Frogs Flashcards
Which women are negatively portrayed?
Phaedra, Stheneboea, Aphrodite
Who wins the Agon?
Aeschylus
What are the last two questions of the agon?
What do do about Alcibiades? How to keep Athens safe?
What war was contemporary to frogs?
Peloponnesian, ended 18 months after the first performance of Frogs
What’s the word for journey to the underworld?
Katabasis
What sea battle granted citizenship to slaves?
Arginusae
Who’s Cleistenes?
Mentioned in almost all Aristophanes plays, mocked for passive homosexuality
What are the different types of humour?
Visual, scatological, satire, parody, word play, character
What pun do the initiates make on a politician’s name?
Hippocinus- means horse bonker not victor
Why was Alcibiades sentenced to imprisonment?
Profaning the mysteries
What’s Euripides’ chief fault?
Sophistry
What’s Aeschylus’ best argument?
Little bottle of olive oil
Corrupt politicians
Alcibiades, Cleophon
Parabasis
a section of a comedy in which the chorus addresses the audience directly, speaking in the voice of the playwright
Theme of the parabasis
Athens needs to turn to old ways and reject the politicians leading the city astray. Also contains specific political advice e.g. the citizens who had lost their rights because they were involved in an attempt to overthrow the democracy in 411 BC should have their status restored
Date
405 BC
Playwrights as teachers
Euripides: ‘we make people in our city better’
Aeschylus: ‘children have teachers to instruct them, young men have poets.’
Other plays ridiculing Dionysus
comedy ‘Dionysalexandros’
Battle giving citizenship to slaves
Arginusae in 406 BC-the year before Frogs
Contemporary issues
Written during a time of great uncertainty as Athens suffered defeat at the hands of Sparta. Extreme measures had been taken i.e. taking gold and silver from the Acropolis
Alcibiades’ biggest crime
defected to Sparta
What is the competition between playwrights reminiscent of?
The dramatic festivals where 3 tragic playwrights competed
Breaks 4th wall
Dionysus asks the priest sitting in the prohedria to save him and Dionysus will buy him a drink after the show.
