History Literature / Batrachomyomachia

* CivilizedAnimal: They ''do'' go to battle armed with spears and wearing armour.

And so their day-long battle is described with all the elements of the [[TheEpic epic genre]]: [[LockAndLoadMontage arming scenes]][[note]](bean-pod greaves, skin breastplates, and peanut-shell helmets for the mice; mallow-leaf greaves, beet-leaf breastplates, and snail-shell helmets for the frogs)[[/note]], [[DivineIntervention divine participation]][[note]]Except for much of the battle, the gods prefer to amuse themselves watching than help either side.[/note]], character epithets, epic [[FinalBattle battle scenes]], etc. A plethora of epic conventions, all used to describe [[MundaneMadeAwesome warring mice and frogs]]. Thus in modern times, the word 'batrachomyomachia' and its various translations has come to mean "a silly conflict".

* WickedWeasel: Crumb-snatcher is introduced having escaped γαλέης κίνδυνον ''galéēs kíndynon'' ("the danger of the weasel").

* BearerOfBadNews: Lick-platter[[note]](Λειχοπίναξ ''Leichopínax'')[[/note]], who brings news of Crumb-snatcher's death to the mice.

* NominalImportance: Completely averted. Though we don't get much information about these characters ''besides'' their names, fathers' names, and how they die or kill their enemy.
%% {{Parody}}

->Ἀρχόμενος πρώτης σελίδος χορὸν ἐξ Ἑλικῶνος
->ἐλδεῖν εἰς ἐμὸν ἧτορ ἐπεύχομαι εἵνεκ' ἀοιδῆς,
->ἣν νέον ἐν δέλτοισιν ἐμοῖς ἐπὶ γούνασι θῆκα,
->δῆριν ἀπειρεσίην, πολεμόκλονον ἔργον Ἄρηος,
->εὐχόμενος μερόπεσσιν ἐς οὔατα πᾶσι βαλέσθαι
->πῶς μύες ἐν βατράχοισιν ἀριστεύσαντες ἔβησαν
-->--''Batrachomyomachia'', Lines 1-6[[labelnote:*]]Archómenos prótos selídos choròn ex Helikônos / eldeîn eis emòn hê̄tor epeúxomai ehínek' aoidê̄s, / ḕn néon en déltoisin emoîs epì goúnasi thê̄ka, / dê̄rin apeiresíēn, polemóklonon érgou Ários, / euchómenos merópessin es oúata pâsi balésthai / pôs mýes en batráchoisin aristeúsantes ébēsa[[/labelnote]][[labelnote:**]](Beginning, first I pray to the choir to come down from Helicon / into my heart on account of the song of the page, / which I newly placed in writing on my knee, / that immense conflict, that clamorous deed of Ares, / praying to cast in all ears of mortals / how the mice proved their valour on the frogs)[[/labelnote]]

The ''Batrachomyomachia'' (''Βατραχομυομαχία''[[note]](Frog-Mouse Battle)[[/note]]) is an ancient Greek epic in the tradition of Creator/{{Homer}}'s ''[[Literature/TheIliad Iliad]]'' and ''[[Literature/TheOdyssey Odyssey]]'', which tackles the grave subjects of war and revenge, as the accidental death of a prince leads the two armies into conflict.

And so their day-long battle is described with all the elements of the [[TheEpic epic genre]]: [[LockAndLoadMontage arming scenes]][[note]](bean-pod greaves, skin breastplates, and peanut-shell helmets for the mice; mallow-leaf greaves, beet-leaf breastplates, and snail-shell helmets for the frogs)[[/note]], [[DivineIntervention divine participation]],[[note]]Except for much of the battle the gods prefer to amuse themselves watching than help either side.[[/note]] character epithets, epic [[FinalBattle battle scenes]], etc. A plethora of epic conventions, all used to describe [[MundaneMadeAwesome warring mice and frogs]]. Thus in modern times, the word "batrachomyomachia" and its various translations has come to mean "a silly conflict."

* AnachronisticClue: As noted above, this poem was long considered to be by {{Creator/Homer}} himself. Then someone noticed that the poem says "The cock had crow'd up"... there were no roosters in Greece until a couple centuries after Homer.

The ''Batrachomyomachia'' (''Βατραχομυομαχία''[[note]](Frog-Mouse Battle)[[/note]]) is an ancient Greek epic in the tradition of Creator/{{Homer}}'s ''[[Literature/TheIliad Iliad]]'' and ''[[Literature/TheOdyssey Odyssey]]'', which tackles the grave subjects of war and revenge, as the accidental murder of a prince leads the two armies into conflict.

* SacredHospitality: The frog king Puff-jaw offers to recieve Crumb-snatcher as a guest before he takes him across the lake and accidentally drowns him.

* IAmXSonOfY
* KingOfTheGods: Zeus.

* MouseWorld

* NarrativePoem

* {{Parody}}

* WarGod: Ares and Athena.

* TalkingAnimal
* ThisMeansWar

* WickedWeasel: Crumb-snatcher is introduced having escaped γαλέης κίνδυνον ("the danger of the weasel").

The mouse prince Crumb-snatcher[[note]](Ψιχάρπαξ)[[/note]] comes to a lake for a drink when he encounters Puff-jaw[[note]](Φυσίγναθος)[[/note]], king of the frogs. They meet cordially, and Puff-jaw offers to bear his guest across the lake to his home. In the middle of the lake, however, a watersnake appears and the panicked Puff-jaw dives for safety, leaving the hapless Crumb-snatcher to [[ForgotICouldntSwim drown]].

* BearerOfBadNews: Lick-platter[[note]](Λειχοπίναξ)[[/note]], who brings news of Crumb-snatcher's death to the mice.

His death is witnessed by the mice and, of course, ThisMeansWar

And so their day-long battle is described with all the elements of the [[TheEpic epic genre]]: [[LockAndLoadMontage arming scenes]][[note]](bean-pod greaves, skin breastplates, and peanut-shell helmets for the mice; mallow-leaf greaves, beet-leaf breastplates, and snail-shell helmets for the frogs)[[/note]], [[DivineIntervention divine participation]][[note]](Except for much of the battle the gods prefer to amuse themselves watching than help either side)[[/note]], character epithets, epic [[FinalBattle battle scenes]], etc. A plethora of epic conventions, all used to describe [[MundaneMadeAwesome warring mice and frogs]]. Thus in modern times, the word "batrachomyomachia" and its various translations has come to mean "a silly conflict."

* WickedWeasel: Crumb-snatcher is introduced having escaped γαλέης κίνδυνον ("the danger of the weasel").

Γερανομαχία, Ἀραχνομαχία, and Ψαρομαχία

One of the ancient "Beast Epics"[[note]](There also existed the lost ''Γερανομαχία'', ''Ἀραχνομαχία'', and ''Ψαρομαχία'': battles of cranes, spiders, and sparrows)[[/note]], the ''Batrachomyomachia'' details a day-long battle between mice and frogs as a mock epic, parodying the genre (and making {{Parody}} OlderThanFeudalism). The approximately three-hundred line poem's authorship is disputed: the Romans attributed it to Creator/{{Homer}}, while Plutarch called it the work of Pigres of Halicarnassus. Some modern scholars remain unconvinced and point instead to a poet in the time of Alexander the Great. The Homer version isn't taken seriously by scholars today because [[AnachronisticClue the poem mentions roosters, and there weren't any in Greece until a couple of centuries later]].

-->--''Batrachomyomachia'', Lines 1-6[[labelnote:*]]Archómenos prótos selídos choròn ex Helikônos / eldeîn eis emòn hê̄tor epeúxomai ehínek' aoidê̄s, / ḕn néon en déltoisin emoîs epì goúnasi thê̄ka, / dê̄rin apeiresíēn, polemóklonon érgou Ários, / euchómenos merópessin es oúata pâsi balésthai / pôs mýes en batráchoisin aristeúsantes ébēsa[[/labelnote]][[labelnote:**]](Beginning, first I pray to the choir to come down from Helicon / into my heart on account of the song of the page, / which I newly placed in writing on my knee, / that immense conflict, that clamorous deed of Ares, / praying to cast in all ears of mortals / how the mice proved their valour on the frogs)[[/labelnote]]ἁἀ

-->--''Batrachomyomachia'', Lines 1-6[[note]](Beginning, first I pray to the choir to come down from Helicon / into my heart on account of the song of the page, / which I newly placed in writing on my knee, / that immense conflict, that clamorous deed of Ares, / praying to cast in all ears of mortals / how the mice proved their valour on the frogs)[[/note]]

* {{Badass}}: Among the frogs, Rueful[[note]](Ὀριγανίων)[[/note]] is mentioned as the greatest and compared to Ares. Slice-snatcher[[note]](Μεριδάρπαξ)[[/note]] is the best of the mice, threatening to rout the entire army of the frogs.

The ''Batrachomyomachia'' (''Βατραχομυομαχία''[[note]](Frog-Mouse Battle)[[/note]]) is an ancient Greek epic in the tradition of {{Homer}}'s ''[[Literature/TheIliad Iliad]]'' and ''[[Literature/TheOdyssey Odyssey]]'', which tackles the grave subjects of war and revenge, as the accidental murder of a prince leads the two armies into conflict.

One of the ancient "Beast Epics"[[note]](There also existed the lost ''Γερανομαχία'', ''Ἀραχνομαχία'', and ''Ψαρομαχία'': battles of cranes, spiders, and sparrows)[[/note]], the ''Batrachomyomachia'' details a day-long battle between mice and frogs as a mock epic, parodying the genre (and making {{Parody}} OlderThanFeudalism). The approximately three-hundred line poem's authorship is disputed: the Romans attributed it to {{Homer}}, while Plutarch called it the work of Pigres of Halicarnassus. Some modern scholars remain unconvinced and point instead to a poet in the time of Alexander the Great. The Homer version isn't taken seriously by scholars today because [[AnachronisticClue the poem mentions roosters, and there weren't any in Greece until a couple of centuries later]].

One of the ancient "Beast Epics"[[note]](There also existed the lost ''Γερανομαχία'', ''Ἀραχνομαχία'', and ''Ψαρομαχία'': battles of cranes, spiders, and sparrows)[[/note]], the ''Batrachomyomachia'' details a day-long battle between mice and frogs as a mock epic, parodying the genre (and making {{Parody}} OlderThanFeudalism). The approximately three-hundred line poem's authorship is disputed: the Romans attributed it to {{Homer}}, while Plutarch called it the work of Pigres of Halicarnassus. Some modern scholars remain unconvinced and point instead to a poet in the time of Alexander the Great. The Homer version isn't taken seriously by scholars today because [[SpottingTheThread the poem mentions roosters, and there weren't any in Greece until a couple of centuries later]].

* AnachronisticClue: This poem was long considered to be by {{Creator/Homer}} himself. Then someone noticed that the poem says "The cock had crow'd up"... there were no roosters in Greece until a couple centuries after Homer.

* AnachronismClue: This poem was long considered to be by {{Creator/Homer}} himself. Then someone noticed that the poem says "The cock had crow'd up"... there were no roosters in Greece until a couple centuries after Homer.

* FrogsAndToads: Naturally.

* PassThePopcorn: Minus the popcorn, of course, but Athena and the other gods would rather be entertained by the mice and the frogs' conflict than help them.

[[quoteright:320:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Mouse-on-a-Frog_9476.jpg]]

One of the ancient "Beast Epics"[[note]](There also existed the lost ''Γερανομαχία'', ''Ἀραχνομαχία'', and ''Ψαρομαχία'': battles of cranes, spiders, and sparrows)[[/note]], the ''Batrachomyomachia'' details a day-long battle between mice and frogs as a mock epic, parodying the genre (and making {{Parody}} OlderThanFeudalism). The approximately three-hundred line poem's authorship is disputed: the Romans attributed it to {{Homer}}, while Plutarch called it the work of Pigres of Halicarnassus. Some modern scholars remain unconvinced and point instead to a poet in the time of Alexander the Great.

The mock epic is available online [[http://www.hs-augsburg.de/~harsch/graeca/Chronologia/S_ante01/Batrachomyomachia/bat_text.html here]] in the ancient Greek; in English [[http://www.homer.com.mx/HOMERICA/BATRACHOMYOMACHIA.html here]].

->δῆριν ἀπειρεσίην, πολεμόκλονον ἔργον Ἄρηος,

-->--''Batrachomyomachia'', Lines 1-6[[hottip:*:(Beginning, first I pray to the choir to come down from Helicon / into my heart on account of the song of the page, / which I newly placed in writing on my knee, / that immense conflict, that clamorous deed of Ares, / praying to cast in all ears of mortals / how the mice proved their valour on the frogs)]]

The ''Batrachomyomachia'' (''Βατραχομυομαχία''[[hottip:*:(Frog-Mouse Battle)]]) is an ancient Greek epic in the tradition of {{Homer}}'s ''[[Literature/TheIliad Iliad]]'' and ''[[Literature/TheOdyssey Odyssey]]'', which tackles the grave subjects of war and revenge, as the accidental murder of a prince leads the two armies into conflict.

One of the ancient "Beast Epics"[[hottip:*:(There also existed the lost ''Γερανομαχία'', ''Ἀραχνομαχία'', and ''Ψαρομαχία'': battles of cranes, spiders, and sparrows)]], the ''Batrachomyomachia'' details a day-long battle between mice and frogs as a mock epic, parodying the genre (and making {{Parody}} OlderThanFeudalism). The approximately three-hundred line poem's authorship is disputed: the Romans attributed it to {{Homer}}, while Plutarch called it the work of Pigres of Halicarnassus. Some modern scholars remain unconvinced and point instead to a poet in the time of Alexander the Great.

The mouse prince Crumb-snatcher[[hottip:*:(Ψιχάρπαξ)]] comes to a lake for a drink when he encounters Puff-jaw[[hottip:*:(Φυσίγναθος)]], king of the frogs. They meet cordially, and Puff-jaw offers to bear his guest across the lake to his home. In the middle of the lake, however, a watersnake appears and the panicked Puff-jaw dives for safety, leaving the hapless Crumb-snatcher to [[ForgotICouldntSwim drown]].

And so their day-long battle is described with all the elements of the [[TheEpic epic genre]]: [[LockAndLoadMontage arming scenes]][[hottip:*:(bean-pod greaves, skin breastplates, and peanut-shell helmets for the mice; mallow-leaf greaves, beet-leaf breastplates, and snail-shell helmets for the frogs)]], [[DivineIntervention divine participation]][[hottip:*:(Except for much of the battle the gods prefer to amuse themselves watching than help either side)]], character epithets, epic [[FinalBattle battle scenes]], etc. A plethora of epic conventions, all used to describe [[MundaneMadeAwesome warring mice and frogs]]. Thus in modern times, the word "batrachomyomachia" and its various translations has come to mean "a silly conflict."

* {{Badass}}: Among the frogs, Rueful[[hottip:*:(Ὀριγανίων)]] is mentioned as the greatest and compared to Ares. Slice-snatcher[[hottip:*:(Μεριδάρπαξ)]] is the best of the mice, threatening to rout the entire army of the frogs.

* BearerOfBadNews: Lick-platter[[hottip:*:(Λειχοπίναξ)]], who brings news of Crumb-snatcher's death to the mice.

The mouse prince Crumb-snatcher[[hottip:*:(Ψιχάρπαξ)]] comes to a lake for a drink when he encounters Puff-jaw[[hottip:*:(Φυσίγναθος)]], king of the frogs. They meet cordially, and Puff-jaw offers to bear his guest across the lake to his home. In the middle of the lake, however, a [[SnakesAreEvil watersnake]] appears and the panicked Puff-jaw dives for safety, leaving the hapless Crumb-snatcher to [[ForgotICouldntSwim drown]].

And so their day-long battle is described with all the elements of the [[TheEpic epic genre]]: [[LockAndLoadMontage arming scenes]][[hottip:*:(bean-pod greaves, skin breastplates, and peanut-shell helmets for the mice; mallow-leaf greaves, beet-leaf breastplates, and snail-shell helmets for the frogs)]], [[DivineIntervention divine participation]][[hottip:*:(Except for much of the battle the gods prefer to amuse themselves watching than help either side)]], character epithets, epic [[FinalBattle battle scenes]], etc. A plethora of epic conventions, all used to describe [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome warring mice and frogs]]. Thus in modern times, the word "batrachomyomachia" and its various translations has come to mean "a silly conflict."

* {{Bathos}}: You have the whole [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome epic]] style, complete with the gods watching over the conflict, and it's about mice and frogs.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome

* EverythingsWickedWithWeasels: Crumb-snatcher is introduced having escaped γαλέης κίνδυνον ("the danger of the weasel").

* OlderThanFeudalism