Frogs

Frogs (Batrachoi, Lat. Rānae), Greek comedy by Aristophanes which won the first prize at the Lenaea in Athens in 405 BC and earned its author a crown of sacred olive, as well as the right to produce it a second time. It gives expression to the city's literary attitudes and political plight at that time. The great tragic poets, Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, are all dead, the last two only recently; Athens, despite her victory in the sea-battle at Arginusae the previous year, is exhausted; she badly needs sound advice such as might be given by the best poets. The play opens with the patron god of tragedy Dionysus, characterized as possessing the human failings of the Athenian people—he is weak, conceited, credulous, and has a passion for Euripides—setting off for Hades disguised as Heracles in order to bring back Euripides. The journey in Charon's boat across the lake is accompanied by the croaking of a (secondary) chorus of frogs, who give their name to the play; the main chorus comprises initiates in the Eleusinian mysteries (see MYSTERIES). After arriving in Hades Dionysus has various adventures in consequence of being mistaken for Heracles, but is finally identified and asked to judge a dispute between Aeschylus and Euripides for possession of the throne of tragedy, Sophocles having relinquished his claim in favour of Aeschylus. Aeschylus represents his plays as superior in grandeur and moral purpose, Euripides his as more realistic and human, but each produces telling criticism of the other. Both agree that the duty of the poet is to make men better; Aeschylus says his heroes were models to be imitated, Euripides that he made the audience think; but Aeschylus objects that Euripides' depraved characters are the cause of the decline in morals. The poets then attack the construction of each other's plays, their language, metre, and music. The final test whereby each poet speaks a line into a pair of scales to determine whose poetry is the weightier is easily won by Aeschylus. Dionysus, still undecided as to which poet he prefers, asks each for advice on how to save the city. Euripides makes a characteristically enigmatic reply, and Dionysus chooses Aeschylus as representative of the old Athenian spirit.