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Aristophanes · c. 446-386 BC

Frogs

Βάτραχοι
Ancient Sources / Aristophanes / Frogs

Read our guide to Frogs. Frogs was produced at the Lenaia of 405 BC and won first prize, so well received that it was performed a second time. The god Dionysus, in despair at the death of the great tragedians, goes down to Hades with his slave Xanthias to bring back a poet, and ends by judging a contest between Aeschylus and Euripides before the throne of Pluto. The sections follow the play's dramatic units and keep the standard line numbers of the Greek text.

Read from the start
Text
Greek original with English translation, 36 passages, about 13900 words in English.
Translator
Benjamin Bickley Rogers (1919)
Edition
Greek text: F. W. Hall and W. M. Geldart (eds.), Aristophanis Comoediae, Oxford Classical Texts, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906-1907, as digitised by Perseus. English: Benjamin Bickley Rogers, The Frogs of Aristophanes, second edition, London: G. Bell and Sons, 1919
Cite as
Aristophanes, Frogs 1 (by line number)

Contents · 36 passages

  1. 1–37Prologue: Dionysus and Xanthias come to Heracles' door378 words
  2. 38–79Prologue: Heracles laughs at the disguise; Dionysus longs for Euripides366 words
  3. 80–115bPrologue: Dionysus asks Heracles about the poets of Hades314 words
  4. 116–171Prologue: Heracles describes the roads to Hades516 words
  5. 172–207bPrologue: the dead man and Charon's ferry343 words
  6. 208–279bFrog chorus: Dionysus rows across the lake520 words
  7. 280–306dEpisode: Xanthias and the Empusa283 words
  8. 307–350Parodos: the mystic chorus calls on Iacchus278 words
  9. 351–377Parodos: the mystics warn off the profane270 words
  10. 378–415Parodos: hymns to Demeter and Iacchus323 words
  11. 416–463Parodos: the banter at the bridge; Dionysus at Pluto's door317 words
  12. 464–502Episode: Aeacus takes Dionysus for Heracles; the change of clothes332 words
  13. 503–532Episode: the maid's invitation; Dionysus takes back the lion's skin302 words
  14. 533–580Episode: the Hostess and Plathane accuse the supposed Heracles418 words
  15. 581–614Episode: Dionysus pleads with Xanthias; Aeacus returns335 words
  16. 615–665Episode: the test by flogging514 words
  17. 668–731Parabasis: the Chorus urges Athens to restore its citizens' rights612 words
  18. 732–777Episode: Aeacus and Xanthias; the dead quarrel over the tragic chair392 words
  19. 778–812Episode: Aeacus tells of the dispute; Dionysus is to judge332 words
  20. 813–869Agon, opening: the Chorus and the quarrel of the poets459 words
  21. 870–898Agon: prayers before the contest271 words
  22. 899–940Agon: Euripides on Aeschylus' silent figures and bombast457 words
  23. 941–989Agon: Euripides describes his own art451 words
  24. 990–1013Agon: what a poet should do279 words
  25. 1014–1052Agon: the poets as teachers of men597 words
  26. 1053–1076Agon: rags, rhetoric and the rowers371 words
  27. 1078–1125Agon: Aeschylus' charges and the torch-race446 words
  28. 1126–1172Agon: the test of the prologues427 words
  29. 1173–1215Agon: the prologue of Oedipus and the bottle of oil374 words
  30. 1216–1259Agon: the bottle of oil and the turn to lyrics380 words
  31. 1260–1299Agon: Euripides parodies Aeschylus' lyrics314 words
  32. 1300–1359Agon: Aeschylus parodies Euripides' songs485 words
  33. 1360–1403Agon: the scales408 words
  34. 1404–1447Agon: the last weighing; what would save the city385 words
  35. 1448–1478Agon: the advice of the two poets and the verdict294 words
  36. 1479–1533Exodos: Pluto's farewell; Aeschylus returns to Athens372 words

More by Aristophanes

English translation by Benjamin Bickley Rogers (1919). Original text: Greek text: F. W. Hall and W. M. Geldart (eds.), Aristophanis Comoediae, Oxford Classical Texts, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906-1907, as digitised by Perseus. English: Benjamin Bickley Rogers, The Frogs of Aristophanes, second edition, London: G. Bell and Sons, 1919.

Greek text and translation from the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, Greek: CC BY-SA 4.0 (Perseus Digital Library); translation public domain (Rogers). Introductions, summaries and notes © GreekMythology.com.