F R O G S
Aight so I just read through Aristophanes' The Frogs , a comedy/satire that mocks prominent Athenians, pits two classical poets against each other, and just generally makes fun of everything. It loses a little bit of the humor as the translation strips away nuance and puns and the historical distance removes the context for the jokes, but it's still a bitingly funny comedy. To give you an example of the style of humor in this play, it OPENS UP by breaking the fourth wall and then switching into a joke: XANTHIAS Look, master, an audience! Shouldn’t I say something? Tell them one of those jokes they always fall for? DIONYSUS O, all right—say what you like. Only no jokes about how you’re dying to piss. I can’t stand those— they’re all so stale. XANTHIAS What about my other jokes? DIONYSUS Go ahead—just nothing about your bladder, about how it’s going to burst. XANTHIAS What? You mean I can’t tell that really funny one . . . DIONYSUS I suppo...