The Frogs
Synopsis:
The god Dionysus, despairing over the decline of great tragedy in Athens following recent losses among its master playwrights, disguises himself as Heracles and descends to the Underworld accompanied by his clever slave Xanthias. Their perilous journey involves crossing a lake ferried by Charon, enduring the relentless croaking of a chorus of sacred frogs, and navigating the chaotic realm of the dead. There, Dionysus becomes entangled in a fierce rivalry between two legendary poets vying for supremacy in Hades.
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Review
Where I was ready for the humor from reading The Clouds and prepped myself for the type of crass humor style, what I was not prepared for was the slow pacing it took for Aristophanes to get to the point. While The Frogs is one of his most important messages, “Who are we to be, people of Greece? Will dramatic tradagey be our teacher and save us?” I feel like dividing the story in two would get me to the same spot and I would lose nothing.
The William Arrowsmith translation again brings the humor into the English from the Greek. The slapstick nature of Dionysus and his slave, Xanthias feel very much like Abbot & Costello meets The Three Stooges. If they were their own story, I would say this play is ancient Greece’s Saturday Morning Looney Tunes version. But, my goodness, the pacing to get to the main point made this such a struggle to get through. Divide the story into two and do that two more times and you’re there and I’m not sure I lose much. But, as my friend asks, did the author accomplish what he set out to do? I do believe so and it’s the slowest road to Hades to get to it. Blame should be shifted 3,000 years forward to the reader for this take and not 3,000 years back. I’m ready for some Greek poetry to cheer me up after all this comedy!
Final Grade
D-
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