The Frogs as a fantasy

 

Do you consider The Frogs a fantasy or merely a literary criticism?- Discuss.

 

Ans. Aristophanes in The Frogs breaks a new ground and writes a fantasy out of literary criticism. So we call the play not only a literary criticism but also a fantasy. This play is an attempt to measure the moral and poetical value. Just after the death of  Euripides The Frogs was written. Several points are to be noted here. The fresh beauty has been imposed on the songs of the Mystics and is set in Hades and Dionysus has been treated irreverently. The fresh beauty has been imposed on the songs of the Mystics and use of proper  parodies. The inventiveness makes corpses sit up and of the dress of Dionysus. The Peloponnesian war found Aristophanes  in full possession of his gifts. The climax is reached in the great scene of the dispute between Aeschylus and Euripides to e who is the superior of the two and who is worthy to be brought back to life. Much of the discussion is purely aesthetic and is the first appearance of literary criticism in Greek. With the help of parody and jokes Aristophanes presents some good points against the construction of prologue, elaborate choice style etc. of Euripides. All these prove that it is a combination of literary criticism and fantasy and this adds more charm to the play, The Frogs.