Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Frogs, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Old vs. New
The Value of Art
Literary Criticism
Critique of Athenian Democracy
Appearance vs. Reality
Summary
Analysis
Dionysus walks toward Heracles’s house. He’s wearing a yellow robe and a lion-skin—it’s clear he’s trying to impersonate his half-brother, Heracles. Xanthias, whom Dionysus has enslaved, rides in on a donkey. He has a large pack on his shoulders. Xanthias gestures toward his pack and jokes that if nobody takes it off his shoulders, he’ll fart so hard it flies right off. Dionysus disapproves. Xanthias complains that if he must carry around the heavy pack, then he should at least be allowed to joke about it. Plus, all the popular playwrights—like Phrynichus, Lycis, and Ameipsias— have a “comic porter scene” in their plays. Dionysus says those poets’ plays are awful. Dionysus and Xanthias bicker back and forth, stopping only once they’ve reached Heracles’s house. Dionysus knocks on the door. Heracles opens it and stares at Dionysus. Then he falls to the floor, laughing hysterically at Dionysus’s ridiculous outfit.
From the beginning, the play teases the theme of false appearances, with cowardly Dionysus wearing a robe and lion-skin to masquerade as his half-brother, the divine hero Heracles—and, in effect, to appear braver and more intimidating than he really is. Dionysus’s cowardice also subverts expectations—one would think that as a god, Dionysus would be brave and powerful, not cowardly and deceitful. The play thus gestures toward the idea that looks (and titles) can be deceiving. In addition, Dionysus’s critique of contemporary poetry introduces another of the play’s central themes: the superiority of older, traditional values (and art forms) to newer, modern values.
Themes
Heracles asks Dionysus what he’s doing here. Dionysus explains that he was reading Andromeda when suddenly he was gripped with a fierce, almost erotic desire for the late Euripides—a desire as fierce as his desire for pea soup, which he craves constantly. So, he’s going to go to Hades to find Euripides, as he “need[s] a poet who can really / write,” unlike today’s poets. When Heracles mentions several living poets he thinks are good, Dionysus shoots them all down, labeling them “insignificant squeakers” and claiming that none of them can write anything truly original. Dionysus asks Heracles for the fastest route to take to Hades. Heracles replies that Dionysus can hang himself, which Dionysus rejects, arguing that this “would be a pain in the neck.” Heracles next suggests poison hemlock or jumping off a tower.
Andromeda is a play by Euripides in which the hero, Perseus, rescues the princess Andromeda from a sea creature. Notably, Dionysus’s reference to reading (as opposed to seeing the play performed live) is one of the earliest references to solitary reading in the ancient world. This (and Dionysus’s intense longing for Euripides) gestures toward yet another of the play’s central themes, the value of poetry, suggesting that poetry is valuable in its ability to evoke great personal passion and meaning in the reader. Dionysus further highlights the play’s condemnation of the new, critiquing comic poets to make a broader attack against contemporary Athenian politics, values, and culture.
Themes
Dionysus asks which route Heracles took to get to Hades (Heracles previous traveled to Hades to retrieve the hellhound Cerberus). Heracles tells him to go to a big, deep lake. There, he’ll find a ferryman (Charon) who will take him across in a small boat. After that, Dionysus will encounter many terrifying beasts, and then he'll get to the Great Mire of Filth and the Eternal Stream of Dung, which are filled with sinners. After that, Dionysus will hear flutes, and it will be daylight. He’ll come to a field, where he’ll find people dancing and clapping. These people, explains Heracles, are people who’ve been “initiated into the rites of the Mysteries” and can direct Heracles to Pluto’s palace. Heracles wishes Dionysus luck, and then he goes back inside his house. Dionysus and Xanthias continue on their journey.
It's notable that Dionysus only asks Heracles for the route he took to Hades as a last resort, when all the faster, easier options Heracles suggested (hanging or poisoning oneself) require dying. In addition to its comedic effect, this also gives the reader additional insight into Dionysus’s character—not only is he cowardly, but he’s perfectly willing to cut corners where possible and prefers to take the easy way out. He would rather avoid undertaking the arduous journey Heracles lays out here. The “Mysteries” that Heracles mentions here refer to the Eleusinian Mysteries, annual initiations (secret religious rites) for the cult of Demeter and Persephone that were held in ancient Greece.
Themes
Eventually Dionysus and Xanthias reach the ferry, which is driven by Charon, the ferryman. Dionysus boards the boat, but Charon stops Xanthias, explaining that he doesn’t allow slaves on his boat. Xanthias will have to walk around the marsh—he can meet them at a resting place near the Withering Stone. Reluctantly, Xanthias disappears into the darkness. Dionysus misunderstands when Charon tells him to “[s]it at the oar”—he sits on an oar instead, and Charon berates him. Charon shows Dionysus how to maneuver the boat, and then he moves to the stern to relax. Dionysus struggles with the oars.
Charon’s refusal to let Xanthias board his ferry underscores how strictly adherence to the social hierarchy governed daily life in ancient Athens. When Dionysus struggles to row the boat, it shows readers that his Heracles disguise is only skin deep—though his costume might make him resemble the strong, divine hero, his poor rowing skills show that he’s no more capable than he’d be without the costume.
Themes
Get the entire The Frogs LitChart as a printable PDF.
Dionysus has just settled into a rhythm with his rowing when he hears the Frog-Chorus in the distance. Croaking loudly, the Frogs sing a song about “the marshes and bogs” where they live and all the singing they do there. Annoyed at the distraction, Dionysus complains that the Frogs’ song is boring. This offends the Frogs, who claim that they’re well known for their talents. Dionysus ignores this and challenges the Frogs to a croak-off. The Frog-Chorus and Dionysus croak back and forth. Dionysus emits a particularly resonant croak, but the ferry reaches land before a winner can be called.
Animal choruses appear in numerous of Aristophanes’s plays. Notably, this is the only time the eponymous frogs appear in the play. Dionysus’s attempt to outdo the frogs with his croaking and singing perhaps foreshadows the contest between Euripides and Aeschylus (which is known as an agon, or the part of Old Comedy in which two speakers debate, with each speaker outlining their argument) that occupies the second half of the play.
Themes
Dionysus pays Charon, steps off the ferry, and reunites with Xanthias. It’s much darker now, and ghostly shadows creep through the air. Xanthias says they better get going, remembering what Heracles said about the place being full of dangerous beasts. Dionysus scoffs, insisting that Heracles was exaggerating. Just then, Xanthias tells Dionysus to shush, claiming he’s heard a noise. Dionysus, suddenly terrified, suggests that Xanthias walk ahead of him. Xanthias does so and claims to see “a horrible creature” that looks like a mule at first but then morphs into a woman and then a dog. Dionysus, still scared, guesses the creature is Empusa and runs off to hide. Xanthias scares the creature away. Dionysus returns to Xanthias, relieved the creature is gone. He remarks how it made him turn white. Xanthias disgustedly notes that Dionysus has soiled himself.
Once more, looks and titles prove to be deceiving. Not only is Dionysus a god, but he’s also dressed as Heracles, who better embodies the bravery and capability one would normally associate with a divine being. Nevertheless, Dionysus is just as cowardly as ever in this scene, running off to let Xanthias face the shape-shifting Empusa alone and ultimately soiling himself in the process. Meanwhile, though Xanthias is an enslaved man and thus far beneath Dionysus on the social hierarchy, he displays more bravery and cunning here than Dionysus.
Themes
Just then, Dionysus and Xanthias hear flute-playing. Then they spot an approaching crowd of people holding torches and chanting “Iacchus, Iacchus!” Xanthias guesses that these are the Initiates (the Initiate-Chorus) that Heracles mentioned. Still hidden, Heracles and Xanthias watch the initiates sing, dance, and praise Iacchus as their sacrificial meal is prepared. When their meal is ready, the Initiates sit down to eat the sacrificial meat and drink the sacrificial wine. The Chorus-Leader demands that the uninitiated pray and remain silent and hidden until the Initiates’ holy procession is finished—the Initiates have “no use for heathens who don’t understand / Conventions of Comedy, noble and grand,” or for traitors, corrupt officials, or smugglers.
The Chorus-Leader’s remark that the Initiates have “no use for heathens who don’t understand / Conventions of Comedy, noble and grand” resonates with Dionysus’s earlier complaint about there being no worthwhile living poets in Athens. In voicing his disdain for “heathens who don’t understand / Conventions of Comedy” alongside traitors and criminals, the Chorus-Leader draws an implicit link between culture, politics, and morality, suggesting that a lack of good art and culture can lead to bad morals, which, in turn, can lead to political instability.
Themes
After the feast, the Initiate-Chorus sings and dances to honor Persephone, Demeter, and Iacchus. Meanwhile, Dionysus and Xanthias see all the fun the Initiates are having and join them in their dancing. At this point, the Initiate-Chorus freezes, faces the audience, and jeers—just as they said they’d do in their Hymn to Persephone. Dionysus takes the opportunity to ask the Initiates for directions to Pluto’s palace. They tell Dionysus the palace is nearby and point him in the right direction. Dionysus orders a grumbling Xanthias to pick up the luggage, and then they depart for Pluto’s palace.
The Eleusinian Mysteries were secret religious rites held each year in Eleusis and Athens to celebrate the abduction and rescue of Persephone from Hades and to honor Demeter and Iacchus, a god identified with Dionysus. Thus, it’s rather apt that Dionysus himself should happen upon their festivities. Though Dionysus likely wouldn’t have made it to Hades without Xanthias’s help, it’s of little consequence to Xanthias’s social status—as an enslaved person, he’s still beholden to Dionysus, even if he far exceeds him intellectually. Not only does the play embrace older dramatic traditions (Dionysus’s preference for the dying art of tragedy over contemporary comic plays), but it also upholds traditional, longstanding social hierarchies, as well.
Themes
