What do the frogs represent in Aristophanes Frogs?
Although he endured prosecution for his continued attacks on the politician Cleon, The Frogs brought Aristophanes public honors for its promotion of Athenian unity. The play tells the story of Dionysos, the patron deity of theater, who complains about the sad state of Athenian drama.
What are the important themes of Aristophanes The Frogs?
The underlying theme of “The Frogs” is essentially “old ways good, new ways bad”, and that Athens should turn back to men of known integrity who were brought up in the style of noble and wealthy families, a common refrain in Aristophanes’ plays.
Did Aristophanes write the frogs?
Aristophanes, the great comic dramatist of Athens, wrote the Frogs for performance at the Lenaia in late February 405 BC, where it won first prize. The play was written against the backdrop of the final stages of the Peloponnesian War (a long and destructive war between Athens and Sparta).
Who is the special literary target of Aristophanes in frogs?
Dionysus
Frogs, Greek Batrachoi, a literary comedy by Aristophanes, produced in 405 bce. The play tells the story of Dionysus, the god of drama, who is mourning the quality of present-day tragedy in Athens after the death of his recent favourite, Euripides.
What is the significance of the title The Frogs?
Upon their arrival at the Lake, they receive greetings from the frogs inhabiting the Lake waters. Aristophanes gives the title to this play after the name of these frogs.
What is the significance of The Frogs as a comedy?
His comedy The Frogs has stood the test of the time. Aristophanes was neither a rationalist, nor a septic. In this play he upheld the cult of Dionysus was the hero who went to the Hades to find out a great tragic dramatist who was then dead. The Frogs is an attack on Euripides who was often ridiculed by Aristophanes.
What are the elements that make Frogs a comedy play?
The Frogs is a comedy mainly due to its use of satire. Satire is a form of comedy used to ridicule elements of society. Aristophanes was considered a master of satire in his day, often ridiculing political, philosophical, and other major figures. The Frogs mainly satirizes Athenian society.
Who wrote the play The Frogs?
AristophanesThe Frogs / Playwright
What are the characteristics of old comedy revealed in the Frogs?
Old Comedy was based on a set of formal conventions. However it was less bound by formal rules than tragedy. Its form was composed of varied structural elements. The core elements were: (a) a parodos, or entry of the Chorus; (b) an agon, or contest; and (c)a parabasis, or address by the Chorus to the audience.
Why is Aeschylus chosen at the end of Frogs?
Dionysus’ unexpected decision at the end of the play is generally thought to reflect the notion that poets such as Aeschylus and Euripides had practical moral insight to offer their audiences and to promote an “Aeschylean” over a “Euripidean” approach to life.
What is the plot of The Frogs?
The Frogs tells the story of the god Dionysus, who, despairing of the state of Athens’ tragedians, travels to Hades (the underworld) to bring the playwright Euripides back from the dead. (Euripides had died the year before, in 406 BC.) He brings along his slave Xanthias, who is smarter and braver than Dionysus.