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The Frogs
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THE FROGS OF ARISTOPHANES
By Aristophanes
The Harvard Classics
Edited By Charles W Eliot Lld
Nine Greek Dramas
By Æschylus, Sophocles, Euripides And
Aristophanes
Translations By
E D A Morshead
E H Plumptre
Gilbert
Murray
And
B B Rogers
With Introductions And Notes
VOLUME 8
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTORY NOTE
Aristophanes, the greatest of comic writers in Greek and in the opinion of many, in any language, is the only one of the Attic comedians any of whose works has survived in complete form He was born in Athens about the middle of the fifth century B C, and had his first comedy produced when he was so young that his name was withheld on account of his youth. He is credited with over forty plays, eleven of which survive, along with the names and fragments of some twenty-six others. His satire deal with political, religious, and literary topics, and with all its humor and fancy is evidently the outcome of profound conviction and a genuine patriotism. The Attic comedy was produced at the festivals of Dionysus, which were marked by great license, and to this, rather than to the individual taste of the poet, must be ascribed the undoubted coarseness of many of the jests. Aristophanes seems, indeed, to have been regarded by his contemporaries as a man of noble character. He died shortly after the production of his "Plutus," in 388 B. C.
"The Frogs" was produced the year after the death of Euripides, and laments the decay of Greek tragedy which Aristophanes attributed to that writer. It is an admirable example of the brilliance of his style, and of that mingling of wit and poetry with rollicking humor and keen satirical point which is his chief characteristic. Here, as elsewhere, he stands for tradition against innovation of all kinds, whether in politics, religion, or art. The hostility to Euripides displayed here and in several other plays, like his attacks on Socrates, is a result of this attitude of conservatism. The present play is notable also as a piece of elaborate if not over-serious literary criticism from the pen of a great poet.
THE FROGS OF ARISTOPHANES
DRAMATIS PERSONÆ
THE GOD DIONYSUS
XANTHIAS, his slave
AESCHYLUS
EURIPIDES
HERACLES
PLUTO
CHARON AEACUS, house porter to Pluto
A CORPSE
A MAIDSERVANT OF PERSEPHONE
A LANDLADY IN HADES
PLATHANE, her servant
A CHORUS OF FROGS
A CHORUS OF INITIATED PERSONS
Attendants at a Funeral;
Women worshipping Iacchus;
Servants of Pluto, &c.
XANTHIAS
I'm getting crushed:
my shoulder's aching.
getting crushed
my shoulder's aching
him
he
Air, Zeus's chamber Time's foot
'Twas not my mind that swore: my tongue committed
A little perjury on its own account.
Let them go
so
he
To Xan.
To Xan.
To DIO. Calling.
To DIO.
I
pointing to the audience
To the Spectre
A flute is played behind the scenes
In the distance
The calling forth of Iacchus
(The welcome to Iacchus.)
(The warning-off of the profane.)
The start of the procession
The processional hymn to Persephone
The processional hymn to Demeter
The processional hymn to Iacchus
The banter at the bridge of Cephisus
The departure for the Thriasian Plain
I
you
very
you
Striking out
In agony
he's
you
Aeacus strikes him
Incredulously
Strikes DIO
Cheerfully
Shrieking Calmly
Screaming
Regards the audience
he
you
to the Chorus
To Eur
To Aesch
your
my
his
What's amiss? Why was that? How is this?
Why, where's my pitcher? What's the matter?
'Tis dead and gone my last year's platter.
Who gnawed these olives? Bless the sprat,
Who nibbled off the head of that?
And where's the garlic vanished, pray,
I purchased only yesterday?
him
him
ye
Evir alake
that
their
you
my
that
my you
he is poor,
too poor by far
I
Grave Hermes, witnessing a father's power. Be thou my saviour
and mine aid to-day, For here I come and hither I return.
him
my
To Dio
To Eur
Grave Hermes, witnessing a father's power
to Eur
Be thou my saviour and mine aid to-day, For here I come, and
hither I return
Aside
you
Now on this funeral mound I call my father To hear, to
hearken.
your
A happy man was Oedipus at first
Then he became the wretchedest of men.
'Aegyptus, sailing with his fifty sons, As ancient legends mostly
tell the tale, Touching at Argos
Bacchus, who, clad in fawnskins, leaps and bounds
With torch and thyrsus in the choral dance Along Parnassus
No man is blest in every single thing. One
is of noble birth, but lacking means. Another, baseborn
Once Cadmus, quitting the Sidonian town, Agenor's offspring
him
Pelops, the son of Tantalus, while driving His
mares to Pisa
Oeneus once
reaping
Oeneus once reaping an
abundant harvest, Offering the firstfruits
Zeus, as by
Truth's own voice the tale is told,
A slight pause, during which the music of a flute is heard. The music
continues to the end of line 1277 as an accompaniment to the
recitative
why hearing the voice of the
hero-dividing. Hah! smiting! approachest thou not to the rescue
abide, are adoring our ancestor Hermes. Hah! smiting!
approachest thou not to the rescue?
Atreides, thou noblest of
all the Achaeans. Hah! smiting! approachest thou not to the rescue
will quickly the Temple of
Artemis open. Hah! smiting! approachest thou not to the rescue?
I know it the omen the chieftains encountered. Hah!
smiting! approachest thou not to the rescue?
Achaea, the lords of the mighty
Hellenes
the Sphinx, the unchancy, the chieftainess blood-hound.
and hand the avengers the terrible eagle
winged hounds of the air he provided a booty.
he
To Dio
To Eur
O that the Argo had not winged her way
River Spercheius, cattle-grazing haunts
Cuckoo! let go. O look, by far the lowest
you
Persuasion's only shrine is eloquent speech.
Death loves not gifts, alone amongst the gods
"Achilles threw two singles and a four
In his right hand he grasped an iron-clamped mace
Chariot on chariot, corpse on corpse was hurled
he
your
To Aesch you?
your
To Aesch.
this
this
this
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