THE HARVARD CLASSICS EDITED BY CHARLES W ELIOT LLD NINE GREEK DRAMAS BY ASCHYLUS, SOPHOCLES, EURIPIDES AND ARISTOPHANES TRANSLATIONS BY E D A MORSHEAD E H PLUMPTRE GILBERT MURRAY AND B B ROGERS WITH INTRODUCTIONS AND NOTES VOLUME 8 * * * * * THE FROGS OF ARISTOPHANES INTRODUCTORY NOTE Aristophanes, _the greatest of comic writers in Greek and in the opinion of many, in any language, is the only one of the Attic comedians any of whose works has survived in complete form He was born in Athens about the middle of the fifth century B C, and had his first comedy produced when he was so young that his name was withheld on account of his youth. He is credited with over forty plays, eleven of which survive, along with the names and fragments of some twenty-six others. His satire deal with political, religious, and literary topics, and with all its humor and fancy is evidently the outcome of profound conviction and a genuine patriotism. The Attic comedy was produced at the festivals of Dionysus, which were marked by great license, and to this, rather than to the individual taste of the poet, must be ascribed the undoubted coarseness of many of the jests. Aristophanes seems,