I now see that a title like "Sex, Women, and Politics in Aristophanes' Ecclesiazusae" would have been more sensational--and also more accurate. A central theme of the book is the role played by πειθώ (peitho), which can mean both "persuasion" and "seduction," in the characterization of the protagonist. Also discussed are rhetoric and the response to democracy in this late play of Aristophanes.