Greek Comedy XI: Aristophanes’s The Frogs, or Let’s Make Fun of All the Tragedians

Posted byTriumvir ClioPosted inGreek Comedy, The Greeks

I love this play. And even more than I love this play, I love Stephen Sondheim’s version of it. For the record: It was performed in a swimming pool. Which is brilliant. And funny. And I have a hard time reading the original Aristophanes without trying to fit the songs to Sondheim’s melodies.

Discussion Prompts
  1. Which playwright would you bring back from the dead? Why?
  2. Which playwright do you think humanity needs most today? Is this a different person than you picked for #1? If so, why?
  3. Which is your favorite character? Why?
  4. Why do you think theatre and the arts are important?
  5. We recently read the Homeric Hymns to Dionysos. How do you think the portrayal of Dionysos in this play compares to the Dionysos we saw in the Homeric Hymns?
  6. What do you think of the vision of the afterlife as presented in this play? Is it better/worse/different than your vision of an afterlife? Or maybe it’s the same as your vision? How?

Published by Triumvir Clio

I have a BA in History and Classical Civilization from Loyola University Chicago and an MPH from Western Michigan University. I've been a geometry teacher, a religion teacher, a writing tutor. I'm a writer, a knitter, a dancer, a singer, an actor. And, yes, for fun I like to reread everything that was assigned while getting my classics degree.

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