The Frogs and Other Plays by Aristophanes

The Frogs and Other Plays Reviews

• 
  Jonathan

  Brékkek Kékkek Kékkek Kékkek! Kóax Kóax Kóax!
• 
  Daniel Chaikin

  59. The Frogs and Other Plays (The Wasps & The Poet and the Women) by Aristophanes, translated by David Barrett
  translation 1964
  format: 217 page Penguin Classic paperback, 1966 re-print
  acquired: 2006, from my neighbor
  read: Sep 6-8
  rating: 3½ stars
  
  The play
  Frogs is a gem, and includes maybe the earliest literary criticism available, albeit done in humor. The other two plays were more like meh sitcoms, or maybe I just wasn't in the mood.
  
  Greek comedy had a long history and even the tragic playwrights wrote raunchy, silly comedies in the form of satyr plays. But that's all lost. Aristophanes is the only representative of Old Greek Comedy remaining. We have eleven of his plays. In general they are raunchy and funny, but also have very serious points, even direct political advice for wartime Athens.
  
  
  Wasps 422 bce
  
  Aristophanes mocks on the Athenian leader at the time, Creon. Here an old father, named Procleon, is obsessed with being a juror in Athenian courts everyday. He only convicts. His wealthy son, named Anticleon, tries to curtail this obsession, even imprisoning Procleon in their home. The wasps are a group of old cranky jurors who come to bring Procleon to court. They form the chorus.
  
  Aristophanes was somewhere around 20 years old when this was produced, which was very young for Athenian playwrights. That's maybe impressive or maybe just why the play seems immature. I never could really get into it.
  
  The Poet and the Women 411 bce
  (aka:
  Thesmophoriazusae, or
  Women at the Thesmophoria)
  
  Euripides was famous for treating women poorly in his plays, even though he really has strong female roles. He made fun of this criticism of himself in his own plays. Here, Aristophanes plays on this idea in a ridiculous way. I can see this working well in performance.
  
  Themophoria was an all-women religious ritual. Euripides is afraid because he heard the women are so upset about his treatment of women in his plays that they are going to work out revenge against him during the festival. He recruits an aged, and bearded in-law to dress as a woman, infiltrate the gathering and defend him. Things don't work out quite as planned.
  
  
  Frogs 405 bce
  
  By the time this play was performed Athens had all but lost the its 30-year war with Sparta. It is quite amazing that Athens still held this festivals for these comedies and even still allowed public criticism of the government within them...even if it is provided by a chorus of croaking frogs. (Aristophanes would continue to write plays after Athens did lose, but they no longer contain political criticism. It seems this was may no longer have been permitted. )
  
  The depressing real world position of Athens makes this play quite meaningful and touching. Aristophanes was trying to be funny, and give his commentary, but how to find a form that would be watchable at this time? He seems to have pulled it off.
  
  Sophocles and Euripides have passed away (in real life too) and left Athens without a poet to help them in their desperate need. The God Dionysos decides he must go down to Hades and bring Euripides back to Athens to save the city. (Silly elements include Dionysos's poor-luck assistant who must carry his gear, and the leopard coat he wears to disguise himself as Herakles. At one point, in the underworld, he tries to hire a corpse to carry his stuff - the corpse refuses.)
  
  Instead of rescuing Euripides, Dionysos holds a competition between Euripides and Aeschylus to find which one is better to bring back and help Athens. Both playwrights read parts of their plays (some parts of which are otherwise lost) and then get judged. They both come out pretty badly, but Dionysos decides Athens needs old Aeschylus more and declares him the winner.
  
  As for the frogs, they croak and give direct advice to Dionysos on how to help Athens, naming names.
• 
  minna

  fun!!! but not enough frogs
• 
  Angela

  This is my first real review in forever. Yay!! I finally felt inspired enough and not too lazy to share my thoughts.
  
  Frogs was my favorite. Then Wasps. Unfortunately, Women at the Thesmophoria doesn’t make the list.
  Frogs had everything you could want, or, at least everything I could want in a play: Dionysus, the underworld, and two well established tragedians, Aeschylus and Euripides, taking shots at each other in death over whose writings are best. Old versus new. Oh, Sophocles and Plato were there too.
  
  The same theme of old vs. new is present in Wasps, where Aristophanes has two generations, a father and son, come to blows over the very real political climate in Athens. Seeing that it’s a comedy, you giggle at the ridiculousness of what’s going on while at the same time recognizing it’s a stand in for Aristophanes’ frustration with a corrupt judicial/governmental system and those economically poor; ignorant people who blindly perpetuate the problem. A quite timely play, unfortunately.
  
  As for Women at the Thesmophoria, I will say I didn’t absolutely hate it, but it was pretty lack luster for me. I won’t say insulting because if you’re reading ancient literature, you probably know there’s going to be misogyny, non-Greeks being referred to as “barbarians," and of course people owning slaves. Although, there was a part towards the end of Act I with the chorus leader and chorus I liked that gave some justice to the plight of women. It's quite long so these are just excerpts:
  CHORUS LEADER
  Have you heard of a woman who'd steal from the State
  to the tune of a million or so,
  Then ride in a coach with pockets distended,
  Like one politician we know?
  CHORUS
  Well, you must admit it's true
  That it's chiefly among you
  That gluttons, thieves and criminals abound.
  Have you heard of banditresses,
  Let alone hijackeresses?
  Are there many female pirates to be found?
  Overall, the play was kind of interesting but it didn’t have as much meat to it like the others. I do find it funny though that Euripides is center stage again in Aristophanes’ play.
  
  I'll mostly reread these plays in a different translation at some point because I while I know it can be incredibly difficult to translate ancient texts into English, the stand in English words felt far too modern in my opinion. I want to see how similar and different the translations are from each other and whether David Barrett did the most accurate job.
• 
  dracula

  no I miss the frogs
• 
  Rhys

  I am slowly working my way through all eleven of Aristophanes' plays. I had already read three (and enjoyed them) before tackling this volume. All three were excellent, but for me THE FROGS stood out as my favourite. I loved the journey to the underworld conducted by the god Dionysus and his slave Xanthias and the entire political-philosophical point of the quest came across strongly across 2500 years. The verbal exchanges between the characters are still funny and the poetry slam between Aeschylus and Euripides is simply brilliant. Wonderful stuff!
• 
  Drew

  These dated translations, with occasional, cutesy Britishisms like "guvnor," don't do justice to this trilogy of plays by Aristophanes. At most, you get a glimpse of the comedy peeking through the dialogue of "The Wasps" and "The Frogs." More often, you're slogging through a leaden text for an unwanted class in Ancient Greek literature. "The Poet and the Women" was especially onerous to read but none of these plays conveyed the pleasure I'd previously found in his "Lysistrata" and "The Birds."
• 
  William Owen

  All I can remember about this was that Euripedes lost his oilcan. And someone made a movie out of it and used Frank Zappa in the soundtrack. It was a pretty bad movie.
• 
  Ian

  Surprisingly 'modern', wickedly funny and brilliantly translated.
• 
  Б. Ачболд

  The Frogs and Other Plays covers two different books: by Penguin & Oxford, containing different sets of plays. Oxford (all by Halliwell) is more of a "paraphrase" translation; Penguin (by Barrett in this case, and Somerstein in the other two volumes) is (slightly) more of an "imitation" translation. If you're serious about Aristophanes, then you should maybe get both. But if you want to read just one version, get the Penguin editions.
  
  2019-2020 didn't exactly go according to plan, but discovering Aristophanes was one of its bright spots.
• 
  DomoKete

  Wasps - 3 stars
  Women at the Thesmophoria - 4 stars
  Frogs - 3 stars
• 
  Victoria Hawco

  You probably won’t laugh out loud unless you really hate Socrates.
• 
  Shaylee

  I'm surprised I like clouds more than frogs tbh.
• 
  Hsingh

  surprisingly enjoyable comedy, chortled a few times!
• 
  Smiley Esq.

  This stuff's so bawdy I can't even believe it. Here's a sample:
  
  HERACLES: And what's happened to Agathon?
  DIONYSUS: Gone, gone; he too has left me. [He sighs] A good poet; his friends will miss him.
  HERACLES: Where has he gone, poor fellow?
  DIONYSUS: To the Banquet of the Blessèd. Specially laid on by the King of Macedon.
  HERACLES: And what about Xenocles?
  DIONYSUS: Oh, Xenocles be hanged.
  HERACLES: And Pythangelus?
  XANTHIAS: Never a word about little me. And look at my poor shoulder, it'll never be the same again.
  HERACLES: But surely there are dozens of these young whipper-snappers churning our tragedies these days: for sheer verbiage, if that's what you want, they leave Euripides standing.
  DIONYSUS: Small fry, I assure you, insignificant squeakers and twitterers, like a lot of swallows. A disgrace to their art. If they ever are granted a chorus, what does their offering at the shrine of Tragedy amount to ? One cock of the hind leg and they've pissed themselves dry. You never hear of them again. I defy you to find a really seminal poet among the whole crowd of them: someone who can coin a fine resounding phrase.
  
  Sheesh! Tough guy.
  
  Meanwhile:
  
  ANTICLEON: Why don't you speak? Get on with it!
  PROCLEON: He doesn't seem to have anything to say.
  ANTICLEON:
  Thucydides had the same trouble at his trial: sudden attack of paralysis of the jaw. [To Second Dog] All right, stand down: I'll conduct the defense myself.
  [He takes Second Dog's place on the 'stand'.]
  Gentlemen. Hr'm. It is a difficult undertaking to reply on behalf of a slandered dog, but nevertheless I will try. Hr'm. He is a good dog. He chases away the wolves.
  PROCLEON: You mean he's a thief and a conspirator.
  ANTICLEON: Not at all, he's the finest dog alive. Capable of guarding any number of sheep.
  
  What claims! We all know lawyers talk this way — politicians too. (Let alone with the "grunts" and mustering of import, while on the stand, or the daïs, or at the microphone — check out those sound effects!!!) But this was written 2400 years ago. Christ.
  
  One senses this sort of thing falls into — and out of — fashion again. By which I mean: plain old simple candor.
  
  Here, let's try again:
  
  PROCLEON: I've gnawed a hole in it; but don't make a sound. We've got to be careful Anticleon doesn't catch us.
  LEADER: Don't worry about him! One grunt out of him and we'll give him something to grunt about. We'll make him run for his life. That'll teach him to ride roughshod over the ballot box! — Now, tie that cord to the window, and the other end round yourself, and let yourself down. Be brave! Be a regular Diopeithes!
  PROCLEON: Yes, but what am I going to do if they spot me when I'm half-way down and try to haul me back inside?
  LEADER: Don't worry, we'll come to the rescue — won't we, boys? 'Hearts of oak are we all, and we'll fight till we fall' . . . They'll never be able to keep you in: we'll show them a thing or two.
  PROCLEON: All right.
  
  There we go.
  
  Let's party . . .
  
  Highly recomended.
  
  HIGHLY!!!
  
  -EJB/Orwell (past LIVES), dreamer ...
  
  
  Dream . . .
• 
  Anita

  This collection of plays wasn't my first foray into classical literature, nor classical drama, and made me more appreciative of the Greek plays I read in high school. (Yes, y'all, this is why high school English is important and will forever haunt you). I read this as part of Jean'sBookishThoughts YouTube read-along (one of my firsts). I found the plays entertaining and not as hard to understand as I imagined. My Penguin's Classics edition helpfully had a full notes section which provided background information, as I am not a classic scholar (yet!).
  The first play in this collection is Wasps, which tells of why one shouldn't put too much faith into politicians, as the father-figure Philocleon has spent his entire life doing. He serves on corrupt juries, which gives him a sense of importance in his community as well as a small paycheck. His fellow jury members are called the wasps, which gives a sense that their constant buzzing drowns out any sense that could possibly bring them back to normality. His obsession with trials and passing judgement somewhat ruins his relationship with his son, Bdelycleon. Bdelycleon goes on a mission to bring his father back to the household and family, even creating a mock trial over the household in an attempt to keep him inside. The play reminded me of the modern disconnect that parents have with their children, including their grown children, during the course of life. Even the ancient Greeks had to deal with generational conflicts.
  The second play is Women at the Thesmorphia which pokes fun at the playwright Euripides for his frequent misuse of female characters in his plays. Euripides demonizes women as scorning men at every turn. According to my text, the editor states, "It is worth noting that the purportedly misogynistic Euripides presents his tragic women far more favorably than Aristophanes does his comic women," (72). During the secret conclave at Thesmorphia, in which the women fast, celebrate, and debate while honoring Demeter. The women decide that Euripides must face the consequence of his public actions and must be killed. What follows is name-calling hilarity.
  The third play Frogs so named because of the frogs of Hades, which give an ominous mood to the play, also makes fun of other playwrights in a competition of wits and talent in Hades' dominion, judged by Dionysus.
  Reading the plays caused me to realize the deficits I have in my reading life, and now I am off to find yet more classical reads so that, in time, I may form some background knowledge to make reading them a bit easier.
• 
  monique - persephone

  I wanted to give it 4 so bad because of Wasps and Women at the Thesmophoria but Frogs let it down. Not because it isn't as culturally important as they other - it definitely it! It was because it was a tad more serious than the others and it just felt like instead of playful fun he was just being rude to his tragic predecessors. The other two were ridiculously funny though, I laughed quite a bit and I did enjoy Frogs but I just wasn't laughing as much.
  
  I bought the rest Aristophanes' collection when I was half way through Wasps so I'm eagerly awaiting their arrival.
  
  3.5 folks.
• 
  Nicky

  I don't like Aristophanes. Perhaps it's in part because his political humour is based on things that, while I can study them and look them up and piece apart why it's funny, I can't understand in the way the intended audience could. Sometimes it's because it's just crude and silly.
• 
  Erin Panjer

  Read, The Poet and the Women.
  
  Quite a load of childish fun.
  
  For being thousands of years ago written,
  
  it still feels fresh, and retains some of the
  
  inside jokes and plays on words despite translation.
  
  
• 
  Simon Bendle

  I read The Wasps, a surprising blend of bawdy jokes and political satire. I know little about Ancient Greece. Much of the comedy was lost on me. But an interesting and enjoyable play nonetheless, and one that’s probably more fun if seen performed on stage.
• 
  Amy Nielsen

  (Only read The Frogs and The Wasps, its for school) The Wasps play was my favourite and I was surprised at how funny it actually was. The Frogs was more serious, but with some descriptions from my study book I found it pretty good is well.
• 
  David

  What I love about Aristophanes is how he uses animal images for symbolism. Very funny material.
• 
  Tara Calaby

  Aristophanes is my easy favourite of all the ancient dramatists.
• 
  Anya Wassenberg

  I love reading the ancients - it's humbling when we tend to think we're so superior in this day and age.
• 
  Lysergius

  What no chorus?