and Euripides enter each confident of victory The atmosphere is both serious and comic Aristophanes mixes argument and laughter beautifully This opening sets the stage for a debate full of wit logic and poetic pride Euripides s Claims Euripides argues that he improved tragedy He says When I took this art of plays from you crammed with bombast to the gills I reduced its weight He believes he made the plays more natural and realistic His heroes and heroines speak in everyday language He claims I taught them to think to understand to love new twists and double dealing He thinks his plays make people clever But his words also show that he taught Athenians to be doubtful and tricky Aeschylus s Reply Aeschylus strongly defends the greatness of old tragedy He says My poetry did not die with me but his did once he died He believes his plays were noble and moral He shows that poets should inspire people to be brave and virtuous He praises Orpheus saying He taught us not to kill Aeschylus criticizes Euripides for showing evil and immoral acts on the stage He blames him for filling Athens with apes who always cheat our people His words show his moral purpose in art Judgment by Weighing Poetry To end the argument Pluto orders a test Each poet must recite lines of his poetry The poetry is then weighed on a scale to see which is weightier Dionysus watches closely Aeschylus s lines are full of strong and noble words while Euripides s are lighter and clever The scale tips in favor of Aeschylus both times This symbolic test shows that Aeschylus s art has more power and dignity Aristophanes thus praises the strength of moral and heroic poetry over the smart but weak modern style Final Decision and Message When Dionysus still cannot decide he asks both poets to give advice to save Athens Euripides says If we reversed our course we might be saved But his advice is unclear Aeschylus suggests Use worthy people once again His words are wise and firm Dionysus chooses Aeschylus as the winner Pluto says So now farewell Aeschylus go save our city with your noble thoughts The scene ends with joy and respect for noble art and good leadership In termination the debate between Aeschylus and Euripides is the heart of The Frogs It is serious yet humorous critical yet kind Aristophanes uses it to praise poetry that uplifts people and improves society Through this debate he honors Aeschylus as a true moral teacher The scene shows that laughter and wisdom can exist together in great literature