Frogs Summary Flashcards
1
Q
Prologue: Lines 1-315
Describe briefly what happens in the Prologue lines 1-315
A
- Dionysus & Xanthias embark on a journey
- Advice is given from Hercales
- Negotiating the passage across the marsh to underworld
- Dionysus encounters the frogs
- Dionysus & Xanthias are reunited
2
Q
Prologue: Lines 1-315
How does the play start
A
- Dionysus appears on stage dressed as a parody of Heracles, together with a slave, weighed down by baggage, and a donkey
- After a stand-up routine about not making the audience laugh with old, familiar baggage jokes,
- Dionysus reveals that he is on his way to Heracles for advice on a journey to the underworld
3
Q
Prologue: Lines 1-315
What happens when Dionysus talks to Heracles
A
- Dionysus tells Heracles that he wants to go there to bring back Euripides because there are no good poets still alive.
- His appearance and plan cause Heracles great amusement and he teases Dionysus with his advice.
- He tells him what to expect.
4
Q
Prologue: Lines 1-315
What happens after Dionysus encounters Heracles
A
- After a brief encounter with a corpse who refuses to take all the baggage, Dionysus crosses the marsh on Charon’s boat.
- Charon makes Xanthias take the long way round.
5
Q
Prologue: Lines 1-315
What happens on Dionysus’ journey to the underworld
A
- On the journey, a subsidiary Chorus of Frogs engage in a short singing contest with Dionysus, as Charon makes him row across
6
Q
Prologue: Lines 1-315
How does the prologue end
A
- After Dionysus and Xanthias are reunited on the other side, they encounter a shape-changing monster.
- Dionysus is seen to be a coward.
- They hear the Chorus of Initiates approaching.
7
Q
Prologue: Lines 1-315
Name the various types of humour which occur in the prologue
A
- self-mockery
- visual humour
- topical humour
- surreal humour
- word play
- scatological
- mockery (playwrights, aristocrats)
8
Q
Parados 316-459
What type of chorus is it
A
Chorus of Initiates of the Eleusinian Mysteries
9
Q
Parados 316-459
What context can help us understand why the chorus change the mood
A
- The chorus may have brought a touch of nostalgia;
- while the Spartans occupied Decelea in 413 BC,
- the annual Eleusinian procession in September had to be suspended
10
Q
Parados 316-459
What do the Chorus of initates repeatedly shout
A
Iacchus!
11
Q
Parados 316-459
What is the significance of Iacchus being shouted
A
- The name of this youthful Eleusinian god who led the Initiates carrying a torch,
- is derived from the joyous cry ‘iacche’
- His image was carried from Athens to Eleusis in the procession
- Dionysus or Bacchus is sometimes also called by this name, like in the Bacchae L725, hence this could be perceived as quite ironic
12
Q
Parados 316-459
What feature does Aristophanes employ that emphasises the importance of the chorus
A
- the unusual stage direction for pipes to be played, which is not generally included
13
Q
Parados 316-459
- Describe the features of the ritual dance that the Initates begin with
A
- dancing
- the wearing of flower crowns & garlands
- rhythmic stamping of feet
14
Q
Parados 316-459
- In what way do the initates & Dionysus play on the focus of their worship
A
- references to Pigs:
- The sacrifice of a piglet formed part of the Eleusinian Mysteries and the Thesmophoria
- Here Aristophanes plays on nostalgia
15
Q
Parados 316-459
- What do the chorus then emphasise about their worship by referencing light
A
- That members of the cult have known to see the light in the underworld; & also members would have worshipped nocturnally
16
Q
Parados 316-459
- How do the chorus then reflect the inclusivity of the Mysteries worship
A
- The Mysteries were inclusive in a way not typical of Athenian society, welcoming women and men, young and old, Athenian and foreigner, but not those who had shed blood
- Aristophanes’ extended joke lists others who should stand aside
17
Q
Parados 316-459
- Who do the Initates attack
A
- Cratinus - A comic playwright who dominated the genre before Aristophanes
- Audience members recipient of the cheap laughs
- Demogogues & Politicans (edp. those involved in Argiunsae)
- Piracy & wartime profiteering
- Himself - for being so critical
18
Q
Parados 316-459
- In what way do the Chorus lean on the Gods here
A
- The Initiates sing of a female saviour, who might be Athene, Persephone or Demeter, but it is certainly to Demeter that they pray for safety in lines 387-9.
- Thorycion is named and shamed at line 363 against a general backdrop of wartime corruption and profiteering, which breaks the 4th wall, emphasisng how the audience should too
19
Q
Parados 316-459
- How do the cults of Dionysus & Demeter mirror eachother here
A
- Humour and playfulness abound in this Chorus
- The Greek verb paizein - to act childishly - occurs many times & on the procession from Athens to Eleusis was the river Cephissus
- ritual insult and mockery indulged in by participants as they crossed (we also learn this was a long walk - 22km)
20
Q
Parados 316-459
- Amongst a plethora of smutty humour, which politicans are violated
A
- Archedemus
- Cleisthenes
- Callias
- Hippocinus
21
Q
Parados 316-459
- Why must Aristophane’s be cautious when demonstrating the Eleusinian Mysteries
A
- Aristophanes might have risked angering people in this parodos and in an earlier play Thesmophoriazusae (411 BC)
- Ten years before Frogs was first performed, a group of young aristocrats including Alcibiades had been charged with profaning the Mysteries, a case that had far-reaching implications for Athens
22
Q
Parados 316-459
At the end of the Parados, how does Aristophane’s present the value of the chorus for driving the plot
A
- The Chorus have just advised Dionysus and Xanthias that they’ve reached Hades’ front door
- They are pious & undiscriminating with who they help, thus driving the plot, diluted with confused characters
23
Q
Episode 1: Preliminary Encounters in the Underworld (460-674)
Who is Dionysus dressed as in the following scenes
A
Heracles
24
Q
Episode 1: Preliminary Encounters in the Underworld (460-674)
- What is Aeacus’ response to seeing Dionysus dressed as Hercales
A
- immediately believes that he is seeing the real Heracles returning to the underworld
- he appears as an over-excitable doorman who takes disturbing pleasure in listing the punishments in store to Dionysus & Xanthias
25
Q
Episode 1: Preliminary Encounters in the Underworld (460-674)
- How does Aristophanes use social comedy with Dionysus & Xanthias
A
- The slave is portrayed as more noble & reslient to Aeacus’ threats, wheras Dionysus is divinely mocked & underminned admist a lexis of scatological humour
26
Q
Episode 1: Preliminary Encounters in the Underworld (460-674)
- How does the swapping of Dionysus & Xanthias’ roles climax
A
Xanthias steps forward with good cheer as he takes on the costume and spirit of Heracles, parodying himself as Xanthacles, & flirting with the maid
27
Q
Episode 1: Preliminary Encounters in the Underworld (460-674)
- How does Aristophanes utilise political satyr with Xanthias & Dionysus
A
- I need a witness! - Xanthias cry, a reminder of the litigious nature of Athenians and their obsession with law-courts suggests that Dionysus becomes physical in his attempts
- Possible comment on how to a Greek Audience the emancipation of slaves will never be taken seriously
28
Q
Episode 1: Preliminary Encounters in the Underworld (460-674)
- What unknowingly intelligent yet deeply ironic comment does Dionysus make
A
- ‘What gods? How stupid and senseless - the idea that you, a slave and a mere mortal, could be the son of Almene!’
- Zeus slept with Almene disguised as her husband, Amphitryon and fathered Heracles.
- Zeus wife Hera prevented him from becoming the great king that had been predicted by speeding up the birth of another child, Eurystheus
- Heracles had to perform his 12 labours for this master
- Hera ruthlessly afflicted Heracles with a madness that made him kill his first wife Megaera and their children
- emphasises how the Gods rule the constitution of Athens, so in all manner of things, the emancipation of slaves is impossible, but also deeply ironic because growing sophistry undermines this, through D’s stupidity
29
Q
Interlude 1: Preliminary Encounters in the Underworld (460-674)
What do the chorus comment on here
A
- The Chorus reflect on Dionysus change of plan while making a political point.
- Politicians always struggle to present U-turns convincingly and risk being mocked for them.
- Dionysus has decided to reverse his previous decision to let Xanthias play Heracles.
- In the first lyric stanza the Chorus appear to praise him for this until the sting comes at the end of their verse, so their structure mimics what they mock
30
Q
Interlude 1: Preliminary Encounters in the Underworld (460-674)
What political satyr does Aristophanes make about Politicians
A
- ‘Safe side of the ship’ - calls out those who did not question the Demagogues
- Thermaenes - Mr.U-turn - helped to establish and then overthrow the Four Hundred, the oligarchic government imposed on Athens in 411;& he commanded a ship at the Battle of Arginusae in 406 BC and was instrumental in bringing the generals to trial for failing to collect their dead
31
Q
Interlude 1: Preliminary Encounters in the Underworld (460-674)
- How does Aristophanes potentially blasphemously satyr Dionysus
A
- I start buffing my chick-pea - a bizarre euphemism
- Masturbation is commonly referred to in Greek comedy
32
Q
Interlude 1: Preliminary Encounters in the Underworld (460-674)
- How does the chorus undermine Dionysus
A
- chorus / Of teeth - metaphor suggesting that a row of teeth are like a ring of dancers has particular force as Dionysus is in feisty dialogue with his own chorus
- basically saying why won’t you guys just back me here
33
Q
Episode 2: Preliminary Encounters in the Underworld (460-674)
- What can we learn about costume here
A
- High-heeled boots (kothornoi) are referenced
- Actors wore these to make them more visible
- Dionysus is wearing them, like his yellow gown, as god of drama
- A lot of self-reflective comedy is generated by dressing up in this play, but also Aristophanes could be commenting on the mechanism of early theatre, as it perhaps doesn’t mirror social hierachy
34
Q
Episode 2: Preliminary Encounters in the Underworld (460-674)
- What happens now Dionysus is switched back to Heracles
A
- two angry female innkeepers, who accuse Heracles of previosuly taking food from them
- Xanthias feeds into this
- They call for Cleon & Hyperbolus to protect them (they’re already dead -surreal humour)
35
Q
Episode 2: Preliminary Encounters in the Underworld (460-674)
- Explain Aristophanes’ surreal comedic reference to Cleon & Hyperbolus
A
- The women call to their defence two nasty, dead demaogogues -politicians- to attack the villain
- Cleon, presented as a loud and aggressive politician, attempted to prosecute Aristophanes
- He was killed in action in 422 BC, but Aristophanes continued to resurrect old jokes long after his death
- Hyperbolus was ostracised in about 416 BC and killed in 411
36
Q
Episode 2: Preliminary Encounters in the Underworld (460-674)
- How does Xanthias & Dionysus’ social norm behaviour completely invert
A
- ‘a slave and a mere mortal’ Xanthias throws Dionysus’ own words back at him
- ‘my wife, and my children’ Dionysus is reduced to pleading with his slave by swearing an oath
- Gods usually swear by the river Styx, but Dionysus chooses a domestic oath that feels suspicious, given the lack of evidence of a wife or children in the play
37
Q
Episode 2: Preliminary Encounters in the Underworld (460-674)
- How is Dionysus’ plea undermined
A
- Archedemus - this reference undercuts the seriousness of Dionysus oath
- Archedemus was ridiculed as the ambitious outsider who brought charges of embezzlement against Erasinides, one of the generals at Arginusae
38
Q
Interlude 2: Preliminary Encounters in the Underworld (460-674)
What is significant about the Chorus’ encouragement
A
- Equal encouragement
- The Chorus’ song and Xanthias (now Heracles) response mirror the form of the exchange at 533-49
- In both the Chorus try to put heart into the hero, who is now Xanthias, the slave, not the god
39
Q
Episode 3: Preliminary Encounters in the Underworld (460-674)
- Who are the men who are going to torture the slave
A
- Ditylus, Sceblyas, Phartphace - their names sound foreign
- they may have been represented as Scythian archers, the only form of official law enforcement in Athens
- Their names begin a scatological sequence
- The name of the third thug is really Pardocas, perhaps suggesting the Greek verb perdomai (fart)
40
Q
Episode 3: Preliminary Encounters in the Underworld (460-674)
- How do they resolve who should be punished, the ‘slave’ or the ‘God’
A
- Dionysus shows himself a true coward here as he sides with the stronger force against his own slave and comrade
- Yet Xanthias intelligently, or just awarely suggests ‘his slave’ Dionysus (his slave) should be tortured
- Xanthias returns his master’s disloyalty (see 610) with interest, relishing the reversal of the status quo and co-operating fully with the torture of his slave, rashly diregarding the convention of compensation
- D says Xanthias claims to be a God, so to test him, D suggests they will be equally tortured
41
Q
Episode 3: Preliminary Encounters in the Underworld (460-674)
- How does Xanthias react to his beating
A
- Attatai!!!!! The Greek attatai is a common exclamation of pain or distress
- The festival of Heracles took place in Diomea, a deme south of the Acropolis,
- Perhaps Xanthacles is feigning anxiety about missing his festival.
