Previous
Dionysus
Although Xanthias is a man Dionysus has enslaved (and thus, he is socially inferior to Dionysus, a god), he’s wittier and braver than Dionysus, and he undermines, complains about, and outwits Dionysus at every opportunity he gets. In Hades, Xanthias and Pluto’s slave bond over their mutual enjoyment of complaining and spreading rumors about their masters. Though Dionysus is a god, he appears “effeminate” and acts incompetently, and he relies on his Heracles disguise to exude the outward appearance of power and bravery—traits that Xanthias possesses, but which his low social status obscures. Dionysus demands that Xanthias trade costumes with him multiple times throughout the play, often in an attempt to evade punishment, as when Aeacus threatens to torture “Heracles” for theft—hearing this and fearing for his wellbeing, Dionysus demands that Xanthias swap costumes with him and endure punishment in Dionysus’s place. While on the one hand Xanthias and Dionysus’s frequent costume-swapping is played for comedic effect, it also makes a statement about identity and how the outward appearance of greatness can obscure a person’s (and particularly a political leader’s) shortcomings.
Xanthias Quotes in The Frogs
The The Frogs quotes below are all either spoken by Xanthias or refer to Xanthias. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 1, Scene 1 Quotes
XANTHIAS Do you mean to say that I’ve been lugging these props around but I’m not allowed to use them to get a laugh? That’s what usually happens. Phrynichus, Lycis, Ameipsias – all the popular playwrights do it. The comic porter scene. There’s one in every comedy.
DIONYSUS Not in this one. Every time I go to a show and have to sit through one of those scintillating routines, I come away more than a year older.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
DIONYSUS I need a poet who can really write. Nowadays it seems like ‘many are gone, and those that live are bad’.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
FROGS Brekekekex, koax, koax,
Brekekekex, koax, koax!
Oh we are the musical Frogs!
We live in the marshes and bogs!
Sweet, sweet is the hymn
We sing as we swim,
And our voices are known
For their beautiful tone
When on festival days
We sing out in praise
Of the genial god –
And we don’t think it odd
When the worshipping throng,
To the sound of our song,
Rolls home through the marshes and bogs;
Brekekekex!
Rolls home through the marshes and bogs.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 1, Scene 2 Quotes
XANTHIAS Come on, don’t dither. Remember you’re supposed to be Heracles!
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
DIONYSUS Well, if you’re feeling so brave and heroic, how about taking my place? Here you are, you take the club and lion-skin – a chance to show your courage – and I’ll carry the luggage for you.
XANTHIAS Anything you say. You’re the boss.
[They exchange roles.]
There, how do I look? Xanthias as Heracles! I reckon the part suits me better than it does you, you old coward!
DIONYSUS It’s a very good imitation of a slave dressed up as Heracles. Come on, let me have those bundles.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
CHORUS
Well now you’re dressed up just the same as before,
A sight to make anyone tremble,
You must roll your eyes and swagger and roar
Like the god you’re supposed to resemble.
If you flinch or waver or fluff your role
And forget to speak bravely and brag, man,
You’ll be putting those suitcases back on that pole
And going back to your job as a bagman.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 2, Scene 1 Quotes
SLAVE He’s a real gentleman, your master, by Zeus.
XANTHIAS Of course. Like all real gentlemen he only understands two things: swigging and frigging.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
SLAVE Well, Euripides came along and started showing off to all the other people we’ve got down here, you know, cut-throats, highwaymen, murderers, burglars – a right rough lot they are – and of course he soon had them all twisted round his little finger, with all his arguments and clever talking. So they’ve all started saying he’s the best, and he’s decided to lay claim to the chair instead of Aeschylus.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
XANTHIAS Weighing poetry? What, like slices of meat?
SLAVE Oh, yes, it’s all got to be measured properly, with rulers, yardsticks, compasses and wedges, and god knows what else.
XANTHIAS A regular torture chamber.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Frogs LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Xanthias Character Timeline in The Frogs
The timeline below shows where the character Xanthias appears in The Frogs. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 1, Scene 1
...wearing a yellow robe and a lion-skin—it’s clear he’s trying to impersonate his half-brother, Heracles. Xanthias, whom Dionysus has enslaved, rides in on a donkey. He has a large pack on...
(full context)
Eventually Dionysus and Xanthias reach the ferry, which is driven by Charon, the ferryman. Dionysus boards the boat, but...
(full context)
Dionysus pays Charon, steps off the ferry, and reunites with Xanthias. It’s much darker now, and ghostly shadows creep through the air. Xanthias says they better...
(full context)
Just then, Dionysus and Xanthias hear flute-playing. Then they spot an approaching crowd of people holding torches and chanting “Iacchus,...
(full context)
...feast, the Initiate-Chorus sings and dances to honor Persephone, Demeter, and Iacchus. Meanwhile, Dionysus and Xanthias see all the fun the Initiates are having and join them in their dancing. At...
(full context)
Act 1, Scene 2
Dionysus and Xanthias arrive at Pluto’s palace; Dionysus knocks on the door and is greeted by Aeacus, the...
(full context)
Dionysus collapses to the ground, terrified. Then he soils himself, much to the disgust of Xanthias, who calls him a coward. Xanthias says he, unlike Dionysus, isn’t scared at all. When...
(full context)
Persephone’s maid emerges from the palace and happily greets Xanthias-as-Heracles; she announces that Persephone got to work preparing an elaborate meal the minute she heard...
(full context)
...scoundrel who ate all their food and then left without paying for any of it. Xanthias encourages the women as they berate Dionysus-as-Heracles for his gluttony. The second landlady announces her...
(full context)
Dionysus tries to cajole Xanthias into trading places again. Xanthias resists but gives in after Dionysus promises he won’t change...
(full context)
Panicked, Dionysus tells Aeacus that he’s the god Dionysus. Xanthias suggests that Aeacus give Dionysus a flogging to test if he’s telling the truth—if he’s...
(full context)
...say it’s time “to forgive and forget” those who have wronged them. If the slave Xanthias can don Dionysus’s clothes and be treated as an equal, then surely the audience can...
(full context)
Act 2, Scene 1
In Pluto’s palace, Xanthias and Pluto’s slave are working together on some tedious chore. Xanthias gripes about Dionysus, but...
(full context)
The sound of nearby yelling interrupts Xanthias and Pluto’s slave’s conversation. Pluto’s slave explains that it’s Aeschylus and Euripides who are yelling:...
(full context)
Xanthias asks if Sophocles is also competing for the chair. Pluto’s slave explains that when Sophocles...
(full context)
