The Wasps: The Poet and the Women ; The FrogsThe master of ancient Greek comic drama, Aristophanes combined slapstick, humour and cheerful vulgarity with acute political observations. In The Frogs, written during the Peloponnesian War, Dionysus descends to the Underworld to bring back a poet who can help Athens in its darkest hour, and stages a great debate to help him decide between the traditional wisdom of Aeschylus and the brilliant modernity of Euripides. The clash of generations and values is also the object of Aristophanes' satire in The Wasps, in which an old-fashioned father and his loose-living son come to blows and end up in court. And in The Poet and the Women, Euripides, accused of misogyny persuades a relative to infiltrate an all-women festival to find out whether revenge is being plotted against him. in which these plays first appeared, and conventions of Greek comedy - from its poetic language and the role of the Chorus to casting and costumes. |
Common terms and phrases
ABACUS actor AEACUS AESCHYLUS AGATHON ANTICLEON Aristophanes Assembly Athenian Athens audience BAKING-WOMAN bottle of oil Brekekex CHAEREPHON characters CHARON choregus CHORUS citizens City CLEISTHENES Cleon Cleophon cloak comedy comes comic CORPSE court dance dancers dear Dionysia DIONYSUS donkey door drachma drinking party ECHO EURIPIDES father fellow festival flute girl Frogs give Goddess gods Greek hand hear heard HERACLES Hermes husband Hyperbolus Iacchos joke jury keep ko-ax LANDLADY laugh LEADER lion-skin listen look Lysistratus MAID MNESILOCHUS never nice obols parabasis parody Phrynichus play PLUTO poet PROCLEON round scene SCYTHIAN seat SECOND DOG shout sing SLAVE SOSIAS speak speech stage stand talk tell Theorus there's thing THIRD WOMAN thou torch tragedy trying turn wait Wasps What's whole women words XANTHIAS Zeus