The god Dionysus is worried about the lack of poets capable of teaching morality to the Athenians, and so decides to descend into the underworld to bring Euripides back to life. With him he takes his slave, Xanthias. During the course of their journey, master and slave change roles a number of times to avoid trouble, but on every occasion it leads to a comic misunderstanding. Arriving at their destination, the travellers witness a furious argument between Euripides and Aeschylus, each of whom is claiming the Throne of Tragedy in Hades. As god of the theatre, Dionysus is appointed judge but the contest is inconclusive. Dionysus final decision is surprising; although he began his journey with the aim of bringing Euripides back to Earth, he finally leaves Hades with Aeschylus.
 
Frogs was performed at the Lenaia festival in 406 BC, where it won first prize. Apart from the originality of the plot, and the undoubted imaginativeness and comedy of the play, Frogs is also an early form of literary criticism through Aristophanes’ juxtaposition of the two tragic poets. The play was first performed by the Greek National Theatre in 1959 at the ancient theatre of Epidaurus in a production directed by Alexis Solomos.