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    The Frogs
    The Frogs
    The Frogs
    Ebook72 pages1 hour

    The Frogs

    By Aristophanes

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    Aristophanes, the greatest of comic writers in Greek and in the opinion of many, in any language, is the only one of the Attic comedians any of whose works has survived in complete form He was born in Athens about the middle of the fifth century B C, and had his first comedy produced when he was so young that his name was withheld on account of his youth. He is credited with over forty plays, eleven of which survive, along with the names and fragments of some twenty-six others. His satire deal with political, religious, and literary topics, and with all its humor and fancy is evidently the outcome of profound conviction and a genuine patriotism. The Attic comedy was produced at the festivals of Dionysus, which were marked by great license, and to this, rather than to the individual taste of the poet, must be ascribed the undoubted coarseness of many of the jests. Aristophanes seems, indeed, to have been regarded by his contemporaries as a man of noble character. He died shortly after the production of his "Plutus," in 388 B. C. "The Frogs" was produced the year after the death of Euripides, and laments the decay of Greek tragedy which Aristophanes attributed to that writer. It is an admirable example of the brilliance of his style, and of that mingling of wit and poetry with rollicking humor and keen satirical point which is his chief characteristic. Here, as elsewhere, he stands for tradition against innovation of all kinds, whether in politics, religion, or art. The hostility to Euripides displayed here and in several other plays, like his attacks on Socrates, is a result of this attitude of conservatism. The present play is notable also as a piece of elaborate if not over-serious literary criticism from the pen of a great poet.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDigireads.com Publishing
    Release dateJan 1, 2010
    ISBN9781596259119
    Author

    Aristophanes

    Aristophanes, son of Philippus, of the deme Kydathenaion, was a comic playwright of ancient Athens and a poet of Old Attic Comedy. Eleven of his forty plays survive virtually complete.

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    • 2/5
      It's funny if you know the history and like bawdy jokes.

    Book preview

    The Frogs - Aristophanes

    THE FROGS

    BY ARISTOPHANES

    TRANSLATED BY B. B. ROGERS

    A Digireads.com Book

    Digireads.com Publishing

    Translated by B. B. Rogers

    Print ISBN 13: 978-1-4209-2671-2

    Ebook ISBN 13: 978-1-59625-911-9

    This edition copyright © 2011

    Please visit www.digireads.com

    CONTENTS

    INTRODUCTORY NOTE

    DRAMATIS PERSONAE

    THE FROGS

    INTRODUCTORY NOTE

    Aristophanes, the greatest of comic writers in Greek and in the opinion of many, in any language, is the only one of the Attic comedians any of whose works has survived in complete form He was born in Athens about the middle of the fifth century B C, and had his first comedy produced when he was so young that his name was withheld on account of his youth. He is credited with over forty plays, eleven of which survive, along with the names and fragments of some twenty-six others. His satire deal with political, religious, and literary topics, and with all its humor and fancy is evidently the outcome of profound conviction and a genuine patriotism. The Attic comedy was produced at the festivals of Dionysus, which were marked by great license, and to this, rather than to the individual taste of the poet, must be ascribed the undoubted coarseness of many of the jests. Aristophanes seems, indeed, to have been regarded by his contemporaries as a man of noble character. He died shortly after the production of his Plutus, in 388 B. C.

    The Frogs was produced the year after the death of Euripides, and laments the decay of Greek tragedy which Aristophanes attributed to that writer. It is an admirable example of the brilliance of his style, and of that mingling of wit and poetry with rollicking humor and keen satirical point which is his chief characteristic. Here, as elsewhere, he stands for tradition against innovation of all kinds, whether in politics, religion, or art. The hostility to Euripides displayed here and in several other plays, like his attacks on Socrates, is a result of this attitude of conservatism. The present play is notable also as a piece of elaborate if not over-serious literary criticism from the pen of a great poet.

    DRAMATIS PERSONAE

    THE GOD DIONYSUS

    XANTHIAS, his slave

    AESCHYLUS

    EURIPIDES

    HERACLES

    PLUTO

    CHARON

    AEACUS, house porter to Pluto

    A CORPSE

    A MAIDSERVANT OF PERSEPHONE

    A LANDLADY IN HADES

    PLATHANE, her servant

    A CHORUS OP FROGS

    A CHORUS OF INITIATED PERSONS

    Attendants at a Funeral; Women worshipping Iacchus; Servants of Pluto, &c.

    THE FROGS

    XANTHIAS. Shall I crack any of those old jokes, master,

    At which the audience never fail to laugh?

    DIONYSUS. Aye, what you will, except I'm getting crushed: Fight shy of that: I'm sick of that already.

    XAN. Nothing else smart?

    DIO. Aye, save my shoulder's aching.

    XAN. Come now, that comical joke?

    DIO. With all my heart. Only be careful not to shift your pole,

    And—

    XAN. What?

    DIO. And vow that you've a bellyache.

    XAN. May I not say I'm overburdened so

    That if none ease me, I must ease myself?

    DIO. For mercy's sake, not till I'm going to vomit.

    XAN. What! must I bear these burdens, and not make

    One of the jokes Ameipsias and Lycis

    And Phrynichus, in every play they write,

    Put in the mouths of all their burden-bearers?

    DIO. Don't make them; no! I tell you when I see

    Their plays, and hear those jokes, I come away

    More than a twelvemonth older than I went.

    XAN. O thrice unlucky neck of mine, which now

    Is getting crushed, yet must not crack its joke!

    DIO. Now is not this fine pampered insolence

    When I myself, Dionysus, son of—Pipkin,

    Toil on afoot, and let this fellow ride,

    Taking no trouble, and no burden bearing?

    XAN. What, don't I bear?

    DIO. How can you when you're riding?

    XAN. Why, I bear these.

    DIO. How?

    XAN. Most unwillingly.

    DIO. Does not the donkey bear the load you're bearing?

    XAN. Not what I bear myself: by Zeus, not he.

    DIO. How can you bear, when you are borne yourself?

    XAN. Don't know: but anyhow my shoulder's aching.

    DIO. Then since you say the donkey helps you not,

    You lift him up and carry him in turn.

    XAN. O hang it all! why didn't I fight at sea?

    You should have smarted bitterly for this.

    DIO. Get down, you

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