Aristophanes (427 BC – 386 BC) was groundbreaking with his plays. His skills as a satirist and as a keen observer of everyday life led him to give us one of the most revealing pictures of what life was like in ancient Athens.

He was not afraid to tackle controversial topics. Plato pointed to his play The Clouds as a work of slander that ultimately led to the trial and condemnation of Socrates. He addressed the volatile issue of gender equality millennia before it was popular.

He also pushed the boundaries when it came to the use of language. In his play “The Assemblywomen” (“Ἐκκλησιάζουσαι”) he coined a word that has been recognized as the longest word in literature.

Lopadotemachoselachogaleokranioleipsanodrimhypotrimmatosilphioparaomelitokatakechymenokichlepikossyphophattoperisteralektryonoptekephalliokigklopeleiolagoiosiraiobaphetraganopterygon is a transliteration of the Ancient Greek word λοπαδο­τεμαχο­σελαχο­γαλεο­κρανιο­λειψανο­δριμ­υπο­τριμματο­σιλφιο­καραβο­μελιτο­κατακεχυ­μενο­κιχλ­επι­κοσσυφο­φαττο­περιστερ­αλεκτρυον­οπτο­κεφαλλιο­κιγκλο­πελειο­λαγῳο­σιραιο­βαφη­τραγανο­πτερύγων.

Coming in at 183 letters, it is the name of a dish compounded of all kinds of dainties, fish, flesh, fowl, and sauces, including fish slice, shark, dogfish, head, remnant, laserwort, crayfish, honey, thrush, blackbird, wood pigeon, chicken, dabchick, hare, new wine boiled down, and fin.