The Frogs

• Dionysus
• Xanthias, his slave
• Heracles
• Pluto
• Aeschylus
• Euripides
• Charon
• Aeacus
• A maid of Persephone
• Two hostesses
• One dead
• Chorus of Frogs
• Choir of the initiates
• Men and women

The Frogs ( Ancient Greek Βάτραχοι Bátrachoi ) is an ancient Greek comedy from the pen of Aristophanes. It was first performed probably in 405 BC

Content

Dionysus penetrates into the underworld to lead Euripides into this world again. There, he becomes the arbiter in a contest between the said poet and Aeschylus, Aeschylus at the end is declared the winner and returns from the beyond.

Dramaturgy

Two storylines are linked together: the journey of Dionysos in the Underworld as an adventure story along the lines of Heracles, however, can not serve to identify the heroes, since the border crossing is not a challenge. The hero is identified " in off ". The second storyline is the contest of the poets, that can be resolved by either philological or scientific criteria. Only the intervention of pluton brings together the plot lines and can prevail Aeschylus, as it currently is the better choice.

Comments

Comedy is created by the construction and the undermining of expectations: There is no clearly identifiable heroes, no challenges, such as the adventure etc. Conclusion is that there is no absolute decisions can be made, but truth is always dependent on a particular discourse.

One of the most significant works of English composer Walter Leigh is the incidental music to Aristophanes' " The Frogs " from the year 1936.

The famous musical composer Stephen Sondheim took the substance to the content of his play " The Frogs ", the mid-70s was performed in the swimming pool at Yale University. 2004, there was a Broadwayrun in a revised version with additional songs. Under director Susan Stroman acted the Stars Nathan Lane and Roger Bart.