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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
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
- Category
- Classics
- ISBN (softcover)
- 978-0-9797571-4-3
- e-ISBN
- 978-1-935238-20-1
- Author
- Aristophanes
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Thank you so much for the translation of \"The Frogs\" you have made available on the web. I am going to see the play performed tonight at the ancient theatre in Argos and I\'m sure I\'ll get a lot more out of it thanks to your efforts. I compared a few translations but yours seemed the most satisfying. The notes are very useful, too - I might have got the mythological references, and even some of the literary ones, but gay Athenians, ghost writers and crooked laundry keepers would have passed me by.
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I want to thank you, first, for your excellent translation of Aristophanes\' Frogs. I have used it with great success in an undergraduate course this term.
Furman University -
Hello. I\'m a student at the University of Illinois - Chicago and am a big fan of your work. I strangely find myself coming back again and again to your work... leaving each time with a satisfying reading experience. As I\'m sure you are acutely aware, your work has a certain pristine quality to it that other translations fall short of. The clarity of your expression (and the accuracy too) is quite remarkable.
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Thank you so much for the translation of \\\"The Frogs\\\" you have made available on the web. I am going to see the play performed tonight at the ancient theatre in Argos and I\\\'m sure I\\\'ll get a lot more out of it thanks to your efforts. I compared a few translations but yours seemed the most satisfying. The notes are very useful, too - I might have got the mythological references, and even some of the literary ones, but gay Athenians, ghost writers and crooked laundry keepers would have passed me by.
-
I want to thank you, first, for your excellent translation of Aristophanes\\\' Frogs. I have used it with great success in an undergraduate course this term.
Furman University -
Hello. I\\\'m a student at the University of Illinois - Chicago and am a big fan of your work. I strangely find myself coming back again and again to your work... leaving each time with a satisfying reading experience. As I\\\'m sure you are acutely aware, your work has a certain pristine quality to it that other translations fall short of. The clarity of your expression (and the accuracy too) is quite remarkable.
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