Summary
Aristophanes' 'Frogs' Summary
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Key quotes from the entire play, colour-coded by theme, with context notes and critic's quotes at the end
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Frogs MasterdocThemes:
Disrespect and respect
‘I, son of Flagon’ - Dionysus is reduced to the ‘son of wine’, lowering his status, compared to
in Bacchae where he is ‘Son of Zeus’
Xanthias rides the donkey instead of Dionysus
‘But my shoulders feeling the pressure’ - Xanthias has just ignored his masters command to
not tell that joke
‘Then I could tell you to bugger off’ - buggery, anal sex, tells his master to piss off basically
‘By Demeter’ ‘By Zeus’ - the gods are often evoked throughout the text, shows a background
level of respect still present, despite the obvious rude imagery.
‘Sanctimonious little bastard’ - calls him a lousy shit
[in the frogs chorus]’ a song for Dionysus, son of Zeus’ - chorus is always pious, brings back
respect for the god, from Flagon to Zeus
Dionysus gets really scared of a simple noise
‘Iacchus, honoured God’
‘bursting with ripe berries, that crowns your head’ - fertility imagery, respect with the crown.
‘Iacchus highly honoured one’
‘our ways are pious to each and every one, strangers, guests and all’ [chorus]
‘You are the most cowardly of gods and men’
[how could I be Heracles?] ‘I, a slave and mere mortal?’ - suddenly understanding of his
status
‘No man in our city should be without rites’
‘All he cares about is boozing and bonking’
‘Everytime I curse my master behind my back, I feel like I’m in heaven’
[talking about gossiping to outsiders] ‘orgasmic, by Zeus, everytime!’
‘What gods? How stupid and senseless - the idea that you, a slave and a mere mortal, could
be the son of Alcemene!
‘You are the most cowardly of gods - and men’
Humorous imagery
‘I’m feeling the pressure’ ‘I am really feeling the squeeze’ ‘shift your pole around and say you
need a dump’ ‘ I’ve such a load’
Xanthias is seen riding the donkey instead of Dionysus, where he ‘makes an ass’ out of the
walking god
‘Little yellow number’ = yellow for cowardice, also he’s wearing a dress
[Dionysus speaking about a desire] ‘For a woman? [no] Then for a boy?[no] For a man?’ -
Heracles only assumes sex here, even gay sex. This is followed up by him saying ‘well you
were with Cleisthenes’, some renowned gay dude.
‘Stick to what you know - food!’ - a jab at Heracles for being gluttonous
‘The only mystery is why I am such an ass’ - donkey pun by Xanthias
‘My bum is wet, and just about to poo’
‘Your tunics turned brown from fright’
‘A little booby peeped out’
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