Ancient Greek Parody of Homer’s Iliad Still Funny Today

Batrachomyomachia, the Battle of Frogs and Mice, is simply a parody of Homer’s Iliad, whose day of creation remains a taxable of scholarly debate. Illustration by Fedor Flinzer (1878) Public Domain

The Batrachomyomachia (“The Battle of Frogs and Mice”) is the lone surviving implicit ancient Greek epic parody, a humorous adaptation of Homer’s Iliad. Scholars spot its creation sometime betwixt the 6th and 4th centuries BC, oregon perchance later. The poem’s contented suggests it is simply a aboriginal enactment oregon 1 that has undergone consequent editing.

“Batrachomyomachia” (Greek: Βατραχομυομαχία) is simply a compound Greek connection composed of 3 elements: “frog” (βάτραχος), “mouse” (μῦς), and “battle” (μάχη).

Hellenistic sources property the authorship of the Batrachomyomachia to Homer, arsenic its taxable substance appears to bespeak his benignant and themes. Later sources, however, recognition Pigres of Halicarnassus, who lived successful the aboriginal 5th period BC. Since the epic was already known to Plutarch, scholars mostly spot it wrong the Classical period.

According to linguistic studies, the poem was composed successful Ionia during the 3rd oregon 2nd period BC. A number of scholars reason that the Batrachomyomachia was written overmuch aboriginal during the Roman epoch perchance by Lucian, the Hellenized Syrian satirist who wrote A True Story, a parody of unthinkable question tales often considered the earliest illustration of subject fabrication (2nd period AD).

However, determination is insufficient grounds to delegate the Batrachomyomachia to a circumstantial humanities context. Whether oregon not an oral contented of epic parody existed anterior to the Athenian period, it seems apt that established conventions of show and creation influenced its instauration and delivery.

The large conflict betwixt the frogs and mice

One day, the rodent prince Psicharpax climbed onto King Frog Physignathus’ backmost to transverse a pond. When a h2o snake abruptly appeared, Physignathus panicked and dived into the water, forgetting astir Psicharpax clinging to him. Unable to swim, the unfortunate rodent drowned.

From the bank, different rodent witnessed the calamity and rushed to pass the others of their prince’s death. Enraged that the frog king allowed their person to drown, the mice sent a messenger to the frogs to state war. The frogs, successful turn, blamed their king, who denied immoderate wrongdoing.

Zeus, observing that warfare was imminent, projected that the gods instrumentality sides and specifically asked Athena to assistance the mice. Athena refused, explaining that some sides had wronged her and that it would beryllium wiser for the gods to stay neutral and simply watch.

When the 2 tribes clashed successful battle, the mice initially prevailed implicit the frogs. The gods of Olympus convened erstwhile more, and Hera urged Zeus to intervene to halt the bloodshed. Zeus past sent a swarm of crabs to rescue the frogs from annihilation. The armored crabs drove backmost the mice, and the warfare yet came to an end.

The past Greek parody of Homer’s Iliad

Close readings of the past Greek parody uncover wide resemblances successful connection and themes to Homer, peculiarly the Iliad. The poem depicts a warfare betwixt 2 armies from abstracted regions, includes princes and kings, portrays a noble crushed for the mice to fight, features graphic conflict scenes, and centers connected a king held liable for misfortune.

As successful the Iliad, the parody incorporates genealogies of the protagonists, grandiose speeches, heroic deeds, a divine council, and involution by the Greek gods. There is adjacent a direct notation to Homer: the frog’s begetter is named Peleus, arsenic was Achilles’ father.

The poem consists of 303 verses successful emblematic epic style, and its crippled centers connected the relationship betwixt the frog prince, Physignathus (“Puffing-Jaw”), and the rodent king, Psicharpax (“Crumb-Thief”). Although the enactment is intelligibly intended arsenic a humorous parody, it has attracted important scholarly probe and analysis.

The names of the characters are particularly comical. Among the mice are Artepibulus (meaning “he who lies successful hold for bread”), Artophagus (“the Bread-Eater”), Lichomyle (meaning “the licker of mill-stones”), Lichopinax (“the Dish-Licker”), Meridarpax (“the Portion-Snatcher”), Pternoglyphus (“the Heel-Licker”), Tyroglyphus (“the Cheese-Licker”), and respective others.

The frogs besides person humorous names, including Borborocoites (“Sleeper successful the Mud”), Craugasides (“the Hoarse-Croaker”), Hydrocharis (meaning “he who delights successful the water”), Limnisius (meaning “of the lake”), Limnocharis (meaning “he who delights successful the lake”), Pelobates (“the Mud-Walker”), and Prassophagus (“the Leek-Eater”), among others.

Scholar investigation and origin

There are inconsistencies successful storytelling, specified arsenic the reappearance of combatants who had antecedently been killed successful battle. Some earlier scholars attributed this to Homer’s carelessness—an statement present mostly discarded—while others reason that the Batrachomyomachia was intended arsenic a signifier of superior literate criticism.

St. John’s College, Oxford, Professor Dr. Matthew Hosty adds different magnitude to the poem’s analysis. He observes that the enactment includes a taxable of resurrection, arsenic the rodent prince, Psicharpax, who drowned, aboriginal reappears and fights successful battle. Similarly, the rodent warrior, Leichenor, and the frog warrior, Prasseius, some dice successful combat but subsequently instrumentality live and unharmed.

Other scholars construe the poem arsenic written purely for entertainment. The enactment is highly comedic astatine times, and immoderate reason that it draws connected Aesop’s carnal fables. The poem blends aggregate elements, including carnal fable, parodic carnal epic, the connection of calamity and comedy, accepted epic poetry, and myth.

Dr. Lawrence Bliquez of the University of Washington maintains that the Batrachomyomachia was intended chiefly arsenic comic alleviation from the seriousness of Homeric epics. Regarding its origin, helium suggests it was composed successful Athens, perchance for the Greater Panathenaea festival.

Most scholars hold that poems similar the Batrachomyomachia apt had a show contented though determination is statement that this peculiar poem does not deduce straight from specified a context.

A 2nd illustration of this epic parody benignant is the Galeomyomachia, meaning “War of the Weasel and the Mice.” Similar successful benignant to the Batrachomyomachia, it belongs to the Classical period, though its day and authorship stay uncertain, and lone fragments of the poem survive.