Part 4 Summary

The Chorus of Men takes off their cloaks, revealing that they're dressed and ready for battle. They slowly advance on the audience, saying in verse that the women's plot is a cover for a plan by Sparta to empty the Athenian treasury. The Male Leader says that by leading the men's attack, he'll take his place alongside the great heroes of Athenian history. He approaches the Female Leader, hits her and runs back to the men. The Female Leader then tells the women to prepare to fight, and they remove their cloaks in the same way as the men. They too are armed for battle. They speak in verse about they way they've grown from girlhood into full, powerful womanhood. The Female Leader speaks of having invested her sons in the life and worth of Athens, suggests that the men have wasted the...