The Frogs as a Social Satire

Abstract :
The Frogs by Aristophanes[1] is a social comedy making a public commentary on the everyday life of
Athens[2] . Its a bitter satire on the social aspects of ancient Athens. The satire is presented through wit
and laughter. The contemporary society is portrayed as it were at that time and the follies and failings
are ridiculed. Through the play Aristophanes tried to mend the ways of the Athenian people. He wants to
modify the corrupt politics and malpractice in the cultural life of the Athenian people. The two great
dramatists , Aeschylus[3] and Euripides[4], as they are portrayed in The Frogs, stands for the two
successive ages which Athens has passed. Through their logic and counter logic , Aristophanes depicts
the contemporary society very artistically. The lack of morality, disrespect towards religion, the corrupt
politics, disrespect to others view and the dominant literary traditions are being satirized by the great
comedy writer. The play is also a strong call towards peace.

Keywords :

Moral degradation
Corrupt Politics
Devastation of war
Disrespect towards religion
Social classification
Boastfulness
Deficient writings
Flattery

[1] Aristophanes, (born c. 450 bcdied c. 388 bc), the greatest representative of ancient Greek comedy and the one whose works
have been preserved in greatest quantity.

[2] Athens is the capital of Greece. It was also at the heart of Ancient Greece, a powerful civilization and empire.

[3] Aeschylus, (born 525/524 bcdied 456/455 bc, Gela, Sicily), the first of classical Athens great dramatists, who raised the
emerging art of tragedy to great heights of poetry and theatrical power.

[4] Euripides, (born c. 484 bc, Athens [Greece]died 406, Macedonia), last of classical Athenss three great tragic dramatists,
following Aeschylus and Sophocles.
The Frogs[a]is one of Aristophanes greatest comedies and is justly celebrated for its wit
and keen commentary on Athenian politics and society. The contemporary society has
been bitterly satirized in this play. Aristophanes intends to ridicule the follies of the
Sophists[1] as well as their institution especially Euripides plays. Through the satire he
wanted to bring back peace in the society.

Satire is a literary attack on the follies and failings of an individual or the society in order
to correct them through laughter and ridicule. The aim is to mend the ways of men.
Aristophanes chose this literary technique to illustrate his points.

The play is mainly a satire on the fools of the society who were making war.
Aristophanes wanted thePeloponnesian[1] war to be ended so that people can live in
peace. The war was destroying the people of Athens. But the elderly scholars lacked the
power to convince people that war was harmful for them. Aeschylus died some days
before when the play was written. So it was necessary to bring back a scholar like him to
Athens so that he may guide the people of Athens in the right path. Thus Aristophanes
satirizes the scholars of that time that they were useless to the society.

In order to teach these scholars a good lesson Dionysus went to the underworld to bring
back Aeschylus. In his way to the Hades[2] , he met some frogs who were proud of their
voices. But actually their voice was not melodious at all. Their song was very disturbing
to Dionysus. These frogs represent the writers of that time who were boastful of their
writing but in reality they were of very low quality. These writings contained topics
which were meaningless and also harmful to the society.

[1] The Peloponnesian War (431404 BC) was an ancient Greek war fought by Athens and its empire against the Peloponnesian
League led by Sparta.

[2] Hades was the god of the underworld and the name eventually came to also describe the home of the dead as well. He was the
oldest male child of Cronus and Rhea.
Aristophanes thought it his duty to do something for the society in this situation. So he
wrote this play where he satirizes the social failings of that time[b]. Aeschylus and
Euripides, as they are portrayed in the Frogs, stand for the two successive ages which
Athens has passed. Through their logic and counter logic, Aristophanes depicts the
contemporary society very artistically. Euripides for example, before the verdict of
Dionysusclaims:

I see no reason at all why I should withdraw. I happen to be better poet reminds us the
proverbs Empty vessel sounds much. He also says indicating Aeschylus contribution:

All that rugged grandeur- it is all so uncultivated

This speech of Euripides toward Aeschylus proves that there was no respect to the elderly
people in the society.[c]

Besides, there was no respect to the gods and goddess. Sometimes, most undignified
terms are used for Dionysus, the god of festival. He is called fatty by Charon [2], the
boatman and the later pushes him down as if the god were an ordinary man. From this
behavior we can well understand how the lower class people like Charon misbehaved
with the respectful person even with Dionysus[3] .

[1] The sophists were itinerant professional teachers and intellectuals who frequented Athens and other Greek cities in the second
half of the fifth century B.C.E. In return for a fee, the sophists offered young wealthy Greek men an education in aret (virtue or
excellence), thereby attaining wealth and fame while also arousing significant antipathy.

[2] In Greek mythology, Charon or Kharon is the ferryman of Hades who carries souls of the newly deceased across the rivers
Styx and Acheron that divided the world of the living from the world of the dead.

[3] Dionysus is the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness, fertility,[2][3] theatre and religious ecstasy
in ancient Greek religion and myth.
Through the counter attack of Aeschylus to Euripides, the author shows us the moral
degradation of that society:

You allow your heroes to sing and dance like Cretans. You build your plots round
unsavory topics like incest and

As a critic of his age, Aristophanesal ways attacks the new: new manners, new religions,
new philosophy and literature[d]. He feels that everything new is likely to be unwise and
vicious. His plays are a protest against the degeneration of his age. He shows Euripides as
being deviated from religion through his own prayer:

Hail, Ether, my grazing ground! Hail, Pivot of my Tongue! Hail, Mind! Hail, Sentient
Nostrils! Inspire me with all that right answers, amen!

He also describes the mean tendency of not paying tax of the higher class society through
Aeschylus voice:

Well, nowadays you cannot get the wealthier classes to pay their naval-defence
contributions. They dress up in rags and tell you how poor they are.

Moreover, in the frogs there are other scenes such as whipping scene, the scene before
Plutos palace, where Dionysus is caricatured etc. which have lead some critics to
conclude Aristophanes satire on Dionysus and religion reveals the fact that the Athenian
people had no respect for the traditional gods and religion[e].

Besides, the dialogue between two slaves, Xanthias[1] and Aeacus[2], contains almost all
the elements of social comedy. Xanthias describes that his master Dionysus does
nothing but game and drink when Aeacus thinks him to be quite the gentleman. They
find life below stairs is very much same and both agree that the most enjoyable thing
for them is to discuss their masters secrets.

[1] Xanthias refers to several characters, notably all slaves, who appear in plays by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes.
In The Frogs, Xanthias is the slave of Dionysus.

[2] Aeacus was, in this world, king of the island of Aegina, which is in the Saronic Gulf, and is now one of those who judge the
dead in the Underworld, keeping the keys of that subterranean place.
While the two slaves are engaged in this interesting conversation, a noise outside attracts
their attention. Then they find it is only Aeschylus and Euripides quarreling. There is a
tremendous rivalry going on just among these dead people.

To conclude we can say that, The Frogs contains all the elements of a social satire.
Aristophanes goal was to correct the follies of the contemporary society. The play
suggests the need of an ethical and inspired poet. Aristophanes wants to moderate
whatever is vicious or ridiculous in the society.

References :

a. Aristophanes, Frogs. Kenneth Dover (ed.) (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993),

b. The Drama: Its History, Literature and Influence on Civilization, vol. 2. ed.
Alfred Bates. London: Historical Publishing Company, 1906. pp. 55-59.
c. Talim Enam , Enams Scholarly Articles on English : Social Satire in
Aristophanes Frogs, https://talimenam.blogspot.com/2014/12/social-satire-
in-aristophanes-frogs.html , ( Accessed 19-05-2017)
d. How does Aristophanes criticize the intellectuals of his own period in The
Frogs?, josbd, http://www.josbd.com/how-does-aristophanes-criticize-the-
intellectuals-of-his-own-period-in-the-frogs/ , ( Accessed 19-05-2017)
e. Political and Social Satire of Aristophanes, TheatreHistory.com
,http://www.theatrehistory.com/ancient/aristophanes003.html , ( Accessed
19-05-2017).