The Frogs by Aristophanes
Riotous and Crude Theatrical Fantasy from Ancient Athens
Aristophanes' play The Frogs shows the ancient heroes and tragedians of Athens as greedy, randy scoundrels. It has some singing amphibians too.
The Frogs by Aristophanes is one of the few plays from Ancient Greek comedy which is still performed today – though performances tend to be by student companies, or those with some prior knowledge of the Greek “Old Comedy”. Its blend of satire, crudity and political urgency has ensured that The Frogs has retained its appeal to audiences after more than two thousand years.
The State of The State
The plot of The Frogs involves the god Dionysus descending into the Underworld to bring the famous tragedian Euripides back from the dead – which all sounds rather abstract and epic. In fact, the reason Dionysus has been sent to the Underworld is that the city of Athens (where the play was written and produced) is in a pretty rough state after losing a battle in the war against the Spartans, and none of the current Athenians are great enough to deal with the city’s difficulties. Though Dionysus and his half-brother the famous hero Heracles are both characters from Greek legends, they are brought into the play to deal with some very immediate problems.
Dionysus and Heracles are also treated pretty irreverently in The Frogs – being a god or a legendary hero didn’t mean you commanded any respect in an Ancient Greek comedy. Heracles is depicted as a boorish brute and Dionysus as a randy, cowardly fool. Xanthias, Dionysus’ slave, is depicted as smarter and more reasonable than both of them.
Clash of the Titans
When Dionysus finally gets to the underworld (which involves going past a chorus of comedy frogs, hence the play’s name), he finds that Euripides is busy. Having recently died and arrived in Hades, the tragic poet is arguing whether he is the greatest dead poet of them all, and wants to topple the existing paragon, Aeschylus, of his throne. Before he will be bothered about coming back to save Athens, Euripides wants to establish himself as the heavyweight champion of poetry amongst the dead.
After hearing the two theatrical greats bicker and mock each other for a while, Dionusys gets them both to declaim some of their lines into a set of scales in order to establish which poet’s words are “weightier”. Aeschlyus wins, and Dionysus decides that he would be a better choice to save the city, so takes him back up to the world of the living.
Cause for Concern
Amongst all the appalling puns, sexual humour and ridiculous jingles of The Frogs, some serious points are raised. Athens was indeed in a very difficult state when Aristophanes wrote this play, and his concern for the future of the city comes through. Amidst the comedy abuse slung between Aeschylus and Euripides is an interesting literary debate: Euripides argues that his characters are better because they are more lifelike, and true to the experiences of his audience, whereas the more traditional poet Aeschylus claims that his characters are more noble and virtuous, so provide better role models for those who see his plays.
However, it can be difficult to find these themes amidst the riotous fantasy of The Frogs – any production of Aristophanes is a useful corrective to the traditional image of the Ancient Athenians as a serious-minded and virtuous nation...
