The Frogs

Frogs is an ancient Athenian comic play by Aristophanes (446-386 B.C.E.). It was first performed in 405 B.C.E. for the Lenaia, an annual sacred festival held in January in honor of the god Dionysus. According to ancient sources, Frogs (which won first prize) was held in such high regard that it was honored with a second production, an unusual event since comedies and tragedies were produced for competition at sacred festivals and rarely staged again. When precisely this second production occurred is a topic of debate among scholars.

Frogs belongs to a period of ancient theater called Old Comedy, which is known primarily through the works of Aristophanes. Comedies of this genre satirized public figures and contemporary events in a high-spirited, carnivalesque manner and blurred boundaries between fantasy and reality. They were performed without intermission.

This study guide refers to Stephen Halliwell’s translation for Oxford World’s Classics. In his translation note, Halliwell notes that Aristophanes is extremely difficult to translate into English because of his play with language, social references, and the vast gulf between ancient Athenian and modern sensibilities. Ancient comedies were written in verse and are believed to have incorporated recitation, chant, and song, as well as dance. Surviving texts do not include act or scene divisions or stage directions. Halliwell’s translation retains the verse, and he incorporates stage directions and notes scene divisions based on patterns scholars have identified across the genre.

Plot Summary

In what Halliwell calls scene one, Dionysos is traveling with his slave Xanthias to Hades, intending to retrieve recently deceased playwright Euripides and bring him back to Athens. Dionysos seeks directions from Herakles, who has been to Hades and back. Herakles’ instructions bring Dionysos to Charon, Hades’ ferryman, who puts Dionysos at the oars. A chorus of Frogs enters, and they sing in competition with Dionysos as he rows across the river.

In Halliwell’s scene two, Dionysos arrives in Hades. The Frog chorus leaves the stage and a second enters, this one made up of initiates in the Eleusinian Mysteries. They sing and dance hymns, and the Chorus Leader steps forward to chant a proclamation warning those who do not belong to leave. The Chorus sings hymns for protection directed to the gods, and Dionysos and Xanthias join in.

In Halliwell’s scene three, Dionysos, disguised as Herakles, greets the doorkeeper of Plouton’s palace is terrified when he is accused of theft. He and Xanthias swap identities multiple times, depending on whether the Herakles disguise benefits or threatens Dionysos, until the doorkeeper brings the god and the slave inside the palace to be judged by Plouton. The Chorus comes forward to sing a song to the Muses. The leader then addresses the audience directly, criticizing the city of Athens for not properly respecting its best citizens.

After the leader’s address, Xanthias and a slave from Plouton’s palace banter about the pleasure they find in subverting their masters. Meanwhile Aischylos and Euripides argue in the background over who is the greatest tragic dramatist. Plouton sets Dionysos to judge, and a debate ensues in which Aischylos and Euripides each pleads his case on the basis of his thoughts, prologues, and lyrics. After asking them to speak to two topics of the day in contemporary Athens, Dionysos weighs their words (literally, with scales) and declares Aischylos the winner. The play ends with the Chorus singing a hymn to Aischylos, who departs with Dionysos for Athens.