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troubles of the hero-god Dionysus and the ready wit of his slave, 
Xanthias. 
This is the plot—the festive Dionysus, god by profession, 
identified with the Bacchus of the Greeks and Romans, patron 
of the drama, having the theatre dedicated to him, is disconsolate 
at the recent loss of Sophocles and Euripides. Believing that no 
good dramatists remain in the realms above, he bids his servant 
Xanthias saddle the ass and prepare the portmanteau, for they 
are bound for the regions below to fetch back the beloved Euri- 
pides. Arraying himself in the dress and brandishing the weapon 
of Hercules, he is directed to the Stygian pool, is ferried over by 
Charon, and hears the croaking of the frogs, which give the title 
to the play. Arrived on the other side, the pair meet with 
ludicrous adventures—sometimes the deity’s disguise brings him 
into trouble, as Hercules, whom he personates, is wanted by the 
police on a charge of petty larceny ; sometimes an acquaintance 
of Hercules offers him a luxurious meal, of which offer he cannot 
at the time avail himself. In difficulty and despondency he 
reflects with satisfaction that his slave Xanthias can be forced to 
assume the disguise, and will doubtless be glad to be beaten in 
place of his dear master; the servant must take the lion’s skin 
till danger is past. Then the pair, after a violent altercation 
with head-constable Auacus, who finds himself puzzled to know 
which is really the god and which the slave, and decides by 
beating them till one cries out, arrive at their destination, the 
halls of Pluto ; the noise of a quarrel in this low neighbourhood 
is heard; it turns out to be a dispute between Aischylus and 
Kuripides as to which is the worthier of occupying the throne 
assigned to the tragic poets. Among his other qualifications, 
Dionysus sets up for a dramatic critic ; his aid is invoked, and 
he has to decide between the two aspirants. He promises that 
the successful one shall be restored to the place of honour in his 
theatre above at Athens, and as the Athenian audience would 
expect from the well-known dislike that Aristophanes entertained 
for Euripides, the contest ends in favour of Aischylus. 
The play was exhibited to influence the domestic and foreign 
policy of Athens; there are several allusions to the opinions of 
the author on the mode of managing the government; the play 
was shown ata critical time of Athenian history ; six months 
before the Athenians were rejoicing in an important naval 
victory ; eight months afterwards their fleet was destroyed, and 
they were suffering famine ; six months later still they were forced 
to sign an ignominious peace, and had to destroy their long walls 
of fortification, and give up all their foreign possessions. 
Aristophanes also used the play as a means for attacking 
Euripides ; he is as fierce in his attack as he was in the Achar- 
nians, shown 20 years before. He believed the tragedian wished 
