history/background of frogs Flashcards
What is a prologue?
Comic warm up - tells us info about the play
What is the parados?
The chorus of the initiates enters + sings its first song
What’s the parabasis?
Mid point of the play
Provides a change of tone/atmosphere
What is the sea battle Charon refers to?
The battle of Arginusae
Why didn’t Xanthias fight in the battle of Arginusae?
What do records show?
He had an eye infection
Records show eye disease to be the most commonly attested ailment
What does Dionysus’ inability to row tell us? What effect does this create?
Due to his aristocratic ignorance, he can’t row - most of the Athenian audience would’ve known how to row
This is comical
What is the battle of Arginusae?
Athenian navel victory during the Peloponnesian War
What is the analogy between coins + political leaders?
War led to a downgrading of currency so copper/bronze plated w silver came into circulation
The new politicians are like the coins - they’re shiny on the outside but cheap on the inside
When was frogs written/performed?
5th century BC
How did Athens handle the war?
They had no professional army + each citizen would’ve been personally involved even if they weren’t well suited
What did Plato warn in the Republic?
Excessive liberty where children, slaves + women were as free as their masters
What was Euripides charged with in Aristophanes’ plays? Why is this ironic?
He was charged with misogyny
Ironic bc in Frogs he claims to give women + slaves an equal voice
What does Bettendorf say the function of the play is?
The primary function of the play isn’t literary criticism, but political action
What is Aeschylus’ reference to torch carrying + unfitness?
2 1/2 km course
Lack of fitness results from spending time in the agora instead of the gym
What is history behind the ref of Sophocles’ Oedipus?
Both Euripides + Aeschylus wrote adaptations/plays about Oedipus but they didn’t survive
