The Frogs | 
pickThe last I met Dionysus, he was a fearsome, wily figure in Euripides's masterpiece, The Bacchae. Lest I get too caught up in the grandeur & the outsized emotions of tragedy, Aristophanes sets out to set me right with The Frogs. In this comedy, we meet Dionysus the goof, who is tired of the Athenian tragedians & their pedestrian offerings, & wants to travel to Hades & bring the master, Euripides, back from the dead. As it turns out, Euripides too
batsy is a bit of a dunce. With one memorable chorus of frogs, & through a series of absurd tests, Euripides & Aeschylus compete to see which poet deserves to be resurrected. Plot twist: it's not who you think it is! Aristophanes goes off on the classical tragedians in this, but his special ire is reserved for Euripides. Tellingly, Dionysus's slave Xanthias comes off as the smartest, most lucid-thinking person around. I found this fresh, witty, & funny. 2y
batsy I read the translation by David Barrett. 2y
mabell In one of the Cat Who‘s, Qwill read the play to his cats, who loved the sound of the frogs. Pretty wild sounding on audio! I wondered what it looked like in print. 2y
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Aimeesue Natalie Haynes did a great overview of Aristophanes on her podcast (NH Stands Up for the Classics.) I remember it vividly 😂 One of my favorite podcasts. 2y
batsy @mabell The version I read it has it "translated" as "brekekekex, koax, koax!" ? But that's a fun fact. Is it a series you enjoy? I've always meant to check out at least a book or two but never got around to it. 2y
batsy @Aimeesue Ooh! I did not know she had a podcast and that name is right up my street 😁 I'll be sure to check it out (and also her books; I quite enjoyed the short story she contributed to the new Marple anthology). 2y
mabell That‘s about what it sounded like! 😂 I love the series - I‘m a Lilian Jackson Braun groupie. She was a brilliant writer. She took the simple format of the cozy, yet infused it with literature, theater, music, and information on a myriad of topics. George Guidall‘s audio really complements her stories, too. I definitely like some better than others, of course. 2y
Aimeesue @batsy Enjoy! It's a lot of fun 2y
batsy @mabell That sounds fab. Just like what I need at the moment so I'm reminding myself to check out the first one soon before I get distracted by other books! 2y
mabell So to continue over-explaining 😆, the first five or so books are quite different in setting, as Qwill hasn‘t yet inherited the fortune and moved to Pickax (rural northeast central US.) They are part of Qwill‘s story, so if you would be interested in the whole series, I‘d say go ahead and start with 1. If you just want to sample, I‘d pick one more in the middle. For the last 3/4 of the books, the characters & locations are recurring (beloved 😄) 2y
batsy @mabell Thank you for this explainer! It's been very helpful. I'll be sure to tag you when I give it a try 🙂 2y
BiblioLitten @Aimeesue It is one of the best podcasts I have listened to. @batsy You‘d love it! 2y
Aimeesue @BiblioLitten I am legit sad that I've listened to all the episodes. Consoling myself by listening to the You're Dead to Me podcast, which is history + humor, hosted by one of the Horrible History dudes. It's *almost* as good, though nobody's ever going to beat Haynes' recap of the Odyssey, imo. 😋 2y
batsy @BiblioLitten That's great to know! 😁 @Aimeesue I've heard of that podcast, and it's another I'll add to my ever-growing list 😆 2y
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