An e-mail from my professor, the distinguished Andrew Lear

Hi, class,
The question about The Poet and the Women (Thesmaphoriazousai) is: what is the place of anal intercourse in this play's value-system, and why is Agathon, in particular, an object of its mockery? You know Agathon, of course, from Plato's Symposium; remember, however, that this play pre-dates the Symposium (probably by @30 years).
I chose this translation, by the by, because I like the series, and it is cheap. I didn't know it in particular. As it turns out, I like it a lot, but it is a bit too euphemistic about sexual matters. Aristophanes is crude, by our standards.
On page 101, Euripides does not say "he meets his clients during the nighttime": he says, "you must have fucked him but don't know him"
(ie you haven't seen his face).
On p. 109, Mnesilochos does not say "Intimate, you might say." but "It has a smell of little cock" (presumably Agathon's)
On p. 118, Cleisthenes does not say, "I come as a friend", but "greetings to those who share my way-of-life".
On p. 141, the Scythian does not say, "If he was tied up da oder way round, etc." but "if his ass-hole was facing the other way, I would understand if you fucked him." and he uses words for rear end and fucking liberally throughout.
And on p.143 instead of "oh da beautiful shape etc." he says "there, that is better for my cock" (presumably taking his stage-phallus out from under his cloak)
Anyway, that should give you some more Aristophanic flavor. AL

(This message is associated with Homosexuality in the Classical World)