrants at this festival once killed a male spy, who 
happened to be King Battus. Similarly, Pausanias (4.17.1) writes 
that Aristomenes of Messenia approached the celebration of 
this festival too closely, was assaulted with knives, spits, and 
torches, and was seized. 27 These accounts of violence parallel 
Herodotus' assertion (2.171) that the man-slaughtering Danaids 
brought this festival from Egypt and taught the rites to the Pe­
lasgian women in Thessaly.28 

The nature of Aristophanes' 'festival' will become clearer by 
focusing on the actions of both the Chorus and the Relative in 
the following passages: (1) Procession, and the Relative's prayer 
and sacrifice (277-91); (2) the opening prayers in the ecclesia 
(292-371); (3) speakers at the ecclesia (372-573); and (4) singing 
and dancing (655-88; 947-1000; 1136-59). 

(1) Procession, the Relative's Prayer and Sacrifice (277-91). 
When the scene shifts to the Thesmophorion, it is already the 
middle of the three-day festival proper (80, 375f), the day on 
which the Athenian women will have the leisure to hold an 
ecclesia (375).29 Nevertheless, the poet conflates the time of his 
festival to include many activities on one day. As he nears the 
Thesmophorion, the male intruder sees lighted torches and a 
great crowd moving under their flames (280f). Here, the appar­
ent initial procession of the festival is transposed to the middle 

27 Cf Detienne (129f) for discussion of the sacrificial activity that the tales of 
Battus and Aristomenes involve. 

28 Similarly, Clem. AI. (Protr. 2.19) notes that the women at this festival ate 
pomegranate seeds, whose red juice is associated with blood. 

29 In some respects the Thesmophoria's organization and practices resem­
bled a civic institution, e.g. archousai presided over the festival (cf LSCC 
Suppi. 124.3) and implemented the ·programmatic features sanctioned by 
custom" (cf Isae. 8.19) -as it seemed good to the women" (00<; EOO~£ 'tu'i<; 
'Y\)vat[~i, [SAM 61.5); more specifically here, the assembly during the Thes­
mophoria is clearly modelled on the secular ecclesia, and is described so in 
several places (cf 84,301,329). Cf Detienne (138f) for more examples of the 
political vocabulary in various sources used to describe the Thesmosphoria. 



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MARTHA HABASH 25 

day. Upon entering the Thesmophorion, the Relative prays to 
the two goddesses (282f) and sacrifices a cake (285),30 which his 
servant31 carries in a basket. Next he prays that he be received 
and returned with good fortune (ayaen "['Uxn. 283)-an ap­
propriate prayer for those in processions. The male celebrant 
beseeches the goddesses that he be able to keep sacrificing 
many things often to them, a conventional enough prayer, and 
then if he is denied this, that he be allowed to escape notice now 
(287f), i.e., remain undetected as a man in the all-female festival. 
The remainder of the Relative's prayer to the two goddesses 
(289ff) is on behalf of his imaginary children. 32 He prays that his 
daughter, Choirion ("Little Pussy"), be married to a wealthy 
and stupid man (289f), and that his son, Posthaliscon ("Little 
Pecker"'),33 be smart (291). The Relative's prayer as a whole 
probably reflects the initial prayers of the female celebrants of 
the actual festival: a safe trip to and from the festival, ability to 
keep making sacrifices (i.e., financial prosperity),H marriages for 
daughters, and prosperity for sons (here, intelligence is equated 
with success). 35 

(2) The Opening Prayers of the Ecclesia (292-371). Although 
an ecclesia within the Thesmophoria is an Aristophanic inven­
tion, the poet nevertheless fits it into the festival by incorporat­
ing features pertinent both to the actual festival and to the wo-

30 ltOltUVU are common sacrifices: Ar. Plut. 660, 680; Men. fro 129.4 Kock; 
Plut. Mar. 362F. 

31 As he enters the festival, the Relative dismisses his servant (293), perhaps 
because slaves were not allowed to hear the secret rites (294), or more likely 
because he either had no slave or borrowed one. P. Kershenbaum (cited in 
Hansen [supra n.l] 175 n.47) cleverly suggests that the Relative borrows 
someone else's slave in the confusion of the crowd. 

J2 Because this festival is concerned with fertility and the Relative prays for 
his "children," it seems that on the Kalligeneia the women were concerned 
with both the offspring of the earth as well as, perhaps, their own. 

33 Following Dindorf's emendation of ltoa9uA.l0'1(Qv: Aristophanis Comoe­
diae (Paris 1877) ad lac.. 

H Cf J. MIKALSON, Honor Thy Gods (Chapel Hill 1991: hereafter 'Mikal­
son') 59ff, n.209, for a list of dedications offered by fifth-century Athenians 
either for the fulfilment of a vow or in the hope that more success would be 
the result of more dedications. 

35 Mikalson (supra n.34: 59) observes that women in tragedies generally 
pray to female deities for children and successful births, and that their 
children live long and happy lives, which include good marriages: cf Eur. Ak. 
163-66. 



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26 THE ODD THESMOPHORIA OF ARISTOPHANES 

men's purpose in holding the meeting.36 Aristophanes apparent­
ly included the ecclesia because the idea of women deliberating 
'men's issues' is inherently funny (cf Eccl., Lys.), a court is nec­
essary for the trial of Euripides, and it allows the introduction of 
'civic' elements, which are characteristic of Old Comedy. 

Following the ritual call for silen<::e (Eu<j>TlI.tla, 295f) the 
heraldess (KT\p{l1ccxtva)37 orders the women to pray to Demeter 
and Pherrephatta; Plutus, god of agricultural plenty; Calligenea, 
for whom the third day of the Thesmophoria is named; 38 Curo­
trophus Ge, who shared a sanctuary with Demeter on the 
Acropolis (Paus. 1.22.3); Hermes, who most likely escorted 
Pherrephatta back from the underworld; and the Graces, con­
nected with Demeter and Kore in both legend and cult 
(297-300; cf IG P 5; Hymn. Orph. 43.7). Here, Thesmophoric 
deities replace those probably invoked at the real Athenian 
assemblies: Zeus, Apollo,39 Gaia,40 and Athena.41 

Civic and religious elements are paired in the heraldess' bid to 
pray to these deities that they favor and grant success to this 

36 For the parodic elements in and unity of the ecclesia, see H. Kleinknecht, 
Die Gebetsparodie in der Antike (Stuttgart 1937) 33ff; J. HALDANE, -A Scene 
in the Thesmophoriazusae (295-371)," Philologus 109 (1965: hereafter 
'Haldane') 39-46; W. Horn, Gebet und Gebetsparodie in den Komodien des 
A ristophanes (Niirnberg 1970) 10Mf. 

37 The priestess at the actual Thesmophoria would have initiated prayers. 
See Sommerstein (n.295) for the identity of the character in this play. 

38 Cf. Deubner 57. Calligenea is the name of Demeter's nursemaid at 
Nonnus Dion. 6.140, but at Hsch. S.'lJ. KUAAlytvttU she is also Demeter's 
priestess or attendant. 

39 Evidence is lacking for which gods were invoked in the ecclesia. P. 
Rhodes, The Athenian Boule (Oxford 1972) 3M, regards the ceremonial pro­
ceedings of the boule and the ecclesia as essentially the same, so the evidence 
for gods invoked at the boule should also apply to the ecclesia. Pausanias 
(1.3.5) saw the sanctuary of the Mother of the Gods near the Athenian bou­
leuterion, and within the bouleuterion he saw statues of Zeus Boulaios, 
Apollo, and Demos, which may suggest that these deities were invoked at 
civic meetings. 

40 Rhodes (supra n.39: 31) thinks that the boule had ties with the cult of the 
Mother of the Gods from very early on, citing H. Thompson, cBuildings on 
the West Side of the Agora," Hesperia 6 (1937) 135-40, who considers a 
temple north of the old bouleuterion as belonging to the Mother of the Gods. 

41 SIG3 181 includes a prayer of the boule to Olympian Zeus, Athena Polias, 
Demeter and Kore, the twelve gods, and the Furies. Further, Antiphon (6.45) 
mentions that a shrine of Zeus Boulaios and Athena Boulaia stood in the 
bouleuterion. 



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MARTHA HABASH 27 

ecclesia and ritual assembly (auvo(5o<;, 302),42 that the meeting be 
very beneficial to Athens and successful for the women, and 
that the woman who is most helpful to-and speaks the best 
things about-the Athenian demos 43 and women, may be the 
victorious speaker (302-305). The kerykaina closes this custom­
ary prayer in formulaic manner by ordering the women to pray 
for these things (to:u't' dSx£CJ8E, 310)44 and for good things for 
themselves, by crying iTj 1tCltwv,4i and by bidding the assembly 
of women to "fare well" (310f). The heraldess' prayer thus 
addresses the Thesmophoric goddesses and those related to 
them, and asks the deities to favor them and their meeting as 
well as Athens. The format and language of this prayer resemble 
a civic prayer: the opening calls for EuqrrU.lla, the proposal of the 
names of the deities to be addressed, the subject of the prayer, 
and the conclusion with a paean were the "regular procedure in 
public ritual. "46 But Aristophanes has modified this 'civic 
prayer' to include elements relating to Demeter: the Chorus, 
while parodying civic formulae for humor also blends civic and 
religious terms and issues, and thereby underlines the women's 
perception of themsleves as both Athenian civic leaders and 
celebrants of Demeter and Kore. 

In response to the heraldess' order, the Chorus prays for 
music, various gods' attendance and favor, and the holding of an 
ecclesia. The women then beseech (313) the all-inclusive "race 
of gods" to appear and then to rejoice in these prayers ('tata(5' 
E1t' Euxa'i<; <pav£v'ta<; E7ttxaPllVat, 312f), 47 invi ting the divinities to 
become fellow celebrants in their festival. 48 The Chorus hymns 

42 Haldane (40) notes that this word is commonly used of ritual gatherings; 
cf. Thuc. 3.104.3; PI. Leg. 6.771 0; Arist. Eth. Nic. 1160a25ff. 

43 Cf. M. Hansen. The Athenian Ecclesia (Copenhagen 1983) 141-48, for the 
various meetings of oilllO~ in preserved decrees. 

44 Kleinknecht (supra n.36: 38) detected this formula. 
45 The paean regularly ended religious services: cf Thuc. 6.32. The paean at 

Ar. Pax 454f similarly concludes Trygaeus' prayer and introduces a joyous 
celebration. 

40 Haldane 39; see also Rhodes (supra n.39) 36£. 
47 Mikalson (188) observes that gin life and in literature, gods 'rejoice' in 

being worshiped. The vox propria is xutpnv." 
48 This is an unusual request. Deities are often invited to attend festivals, but 

not to participate in them. Two exceptions are Dicaeopolis' invitation (Ach. 
263-79) to Phales to drink with him as a fellow traveler and the Chorus' 
invitation (Thesm. 987) to Bacchus to lead the dance. Although Phales and 
Bacchus make suitable companions at a festival (sex and wine), the 'race of 
gods' is vague and too inclusive. Would Ares be welcome at a festival? Surely 



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28 THE ODD THESMOPHORIA OF ARISTOPHANES 

and invites to the festival a new set of deities, some of whom 
may have been customarily addressed at the ecclesia, among 
them Zeus,49 Poseidon, Apollo, and Athena-who is prominent 
in this invocation, receiving four epithets, two focusing on her 
martial aspects and two emphasizing her role as patron of 
Athens (1taYKpa:t£~, Kopa, yA.a\JKii)1tt~, Xp\JO'OA.oyxo~). 50 

Demeter, addressed by the Chorus earlier (298), also may have 
been addressed at the ecclesia. Artemis, the maidens of Nereus, 
and mountain nymphs are also invoked and demonstrate the 
women's focus on female deities, especially those customarily 
associated with this Demetrian festival. 51 The Chorus closes by 
asking that they, "well-born women of Athens, "52 hold an 
ecclesia (329f). The heraldess has invoked deities associated with 
Demeter and Kore; the Chorus addresses a wider range of 
divinites that include males-probably not part of the Thes­
mophoric milieu but included because they are important civic 
deities. In other words, the heraldess, acting more like the 
priestess of Demeter than a heraldess, focuses on Demeter and 
Kore; and the Chorus, acting as 'good citizens', expands the cele­
bration to include important civic deities, Athena in particular. 

Lines 331-51 parody the ritual curse pronounced before a real 
meeting of the ecclesia (Dem. 8.130; Deinarch. 2.16; Isoc. 
4.157).53 The kerykaina asks the women to pray to the Olym-

not. Cf Ar. Ach. 979-87, where War's destruction of his host's symposium is 
lamented. 

49 Haldane (41) observes that in Athens when gods were addressed in a 
body it was customary to mention one or more deities from the following 
three groups: (a) Hestia and Zeus, (b) Athena and Poseidon, (c) Apollo, 
Artemis, and Leto. Zeus may have been customarily invoked at the Thes­
mophoria, for an altar to him was found in the Thesmophorion on Thasos (c. 
Rolley, «Le sanctuaire de Dieux Patrooi et Ie Thesmophorion de Thasos," 
BCH 89 [1965] 441-83), and Zeus Eubouleus is repeatedly mentioned in 
inscriptions concerning the Thesmophoria on Delos: cf Bruneau. 

50 Cf C. Anderson, Athena's Epithets: Their Structural Significance in Plays 
of Aristophanes (Stuttgart 1995) 57-62: an excellent discussion of the epithets 
in this play. 

5! On Thasos the Thesmophorion contained the altars of Zeus, Artemis, 
Athena, and the Nymphs: cf Rolley (supra n. 49). Haldane (41) views the in­
vocation of the Nereids and Nymphs as due to their association with Posei­
don and Artemis, respectively. Sommerstein (n.326) suggets that the Nymphs 
may have played a special role in "women's cult and religious affections." 

52 Cf Pluto Sol. 8.4, where the "first women of Athens" sacrifice to Demeter 
at Colias. 

53 Haldane 43; Kleinknecht (supra n.36) 34f; Horn (supra n.36) 106-15. 



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MARTHA HABASH 29 

pian, Pythian, and Delian gods and goddesses; the comic addi­
tion of .. goddesses" to the call for prayer renders it suitable to 
this festival and its participants. 54 Next the heraldess parodies 
the opening statement of the attendants of the Heliaea (c{ Dem. 
24.149): just as the heliasts took an oath to abide by the faws and 
votes of the Athenian demos and boule (Dem. 24.149.1£), the 
women refer to the demos of women (335f); and as the heliasts 
vowed not to vote for a tyrant or oligarchy (Dem. 24.149.3), the 
women pray that harm may come to those who plot to be 
tyrant or bring one back (337f). The similarities between the 
heliasts' and the women's oaths then disappear as the women 
abandon civic issues and threaten personal enemies, in partic­
ular those who harm women and thwart their crafty schemes 
(339-51). The women's reference to themselves as "demos of 
women" reveals both their belief in the all-inclusive nature of 
the Demetrian festival, for they have removed all reference to 
civic status implicit in the men's oaths (" demos of Athenians," 
boule), and also their commitment to their self-imposed civic 
powers. In addition, by viewing the enemies of women as equi­
valent to the enemies of the state, the celebrants demonstrate 
their perception of themselves as important civic leaders who 
have the authority to protect the demos of women. The 
Chorus here establishes its authority to punish Euripides, 
whose plays have harmed women. 

In lines 352-71, the Chorus prays for the city and the demos 
of women (352-57), issues new warnings (357-68), and prays to 
Zeus to be its overseer so that the gods will favor the sup­
pliants who are "mere women" (369f). Like the heraldess' 
prayer, this one resembles a public prayer but is suited to the 
ecclesia: may the best speaker win (355f), and may those come 
to some harm who trespass oaths, votes, and laws, or who help 
the Persians or hurt the city (356-68). And like the heraldess 
previously, the Chorus expresses both civic and gender­
oriented sentiments. But though the heraldess was particularly 
concerned with women's problems, the Chorus sings of public 
and religious issues. The Chorus' tone is apparently mock som­
ber and moralizing, as it introduces the theme of retribution 
against those who divulge secret rites (tU7tOPPTl'ta, 363f) and dis­
honor the gods (U(JE~OU(Jat, 367). This theme sets up the next 

54 Similar parodies of an invitation to the gods, which includes 'goddesses'; 
Ar. Av. 86M; Men. Kol. fr. 1.2f Sandbach. 



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30 THE ODD THESMOPHORIA OF ARISTOPHANES 

scene in which the violator of the secret rites is discovered and 
Euripides is accused of a religious crime. 

(3) Speakers at the Ecclesia (372-573). The heraldess begins the 
meeting in imitation of a probouleuma (372-79)55 and employs 
the political language of civic meetings, e.g., f()O~£ 'tft J)OUAft ... 
'tiC; ayop£u£lV J)OUA£'tCll. A chairwoman and secretary are 
named, the proposer of the motion is given, and the first item 
of business is given: that concerning Euripides. 

The first speaker (380-432), Woman A, relates against Euri­
pides a civic charge of slander «)lClJ)aAAflv 390, 411),~ then lists 
the repercussions of his crime. She criticizes him for portraying 
inter alia the adulterous disposition of women (392) and their 
fondness for men (392) and wine (393), and proposes death for 
Euripides (428-31). But Woman A's objections to Euripides' 
portrayal of women are as unflattering as the tragedian's image 
of women. Not only does Euripides lampoon (iambos) and 
speak shamelessly and insultingly (aischrologia )57 about the 
women, but in the course of their attack on him, the women 
also lampoon and insult each other, and thereby undermine 
their case. Here, the Chorus' dual roles is combined, as it em­
ploys aischrologia during a proper civic meeting. 

The second speaker, Woman B, a widow with five children 
who makes wreathes for religious rituals, tells how she has been 
hurt financially because Euripides has persuaded men that the 
gods do not exist (443-58).58 The Chorus, acting as a civic leader, 
determines the necessity of punishing Euripides for his hybris 
(465), and thereby confirms Woman B's religious charge. 

The Relative, the third speaker (466-570), defends Euripides 
by telling incriminating stories about women that even the play­
wright dared not portray. The Chorus reacts by scolding the 
Relative for railing at it (Ao1.()OP£lV, 571, 650) and being hybristic 

55 C[. Sommerstein (nn.372-79) on the typical prescript of a prohouleuma. 
56 Aristophanes uses similar expressions in his defense against Cleon's earlier 

civic charge against him. The poet, in the guise of Dicaeopolis, states that 
Cleon will not slander him now (olU~aAE'i, Ach. 502) for maligning (J(n1cro~ 
AiYEl, 503) Athens. 

57 ]. Henderson, The Maculate Muse 2 (Oxford 1991) Sf, defines aloxPo­
AOYEtv: -to speak anything out of place was to speak shamelessly or 
insultingly (aischrowg ein). " 

58 C. Moulton, Aristophanic Poetry (Gottingen 1981) 126, thinks that after 
Woman B's objections to Euripides' atheism, she ·undercuts her own argu­
ment by suddenly departing to prepare an order for twenty crowns 
(457-458)." 



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MARTHA HABASH 31 

(1tEpt'\)Ppi~£lV, 535), and threatens to pluck out the hair from 
'her' choiron (genitalia, 538). Comically, the disguised male is 
threatened with depilation, which he has already suffered to 
'become' a women. The Relative and the Chorus here return to 
their roles as Demeter's worshippers, as the impostor employs 
aischrologia and the women demonstrate an interest in the 
handling of genitalia. 

The ecclesia is broken up when Cleisthenes, a 'proxenos' for 
women,59 arrives and informs the women that Euripides has 
sent a male spy into this festival (576-88). The Chorus reacts 
quickly by becoming 'hunters' of this 'spy' (599). The Relative's 
precarious position is suddenly seriously threatened as the 
women 'hunt' him out, and the comic situation of a male se­
cretly entering an all-female festival has the potential of becom­
ing a tragedy a la Pentheus. The Chorus now abandons its civic 
role and instead returns to its primary role as a celebrant and 
defends the rites of Demeter against male intruders. 

In the opening scene of Aristophanes' Thesmophoria both 
the Relative and the Chorus act at times as celebrants of Deme­
ter and as good citizens participating in one of the most demo­
cratic institutions in Athens. The Relative joins the procession 
to the Thesmophorion, offers a sacrifice and prayers to the two 
goddesses, and employs aischrologia while participating in the 
ecclesia's debate concerning Euripides. The Chorus, on the 
other hand, alternates between its roles as a participant in a 
religious festival and in a democratic institution. Its prayers 
address not only the Thesmophoric deities but also the "race of 
gods," and in particular those who seem to have been ad­
dressed at the ecclesia. The Chorus carefully balances its 
prayers for women with prayers for Athens. And finally, the 
two female speakers at the ecclesia introduce both a religious 
and a civic charge against Euripides. The Chorus skillfully pre­
sents itself as both proper participants in a religious rite and as 
citizens concerned with the welfare of Athens. Hence, by 
cleverly and comically introducing Thesmophoric deities and 
concerns into his ecclesia, Aristophanes is able to make a funda­
mentally secular institution appear as an almost natural, organic 
component of his festival. 

59 Cleisthenes for twenty years was frequently the butt of Aristophanes' 
jokes and is commonly ridiculed for his effeminancy: Ach. 117ff, Lys. 1092, 
Nub. 355, Av. 829f, Ran. 426f; cf K. Dover, Greek Homosexuality (Cam­
bridge [Mass.] 1978) 145; proxenos: Sommerstein (n.576) discusses the responsi­
bilities of this office and why the women treat Cleisthenes so well. 



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32 THE ODD THESMOPHORIA OF ARISTOPHANES 

(4) Singing and Dancing. After the Relative's discovery, the 
Chorus returns to its primary role as a worshipper of Demeter 
and Kore and performs a customary rite at this festival, the cele­
bration of the Thesmophoric deities in song. These songs dem­
onstrate the earlier trend of celebrating non-Thesmophoric de­
ities and, in particular, civic deities and Dionysus. From the 
time of Cleisthenes' arrival to the end of the play the Chorus 
sings three songs: (a) the search for more male intruders (655-
88), (b) hymn to the Olympians (947-1000), and (c) hymn to 
Athena and the Thesmophoric goddesses (1136-59). 

(a) The Search for More Male Intruders (655-88). After the 
intruder is discovered, the Chorus appears with torches and 
frantically dances around the orchestra in search of more men 
on the premises (655-88). The Chorus takes off its mantles and 
girds itself in a 'manly' fashion to search, to run around, and to 
examine closely every closed space, tent, and passage where a 
man could hide (656£). The Chorus, as 'hunters' of men (tXVEUE 
... IHl-tEUE ... 1tav'taxn Pt'l'OV Ollila ... avacrK01tEl KaA~. 660-67), 
runs hurriedly and silently in a circle in its search (659-62). Here 
the Chorus acts as cultic members: circular dancing in a manly 
fashion is characteristic of the celebrants of Demeter's cults (the 
Chorus of Eleusinian initiates at Ar. Ran 372 bids each other 
"everyone now move heroically" [XWPEl VUV 1tn<; avcSpElw<;] and 
"advance now in a holy circle of the goddess" [XWPEt'tE VUV 
tEPOV avO. KUKAOV SEn<;. Ran. 440£]). The Demetrian celebrants 
celebrate Demeter in a typical manner while defending the 
secrets of her rites. 

During this dance the Chorus threatens and warns impious 
men. The Chorus views the man who would enter this festival 
as most loathsome: cSpacra<; avocrta ... 1tapacSEiYIl' Uf3PEW<; acSiK­
wv 't' EPYOV aSEwv 'tE 'tp01tWV (668-72). Because of the spy's 
religious crimes, the women view themselves as instruments of 
the gods. By capturing him and making him an example to all, 
they can show that the gods exist, that men should revere them, 
and that men should justly follow holy and lawful ordinances 
and do what is right (672-77, CP~(JEl cS' dvat 'tE Swu<; cpavEp&<;. 
cSd~El 't' ilcST\ 1tncrlv aVSpW1tOl<; crEf3i~Elv cSaillova<; cSlKaiw<; 't' 
£CPE1tElV ocrla Kat vOllllla llT\cSOIlEVOU<; 1tOEtV O'tl KaA&<; EXEl).60 By 
its actions the Chorus intends to disprove Euripides' belief that 

60 "He will say openly that the gods exist, and he will now tell all men to 
respect the daimones and justly to pursue holy and lawful pursuits, while they 
contrive to do what is good. n 



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MARTHA HABASH 33 

the gods do not exist. The celebrants believe that only a mad or 
furious man (679ff) would commit lawless and unholy deeds 
('til 1tapnVOlla 'tn 't' &'voota, 685) and that a god would exact 
retribution immediately (685f). Here the Chorus furthers the 
possibility that Mnesilochus ("the Relative") will come to a 
'tragic' end. 

The tone of this choral song is apparently mock-serious, with 
its repeated religious warnings and threats against men. But 
Aristophanes maintains the sacred character of the festival 
through the Chorus' fervent belief that the gods will punish the 
impious. In particular, the Chorus' heightened religious tone 
highlights the increasingly dangerous situation for the Relative, 
whom the Chorus pursues for his religious crimes: committing 
unholy (668) and unjust deeds, being hybristic, and having 
godless manners (670). The Relative's sacrilege of entering this 
secret festival warrants retribution from the gods,61 and the 
women are their likely agents. 

(b) Hymn to the Olympians (947-1000). Once the male spy 
has been bound and handed over to the Scythian policeman, the 
Chorus sings a long ode in celebration (947-1000). The Chorus 
returns to its festivities: &YE VUV ill1E'i~ 1taiO(()j.1EV o.1tEP voj.10~ 
(947f). "Playing" (947, 975, 983) seems to be an appropriate 
description of the customary activities of Demctrian festivals 
(c{. supra n.12), for "play" (1tat~- or a cognate) is used most 
otten by and for the Eleusinian Initiates in the Frogs to describe 
their activities (319, 333f, 375, 388, 407, 415, 443, 452). The 
Chorus calls its festivites "holy rites" (opyta oEllvn, 948),62 
which are performed at the 'sacred seasons', and are especially 
dear to the goddess of crops. The celebrants' religious duties at 
this festival include revering the goddesses (OE~E'tat, 949)63 and 
fasting (VTlO'tEUEt, 949, 984). Here the chorus acts strictly as 
Demetrian celebrants. 

The Chorus next dances hand-in-hand in a circle and casts 
about its eyes (953-59), as it had earlier when searching for male 
intruders (663-67). But clearly here the tossing of the eyes is 
part of the dance and not a search for men. The coryphaeus 

61 For the Athenian popular belief in the retribution of the gods for impiety, 
see J. Mikalson, Athenian Popular Religion (Chapel Hill 1983) 25-38. 

62 The same term is used to describe the Eleusinian Mysteries: Hymn. Hom. 
Cer. 476ff). 

63 Cf Hymn. Hom. Cer. 479: I!£ya yap n: armv o£Pac; lOXUVEt auof]v. 
According to Mikalson (supra n.34: 76) OEPE'iv is the vox propria for ·showing 
pious respect ... 



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34 THE ODD THESMOPHORIA OF ARISTOPHANES 

calls upon the Chorus to sing and dance (~£A1t£, 962)64 and to 
honor with its voice (y£patp£ cprov!\, 962)65 in a dance-mad 
manner (xopoJ.Lavel 'tP01t<!>, 961) the «race of Olympian gods" 
(961£). "Dance-mad" indicates dancing as if in a Bacchic frenzy 
and hints at the later invitation to Bacchus to lead the Chorus 
(985ff). The range of deities invoked is enlarged to include not 
only the Thesmophoric goddesses but now the Olympian 
divinites, and especially Bacchus. 

After it has come to a standstill (958), the Chorus suddenly 
announces that the audience will be sorely disappointed if it 
expects lampooning (K(l1(W~ Epdv, 963ff) of men. 66 Songs, jokes, 
light bantering, and play were part of Demetrian festivals (Kat 
1tOAAa ~£v yaoul ~' d1t£lV 1tOAACx O£ a1tOUOala. Kat 'til~ ail~ 
Eop'til~ a~iro~ 1taiaavta Kat aKw",aVta vtldtaav'ta tatvtOua6at 
Ar. Ran. 389-93),67 and thus the audience probably expected 
some jesting. But instead, the coryphaeus bids the Chorus to 
step forward and celebrate (J.L£A1t£, 970) Apollo of the beautiful 
lyre, and holy, august Artemis, the bow-carrier (969ff). Apollo's 
epithet is standard and descriptive, but two of Artemis' epithets 
demonstrate the Chorus' respect for her (livacraa iiYVn, 971). 
After the Chorus leader asks Apollo to grant the Chorus 
victory (971), she bids the Chorus to celebrate Hera T deia, 
who both plays with choruses and guards the keys of marriage 
(975f). The Chorus emphasizes Apollo's and Hera's association 
with music and the Chorus while it reveres Apollo's sister. 
Hera and Artemis are particularly appropriate to Aristophanes' 
festival: Artemis is invoked by young virgins and assists in 
childbirth, and Hera Teleia is the goddess of marriage. 

The Chorus then addresses another triad of deities, all closely 
associated with rural areas. 68 It entreats pastoral Hermes, Pan, 

64 ,.UeA-1t-. generally to "sing" or "celebrate," also seems on occasion to in­
clude to "dance": cf. lL 16.182; Pind. Pyth. 3.90. 

65YEpatp_ often means to "honor with song" (e.g. Hymn. Hom. Herm. 60, 
429, 432). Euthyphro (15 A-B) says that ytpa<;;. 'tlfl.T]. and XaPl<;; are brought to 
the gods by human gifts. 

66 Similarly, the Chorus at Ar. Lys. 1043-49 explicitly denies the audience 
the expected maligning of men after it has set up a joke that should include 
the duping of men. See Sommerstein (nn.962-65), who thinks that these two 
choruses, which are all-female and half-female roles, respectively, might not 
satirize individuals because of their own gender. 

67 "[Demeter, grant us] to say many funny and serious things and to be 
crowned in victory after playing and joking worthily of your festival." 

68 Sommerstein (n.977) interprets the address of rural deities as nostalgia for 
the countryside, which had been off limits to the Athenians since the Spartans 
occupied Decelea two years earlier. 



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MARTHA HABASH 35 

and the dear Nymphs to smile favorably upon it (977-82). The 
joy of choral dancing is emphasized as the Chorus first asks 
these gods to smile upon it and then bids itself to begin the 
double "joy" of the Chorus. The Chorus moves from invoking 
the Thesmophoric goddesses, to the Olympians, and then to 
the rural deities; with each new addition of divinities the festival 
becomes broader-based to include, finally, most of the major 
deities of Athens. 

The choral dance apparently grows more frenzied after the 
coryphaeus bids the Chorus to change the step and to sing a 
piercing song in honor of Bacchus, who is called upon to "lead 
the song" (985ff). Addressed respectfully as "master" (988), 
Bacchus is described as "ivy-bearing."69 The coryphaeus vows 
to celebrate him (ll-£A'l'W, 988) with dance-loving revels ( <j>lAO­
XOPOlCH KWll-OU;), the dance (KWll-O~) especially associated with 
Dionysus. Crying "Euion" like Bacchants (990, 994f) and hymn­
ing Bacchus, the Chorus now abandons the celebration of the 
rites of Demeter and Kore for a Bacchic revelry. Dionysus' 
delight in the Chorus (XWPE'i~ 'tEP1tOll-EVO~, 992) amid the be­
loved hymns of the nymphs (993f) is emphasized. The Chorus 
appeals to Dionysus' love of choruses, hymns, and female 
followers when it invites him to lead their Chorus, for he is the 
suitable leader of dances and, in particular, of its Bacchic komos. 

The Chorus concludes the hymn to Bacchus by describing 
his favorite haunt (995-1000): the noise of the celebrants echoes 
around Mt Cithaeron, and the black-leafed, bushy mountains 
and rocky glens roar. The Chorus focuses on sounds typically 
associated with this god (PP£ll-0V'Wl [998] for Bromius [991]), 
and his love for the wilderness. The hymn closes with a descrip­
tion of one of Dionysus' attributes-the ivy, symbol of victory 
in Dionysian contests. 

In this choral ode (947-1000) the Chorus celebrates the Thes­
mophoric goddesses; the Olympian deities Apollo, Artemis, 
and Hera; the rural divinities Hermes, Pan, and the Nymphs; 
and Bacchus, who is presented as both an Olympian deity and a 
rural god. 70 The Chorus and the coryphaeus throughout this 
song emphasize the deities' love for the Chorus: Hera who 
plays with all choruses (975); Hermes, Pan, and the Nymphs 

69 Rogers (n.999) views this epithet as alluding to the victory of the poet, 
who would then become Kt<rcrexpOpoo;. 

70 Bacchus also is a combination of the Demetrian (female, fertility) and the 
Olympian (political). 



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36 THE ODD THESMOPHORIA OF ARISTOPHANES 

who favor the choruses (981); and Bacchus, who delights in the 
choruses (992) and who is hymned with dance-loving revels 
(989). Although Hera, Hermes, Pan, and the Nymphs may love 
the Chorus, only Bacchus is invited to lead it. 

This hymn demonstrates a movement from Demetrian to pan­
Olympian, and finally to specifically Dionysiac elements. The 
Chorus begins its song as celebrants of Demeter, but ends it as 
Bacchan ts celebrating Dionysus. This final shift leaves the 
Chorus and audience in a Dionysiac mood that befits a 
Dionysiac, not Demetrian, festival. 

(c) Hymn to Athena and the Thesmophoric Goddesses 
(1136-59). After the Relative's fourth attempt at escape fails, the 
Chorus sings its last choral song (1136-59) before the exodos. 
Here, the Chorus returns to a mixture of civic and religious 
elements as it addresses the deities, Athena, Demeter, and 
Kore. As the Chorus earlier introduced the Thesmophoric 
goddesses into the civic meeting, so here the Chorus includes 
Athena in its final prayers a'> Demetrian celebrants. 

Athena's prominence in this play was demonstrated earlier in 
the opening prayers of the ecclesia by her large number of 
epithets. The Chorus now addresses her, employing five epi­
thets. 71 It invites Athena to the Chorus, as is customary (1138), 
mentioning her status as an unmarried maiden (1tapBEVOv 
a~uya KOUPTJV, 1139)72 and as patroness of Athens (KA:!l()OUX0C;, 
1142), thereby indicating her suitability to both the Demetrian 
and Dionysiac festivals. Returning to its civic role in this 
comedy, the Chorus refers to itself again as the" demos" of 
women (1145f), and its invitation to Athena emphasizes her role 
as guardian of the city (fl 1tOA1V llJlE'tEpav £XEt Kat Kpa'tOC; 
<paVEpov JlOVTJ ~An()OUXOC; 'tE KaAEtmt, 1140-43), protector 
against tyrants (ill 'tupavvouc; O''tuyouO'', 1143f), lover of the cho­
rus (<plAOXOPOV, 1136), and deliverer of "festival-loving peace" 
(£xouO'a ... dpftvTJv q>lAEOP'tOV, 114M). The Chorus emphasizes 
Athena's power in Athens as martial protector, and in partic­
ular, guardian against tyrants. This address of Athena recalls the 
Chorus' opening prayers of the ecclesia (331-51), and for us is 

71 Anderson (supra n.50: 58), noting Athena's prominence in this play, 
observes that no other deity in the comedy receives so many epithets (nine) as 
Athena, not even Demeter and Kore, for whom the festival was celebrated. 

72 Athena Parthenos is the maiden of the Parthenon; Athena Poliouchos is 
associated with the Erechtheum. Although Athena's third common epithet, 
Promachus (protector of the city) is absent, this function is conveyed in lines 
113~4. 



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MARTHA HABASH 37 

particularly striking, in view of the immiment oligarchic coup of 
the Four Hundred in 411. The special attention to Athena's 
power and role as patroness of Athens as well as the parody of 
the heliasts' oath earlier, which includes a curse on those who 
help a tyrant or bring one back (337f), underline the political 
instability of Athens in the year that this play was presented. 73 

Athena's role as lover of the chorus links her to Dionysus, 
addressed similarly at line 992, and as preserver of festival­
loving peace she is credited with the production of this City 
Dionysia. 

Finally the Chorus invites the "kindly, propitious, august, 
much-revered" (£ucppov£~, lA-aot, lto-tvtat, ltOA-UltOWla, 1148f, 
1156)74 Thesmophoric goddesses into the grove (of the Thesmo­
phorion), where no man can watch the "holy rites" of the 
goddesses. The Chorus sings of the setting suitable for the two 
goddesses: the place is void of men (1150); the "holy rites" are 
being performed (1151); the torches are Ii t (1151 f); and proper 
respect is offered. As it had invited Athena earlier to appear, so 
the Chorus now beseeches the two goddesses to come to them 
(1148, 1154f, 1157). With the invocation of Demeter and Kore, 
Aristophanes re-establishes the original Thesmophoric setting 
of the festival. 

The Chorus' last ode is appropriately addressed to Athena and 
the Thesmophoric goddesses. The chorus bids Athena to join 
them and celebrates her civic functions as protector of the city 
and peace-holder, two 't41al important to these celebrants, for 
only when Athens is safe and at peace can these festivals be 
properly celebrated. In contrast, it also bids the Thesmophoric 
goddesses to join the Chorus and reveres them without 
mentioning their functions. Instead, the Chorus invites the two 
goddesses to their festival that is ready and awaiting them. The 
Chorus must furnish reasons why Athena is invited because 
her presence at this festival is odd. 

7J Cf Sommerstein (supra n.2: 122-25) and Anderson (supra n.50: 62-68) for 
Aristophanes' democratic concerns in the anti-Mede, anti-oligarch sentiments 
of these lines. 

74 It is noteworthy that none of these epithets indicate their function as 
agricultural goddesses. 



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38 THE ODD THESMOPHORIA OF ARISTOPHANES 

III 

After the third choral song (1136-59), the Chorus again shifts 
from Athenian worshippers of Demeter to Dionysiac cele­
brants. The conclusion of the comedy completes the progres­
sion from a strictly Demetrian to a general celebration of the 
major Athenian gods, and finally to a specific celebration of 
Dionysus, god of comedy. By the end, Euripides is reconciled 
with the women by promising no longer to slander their sex 
(1160-71). The women accept Euripides' terms but inform him 
that he must negotiate with the Scythian policeman for the Rela­
tive's release.75 Euripides thereupon leads in a female dancer 
(1173)/6 who performs (1178) and distracts the Scythian. The 
policeman then makes sexual comments to and advances on the 
dancer before she runs off, leading him in pursuit (1183-1202). 
This tryst allows the Relative and Euripides to escape 
Demeter's festival unharmed (1209). 

The Scythian-dancer scene contains the only male-female 
sexual relationship in the play. Here the female dancer's sexual 
charm serves to release the Relative from his bonds (1173-
1209). The women's abstention from sexual relations during the 
Thesmophoria is vicariously released and, in turn, frees the 
oppressed male and symbolically restores fertility. The release 
of the Relative is a suitable comic ending in which Dionysus 
"loosens" the male captive's bonds, much as the prisoners were 
freed on the Kalligeneia (cf Deubner [supra n.l7] 58 n.8). When 
the Relative's parodies of tragedies fail to secure his release, 
Euripides introduces a comic device, a symbolic 'marriage', 
which customarily concludes comedies. This comic device not 
only secures the Relative's release but also restores the Diony­
siac mood that has been introduced rather late in the comedy 
but ultimately dominates. Aristophanes' Thesmophoric cele­
brants fittingly depart in Dionysiac revelry and beseech the 

75 T. de Wit-tak, "The Function of Obscenity in Aristophanes' Thesmo­
phoriazusae and Ecclesiazusae, " Mnemosyne SER. 4 21 (1968) 363f, notes that 
the policeman is characterized by his obscenities (1119f, 1123f, 1185, 1187f, 
1215) as a ·primitive, uncultured, rather bestially reacting being." 

76 Hansen (supra n.l: 179) thinks that Euripides dresses as a female pro­
curess in this scene and that "we have returned at last to 'normal' sex, but it is 
sex of the commerical sort and not productive." Zeitlin (supra n.l: 193) also 
agrees that Euripides was dressed as procuress and that Euripides here "turns 
finally and fully to the comic stage." 



Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner.  Further reproduction prohibited without permission.

MARTHA HABASH 39 

Thesmophoric goddesses for a good reward, i.e., victory in the 
theatrical contest.77 

In his "Thesmophoria" Aristophanes has the Thesmophoric 
goddesses ritually honored in dance (and song), in a procession, 
in the carrying of torches, in fasting, in prayer, in play, and in 
the use of iambos and aischrologia. In addition, such typical 
themes of the real festival as a concern for children and fertility, 
and the protection of Demetrian rites from males, are reflected 
in the celebrants' activities and words. The Relative's rroces­
sion, prayer, and sacrifice portray events of an actua Thes­
mophoria and set the appropriate tone for a religious festival. 
The opening prayers of the speakers at the ecclesia demonstrate 
two more reasons why the ecclesia is an appropriate intrusion 
into this festival: it allows the poet to widen the scope of deities 
celebrated at the Thesmophoria to include civic deities and to 
praise subtly what was perhaps the most democratic of Athen­
ian civic institutions, at a time when the oligarchic coup of the 
Four Hundred was imminent. The Chorus' songs at the Thes­
mophoria celebrate the Thesmophoric goddesses but also 
further the expansion of this festival to include the worship of 
deities who were not customarily celebrated at the Thesmo­
phoria, i.e., civic deities and Dionysus in particular. The first 
two choral songs demonstrate a progression from Demetrian to 
Olympian to Dionysiac, a characteristic feature throughout the 
comedy and important for the impact and mood of the play, 
which, presented in the City Dionysia, fittingly culminates with 
the Dionysiac. And in fact, the Demetrian celebrants ultimately 
exchange the celebration of Demeter and Kore for the 
celebration of the patron god of comedy. 

Hence, Aristophanes' Thesmophoria includes civic and 
Dionysiac elements. Just as the City Dionysia, in part, publicly 
celebrated and honored its own public institutions and policies 
with the display of the Delian League tribute, the honoring of 
deserving citizens, and the parade of orphans of military heroes 
before an audience that was all-inclusvie (Hellenes, resident 
aliens, citizens, and foreigners), so Aristophanes' Thesmophoria 
pays tribute to a very democratic, civic institution by incor­
porating it into an all-female festival that included women from 
various social classes. In addition, the poet makes his festival 
more suitable to the City Dionysia by taking a secret, all-female, 
solemn celebration of the planting of the crops and expanding 

n Cf. Rogers n.1231. The Pax concludes with a similar prayer. 



Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner.  Further reproduction prohibited without permission.

40 THE ODD THESMOPHORIA OF ARISTOPHANES 

this festival to incorporate Dionysiac elements, which by the 
end of the play dominate. The joyous celebration of Dionysus 
and the symbolic return of fertility at the end of the play re­
mind the audience of the City Dionysia's celebration of the 
vitality of the crops as demonstrated through the display of 
phalloi. By adding civic and Dionysiac elements to his Thes­
mophoria, and hence, making it more like the City Dionysia, 
the poet not only pays homage to this Athenian institution but 
also creates much humor through the presentation of women 
assuming men's civic roles, expands a gender-limited, secret 
festival to broaden its appeal to the audience, extols democracy 
by subtly praising the ecclesia, and celebrates the god in whose 
honor the play is being prsented.78 

CREIGHTON UNIVERSITY 

June, 1998 

78 I should like to thank the anonymous reader of this journal as well as Jon 
Mikalson and Carl Anderson for their comments and criticisms, which 
greatly improved this paper.