Reviews

Frogs by Aristophanes

mephistopheles's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging funny slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

War stellenweise sehr lustig, aber insgesamt müsste man Philologe sein, um das Stück in seiner Gesamtheit wertschätzen und seine Größe und Genialität erkennen zu können. Auch die Hintergrundinformationen, die man benötigt, sind schon enorm - es fehlt leider auch der Zeitgeist... Aber selbst das bisschen, das man sich noch vorstellen kann, zeigt Andeutungen der Genialität des Stückes..! Man kann sich schon vorstellen, dass es den damaligen Dichterwettbewerb gewonnen hat! 

minou_noir's review

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funny

3.0

I think it would have been so much funnier if I watched the play rather than read it. (And if I knew a little bit more context...)

casparb's review against another edition

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4.0

I'm having a quality time with Aristophanes. Impeccably bizarre vibes. The insight into Grecian litcrit is something worth pondering also.

Are there contemporary reimaginings of this? The narrative framework here is fantastic, and I think could be reworked with interesting results.

hannadekoning2001's review against another edition

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4.0

I liked this a lot :). This comedy was very funny (and weird, but that's part of what made it enjoyable), The fact that I have quite some knowledge of Greek mythology definitely helped, otherwise I'd probably be very confused...
This is the first ancient Greek comedy I've ever read, I'm curious to read some more!

gdonahue's review against another edition

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3.0

This is much more of a 3.75! I found parts of this play charming and hilarious. Particularly the actual trip to Hades and the shifting roles of Dionysus and Xanthus. The battle for best tragic poet between Euripedes and Aeschylus was a bit lengthy, but perhaps would have played better on stage. Overall, very enjoyable and humorous.

milkqbiscuit's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

elenavarg's review against another edition

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Had to read this (several times over and several different translations) for university. Although I’m not a fan on reading plays, this one made me chuckle several times.

albs8's review against another edition

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slow-paced

3.0

persephonedreaming's review against another edition

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The play is delightful, Aristophanes touches much that is poignant in the modern day. The translation by William James Hickey was awful. It was tedious and hard to read. I switched the translation by BB Rogers, and the difference was palpable. Whereas Hickey translated everyone with Roman names, Rogers used the Greek. Hickey did a prose translation and Rogers a poetic translation. I will likely pick up the Loeb edition one day and have a far better understanding of what is going on with these translations linguistically.

sleepswimming_selkie's review

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funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

2.5