The Wasps / The Poet and the Women / The Frogs

by Aristophanes, David Barrett (Introduction)

Aristophanes; tr. by David Barrett, Wasps, The; the Poet and the Women; the Frogs

Genres: Classics, Plays, Drama, Fiction, Theatre, Ancient, Literature

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 423

About the author

Aristophanes (Greek: Αριστοφάνης; c. 446 – c. 386 BC) was an Ancient Greek comic playwright from Athens and a poet of Old Attic Comedy. He wrote in total forty plays, of which eleven survive virtually complete today. These provide the most valuable examples of a genre of comic drama known as Old Comedy and are used to define it, along with fragments from dozens of lost plays by Aristophanes and his contemporaries.
Also known as "The Father of Comedy" and "the Prince of Ancient Comedy", Aristophanes has been said to recreate the life of ancient Athens more convincingly than any other author. His powers of ridicule were feared and acknowledged by influential contemporaries; Plato singled out Aristophanes' play The Clouds as slander that contributed to the trial and subsequent condemning to death of Socrates, although other satirical playwrights had also caricatured the philosopher.
Aristophanes' second play, The Babylonians (now lost), was denounced by Cleon as a slander against the Athenian polis. It is possible that the case was argued in court, but details of the trial are not recorded and Aristophanes caricatured Cleon mercilessly in his subsequent plays, especially The Knights, the first of many plays that he directed himself. "In my opinion," he says through that play's Chorus, "the author-director of comedies has the hardest job of all."

Reviews

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brékkek Kékkek Kékkek Kékkek! Kóax Kóax Kóax!

[Daniel Chaikin · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 · Rating 3 out of 5]

fun!!! but not enough frogs

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 · Rating 5 out of 5]

no I miss the frogs

[sophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

actually genuinely hilarious

it felt so so modern like there’s no way that was written thousands of years ago
also i think it was just a really really good translation

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shout out to aristophanes for writing a play in 405 BC that made me giggle in 2025 AD. Featuring such hits as:

“Dionysus: I don’t know how to explain. I’ll paraphrase a parable. Did you ever feel a sudden longing for baked beans?
Herakles: Baked beans? Gosh yes, that’s happened to me a million times.
Don’t need to expound baked beans to me. I get the point.”

and

“Dionysus: How's that again? Please be a bit more stupid, so I'll understand.”

[Rhys · Rating 3 out of 5]

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!

[Erik Rostad · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed The Frogs, the only comedy I read from this set. It pitches Aeschylus vs Euripides in Hades as to who is the better playwright. It was witty, interesting, and not as crude as some of Aristophanes' other works. I'm really glad I read this one.

[Davvybrookbook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aristophanes came along in my reading following extensive other readings of ancient Athenian history, heroes and gods throughout many works by Homer, Hesiod, Plutarch, Arrian, Xenophon, Plato, Aristotle, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Apollonius of Rhodes, and Ovid. Arriving to Aristophanes with such a knowledge of literary, political and mythical references, it is apparent Aristophanes can be paired well with Cervantes’ Don Quixote mirroring an exhaustion of heroic romances, or even a Greek version of a Dantean escatological interplay between life, an afterlife, and the divine. Aristophanes’ Old Comedy might be a useful source even to compare with Finnegans Wake for their burlesque bawdiness and polyvocal metrical complexity.

Structurally, I am still coming to terms with the complexities of Aristophanic comedy: parodos, agon, strophic pairs of choruses, parabasis, songs, iambic dialogue. I am not sure how well these can be translated but it seems Stephen Halliwell has done an excellent job in his 2015 translation of these works, and I am looking forward to reading his translations of the remaining eight comedies in two by additional volumes. These plays were grouped as the cultural plays (Clouds, Women of Thesmophoria, Frogs). The 1997 first volume included Birds, Lysistrata, The Assembly Women, Wealth, and the 2024 final volume the political plays: Acharnians, Knights, Wasps, Peace.


Clouds was where I had hoped to start coming off reading Plato’s early Socratic dialogues and Xenophon’s four Socratic dialogues. In fact, the order of reading was rather helpful, in particular Xenophon’s dialogue on estate management between Socrates and Ischomachus in Oeconomicus alongside Hesiod’s advice to farmers in his Works and Days.

STREPSIADES. What I mentioned before: that immoral way of debating.
SOKRATES. But you need to learn other things first. Now here's an example:
Which animals rightly belong to the masculine gender?*
STREPSIADES. I know all the masculine ones. Any fool knows that!
The ram, the goat, the bull, the dog, and the cock-fowl.
SOKRATES. You see what you're doing? The word for cock you've used
Is the same one you always use for hens as well.
STREPSIADES. Is that really so?
SOKRATES. But of course: you say 'cock' for both.*
STREPSIADES. By Poseidon, that's right! Well, what should I say then instead?

In Clouds, the father and son incarnations of traditional and modern, Strepsiades and Pheidippides, intimate social tensions of political rhetoric of orators and sycophants (lawyers) in conflict with wealth as represented in land, money lending, aristocratic prestige, new models of education, and generational change. However, Aristophanes depiction of Socrates is so far off Aristotle’s, Plato’s and Xenophon’s likening that it becomes a helpful frame to understand other character adaptations. Herein, Socrates is an incontinent farting machine with oafish sophist teachings. There are only minor hints of the Platonic version, while Xenophon’s more common men of the city, like the estate owner Strepsiades, are heavily featured. The classic Agon I of Clouds is between Moral and Immoral, followed later in Agon II with between father and son, Strepsiades and Pheidippides.

MORAL. Come over here then! Show yourself
To the audience there. What an impudent thing!
IMMORAL. Go wherever you want! The bigger the crowd
The more I'll argue you into the ground.
MORAL. What you?
IMMORAL. With my words.
MORAL. But you're weaker than me.
IMMORAL. All the same I'll defeat
One who makes the claim that he's stronger than me.
MORAL. What's your clever trick then?
IMMORAL. I have new ideas I've discovered myself.
MORAL. Well such things only flourish
(gesturing at audience) On account of these idiots sitting in front of us here.
IMMORAL. But these people are clever.

The Women of Thesmophoria is by far the funniest of the three comedies. The Kinsman of Euripides is pure comic relief, and the conceit of the play is masterful. The premise of false gender identities, the maligning of engendered behaviors and practices, and of the infiltration of a women’s only Dionysian festival posits Agathon (one of the unique attendees in Plato’s Symposium and also a tragic playwright) and Euripides as equals in poetic promise yet polarized in appearance, age, and sexuality. The simple inclusion of Agathon here is an interesting selection.

AGATHON. There's no escaping the link. I've recognized this
And have pampered myself accordingly.
KINSMAN. But why?
EURIPIDES [to KINSMAN]. Stop yapping away. I used to be just the same
When I was the age he is and was starting to write.
KINSMAN. By Zeus I'm glad I wasn't brought up like you!
EURIPIDES. But let me explain the reason I've come.
KINSMAN.
Yes, tell him.
EURIPIDES. Agathon, 'it's the mark of a skilful man to know how
To compress a long speech with a fine concision of words?*
I've been struck down by a blow of fresh misfortune
And have come to you in supplication.
AGATHON. What for?
EURIPIDES. The women have plans to destroy my life today
At the Thesmophoria, because I slander them.
AGATHON. What kind of help do you think that I can give?
EURIPIDES. Every kind that I need! If you infiltrate the meeting
That the women are holding and look like a woman yourself,
You can speak in defence of me and save my life!
Only you can speak in a style that's worthy of me.
AGATHON. Why can't you go and present your own defence?
EURIPIDES. I'll tell you. For one thing, my face is known to all.
For another, my hair is grey and I'm bearded as well.
But your face is pretty, as pale as a woman's and shaved,
You've a woman's voice, you're soft-skinned, and lovely to look at.
AGATHON [hesitating]. Euripides—

Frogs is a play I first encountered through a performance on the Greek island of Spetses circa 1995. The wild choruses and phalli hanging from the protagonist shaped the ecstatic, cacophonous atmosphere of the outdoor amphitheater on a temperate summer night. At 11 or 12 years old, I hardly knew what tragedy was, and Frogs intellectual narratives and humor hardly touched me.

Now, I can appreciate these retellings of Heraclean (and even Ophic) labors with Dionysiac focus. The central Agon between Aeschlus (spelled Aischylos by Halliwell) and Euripides is a contest of who is to be the greatest poet to sit alongside Plato (spelled Plouton by Halliwell) after death in Hades. I actually found Euripides critic of Aeschylus’ repetition humorous, as well as Aeschylus’ attack of Euripides ubiquitous application of conveniently constructed devices (like his application of deus ex machina to conclude his plays) in any scene. A wholly worthy literary reflection on tragedy and poetic value to a society facing political collapse and destruction.

EURIPIDES. What nonsense you're talking. My prologues are beautifully written.
AISCHYLOS. I can't bear to continue this word-by-word dissection
Of every verse. With the help of the gods on my side I'll use a miniature oil-jar to rubbish your prologues.*
EURIPIDES. A miniature oil-jar to deal with my prologues?
AISCHYLOS. Just one.
Your style of writing means any old object will fit—
A fleecelet, a miniature oil-jar, a little old sack—
The iambic lines you compose. I'll show you at once.
EURIPIDES. Oh you will, will you?
AISCHYLOS. Yes.
EURIPIDES. All right then, listen to this.
'Aigyptos, so prevailing tradition relates,
With fifty sons traversed the sea by oar,
Put in to Argos and—*
AISCHYLOS. …lost his miniature oil-jar!
DIONYSOS. What's the point of the miniature oil-jar? It's damned annoying.
Recite him a further prologue let's see what it means.
EURIPIDES. ‘Dionysos, equipped with thyrso and wearing fawnskins,
Among the pine-trees down Parnassos's slopes
Went leaping in dance and—›*
AISCHYLOS. …lost his miniature oil-jar!
DIONYSOS. Oh no, he's struck us again with this miniature oil-jar!
EURIPIDES. I'm not concerned by that. Now here's a prologue
To which he won't be able to tag on an oil-jar.
‘No man exists who's happy in all respects.
Perhaps born noble he falls in penury's way.
Or low by birth—**
AISCHYLOS. …he loses his miniature oil-jar!
DIONYSOS [confidentially]. Euripides—
EURIPIDES. What's wrong?

The fragments are the first I have read of any from the Greek Theater and they emphasize both the great loss of ancient genius as well as the astonishing luck to have any complete plays of Athenian tragedy and comedy remaining. The extensive titles and knowedge of their characters, themes and motifs greatly enhances an understanding of the pervasive 5th and 4th century literary contests in the late winter and spring festivals. Our fragmentary, incomplete awareness of the past sheds light on the fickleness of time and continuity, of our own time in light of an ancient renaissance, and the potential for humanity to transmit excellence across millennia.

[Drew · Rating 1 out of 5]

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 · Rating 2 out of 5]

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 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surprisingly 'modern', wickedly funny and brilliantly translated.

[CivilWar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful little translation by David Barrett that keeps the Aristophanic tone, or rather, what it would sound like (though certainly not in the literal, phonetic sense, as these were all in sung verse! But having read many shitty Victorian English translations of Greek plays in Iambic verse, I guarantee you that this is a good thing) to the Athenian audience, by making it a sort of little ancient Monty Python. The song sections are translated like ballads even if, as Barrett himself admits, the genuine genius of Aristophanes as far as comic poetry is concerned cannot be replicated in any translation - the songs here being translated as ballads.

Comedy is very topical - and it was very topical too. With enough context, cultural and linguistic, lost, a joke can go from simply "no longer funny" to "outright incomprehensible gibberish", like the famous Sumerian bar dog joke (honestly I am fairly certain it was a dick joke). Because of this, ancient comedies, or at least even halfway decent editions of it, come with a entire military corps of footnotes and translator's notes. Having read shitty editions of Aristophanes' works, using public domain translations and containing no footnotes, I assure you you want them, because they're needed to even understand what's being talked about at time.

This is specially true of Aristophanes, because the man made constant references to other poets of the day, the the never-ending Peloponnesian war and its twists and turns, the deteriorating economic situation, the rule of demagogues, etc. That said, I am shocked at the amount of footnotes here - there are relatively few! not even reaching 150 for three plays! And they don't interrupt the reading much, while rarely was there reference to things I didn't know, though sometimes there were and I assume that these are simply things lost to time (sometimes these are noted, when they're more potentially pertinent, or the joke is specially obscure).

Unlike Aeschylus where I am a firm believer that you need to keep in verse, the high and lofty style, however you go about it notwithstanding, with Aristophanes not that much is lost with prose dialogue (except for the songs, of course). Instead of an overly literal translation, the dialogue here is more concerned with capturing the comedic finesse of the original: one bit has the characters speaking with a ridiculous amount of alliteration, and here obviously it's more important to capture that over "accurately" translating the Greek. Sometimes these can be weird - per example, the Scythian guard with an accent in Thesmophoriazusae is translated here as having a racist Italian-American accent. It seemed strange to me but then I also thought, well fuck, what else would you do here? Russian accent would maybe be better, but ayyyy those aren't so well captured in text.

Aristophanes, however, was not just doing shallow vulgar humor here, and he was very much willing to tackle, through comedy, the issues of his day: namely the never-ending war and the economic damage it was causing to most people, the critique of democracy and demagogy, the question of Alcibiades' return, etc. The Frogs, which one is tempted to consider the silliest one despite it being agreed back in its own day as his masterpiece, is probably the most sophisticated in this regard. Sophisticated, too, is how Aristophanes uses characters with opposing viewpoints, some correct here and others there, to make a nuanced point, dialectical rather than the "middle way" of mediocre brains - even if I don't always agree with him.

Ultimately this is a fantastic translation of three of Aristophanes' plays, but I am confused as to why only three were put together here considering the price of the usual paperback in the day. Only three? Come on now, the man has eleven surviving plays, this is just over a fourth! The page count reaches a measly 220 pages! They're not even thematically related. Well, whatever, in any case, I tell you this: Aristophanes still holds up, in fact, IF PROPERLY TRANSLATED, it holds up shockingly well, though in a live performance without the benefit of footnotes, I would guess that some script changes would have to be done, specially because most people would know not even the basics of Aristophanes' world and environment. That said, The Frogs has that musical adaptation from the 70s and which keeps being played - the music is certainly a bop - every other year so, if you don't trust me, just think that the play, in whatever mutated form, is still being played, making it one of the oldest ones around! In any case, the musical treatment would certainly be in the spirit for the Old Comedy originals, as they were played with grand music, costumes, dances, etc, high budgeted stuff.

All in all - really great version of these plays of Aristophanes, however I would wish for more of the corpus.

[Gastjäle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A hale lungful from the marble past!

Aristophanes' plays gain their momentum from exuberance rather than formal qualities. They scorn (anachronistically) Aristotelian poetics with wild verve by tarrying and meandering whenever they list, and they are absolutely packed with all types of humour from literary criticism and subtle, periodic allusion to arse volleys dwarfing the Last Trump. They are wildly inventive in the sense that they defy structure (though, as in the introduction to the Penguin edition shows, there is a flimsy framework to the plays), and so they refuse to sit still in any straight-forward manner: sometimes the characters break the fourth wall, sometimes they crack meta jokes, sometimes they lampoon people (dead or alive) directly, sometimes they launch on interminable ritual poems and so forth. Pythonesque would serve as a good synonym.

I've noticed that with Aristophanes, I did not so much laugh out loud as I felt a mirthful expansion within me—a wholesome, ad-hoc disposition to take in the world in one grand gesture of jest. The gall he had would definitely be frowned in today's artists, but with the millennia between me and him, I cannot help but admire his temerity. He would call living politicians catamites, and he would have the chorus berate the audience for not appreciating Clouds enough for the first prize! The carnival atmosphere of his plays simply smacks of Mardi Gras, and so Aristophanes could easily be considered a forerunner to the likes of Rabelais and Sterne, the liberated humourists par excellence.

[Б. Ачболд · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Victoria Hawco · Rating 3 out of 5]

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

[Shaylee]

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

[Рали]

Euripides is annoying

[megan ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really held up over time !

[Sickly Cowboy · Rating 5 out of 5]

the camp dionysus representation we deserve. "high heeled boots and saffron negligee" go off king.

[Lily Gregory · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tehehe funny jokes

[Hsingh · Rating 5 out of 5]

surprisingly enjoyable comedy, chortled a few times!

[Hattie]

There were three plays in my copy of this. Two of them had rap battles, and the third redeemed itself by having Euripides cosplaying his own characters.

[Smiley III · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Brendan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just can't believe these plays are as old as they are. Aristophanes persistently engages directly with his audience on contemporary political, moral, and social issues in a way that really surprised me. Some of the characters he lampoons are instantly recognizable and most of the topics he treats remain relevant. Best of all, it's actually still funny in a low-brow, "laugh before you think about it" sort of way. I'd so go to see one of these plays.

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the Frogs today. We're in the midst of a protracted war, Just like Athens 2400 years ago. As today, comedians held the mirror to society. Amid the scatological humor, Aristophanes dealt seriously with the nature of democracy and humanity. Very timely today.

This edition has useful prefaces and notes. Note #129: The evidence of slaves was valid only under torture.

[Nicky · Rating 2 out of 5]

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.