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Classics/Greek Drama ISBN:
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Translated by Ian Johnston
Frogs is by common consent one of the finest achievements of
Aristophanes (456 BC to 386 BC), the greatest writer of comic drama in
classical Athens and among most famous writers of dramatic comedy in our
Western tradition. The play was first performed at a Festival of
Dionysus in Athens in 405 BC, at a time when the disastrous
Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta was nearing its end. The
production so popular that it received the extraordinary honor of a
second production and Aristophanes received a special honor from the
city.
In the play the god Dionysus, in the form of a middle-aged human being,
insists on travelling to Hades to bring back the tragic poet Euripides
(who had died the year before), so that Athens can once again enjoy fine
poetry. His slave Xanthias accompanies him. The trip is full of robust
comical encounters with a range of characters, including Hercules,
Charon, the famous Chorus of the Frogs, various underworld figures, and,
finally Euripides and Aeschylus, who stage a debate over which of them
is the greatest poet, an argument which has them mercilessly satirizing
each other’s work
For all its extremely funny stage business, Frogs raises some important
and still relevant questions about the nature of dramatic art and the
role of the dramatist. It also explores and exposes the self-serving
attitudes of citizens during a time of war.
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