The Batrachomyomachia (Ancient Greek: Βατραχομυομαχία, from βάτραχος, "frog", μῦς, "mouse", and μάχη, "battle") or Battle of the Frogs and Mice is a comic epic, or a parody of the Iliad.

The word batrachomyomachia has come to mean "a trivial altercation". Both the Greek word and its German translation, Froschmäusekrieg, have been used to describe disputes such as the one between the ideologues and pragmatists in the Reagan administration.^[1]

Plot

Psicharpax, the Mouse-Prince, having escaped a hunting cat, stops by the shore of a lake to drink, and encounters the Frog King Physignathus. Physignathus offers to show Psicharpax his kingdom, on the other side of the lake, and the Mouse agrees. Psicharpax climbs onto the Frog King's back, and Physignathus begins to swim across the lake. In the middle of the lake, they are confronted by a frightening water snake. Physignathus dives, forgetting about Psicharpax, who cannot swim, and drowns.

On the bank, another Mouse witnesses Psicharpax's death, and informs the other Mice, who arm themselves for battle to avenge the Frog King's treachery, and send a herald to the Frogs with a declaration of war. The Frogs blame their King, who altogether denies the incident. In the meantime, Zeus, seeing the brewing war, proposes that the gods take sides, and specifically that Athena help the Mice. Athena refuses, saying that the Mice have done her a lot of mischief, as have the Frogs, and that it would be more prudent for the gods to watch rather than get involved. A battle ensues, and the Mice prevail. Zeus summons a force of crabs to prevent the complete destruction of the Frogs. Powerless against the armoured crabs, the Mice retreat, and the one-day war ends at sundown.^[2]

Characters

Besides the familiar Greek gods, the Batrachomyomachia introduces a number of novel characters representing the leaders and warriors of the two armies, whose combat is described in stark and violent terms, resembling the battle scenes of the Iliad, but with arms consisting of sticks and needles, and armor made from nut shells, bean pods, straw, leaves, vegetables, and the skin of an excoriated cat. Much of the humour of the Batrachomyomachia is derived from this contrast, as well as the names of the warriors. The translations of these names are based on William Cowper's version.^[3]

Mice

• Artepibulus, "he who lies in wait for bread", the father of Meridarpax.
• Artophagus, "the bread-eater", slays Polyphonus with his spear.
• Cnissodioctes, "the savory-steam hunter", dragged into the lake and drowned by Prassophagus.
• Embasichytrus, "the explorer of pots and pipkins", herald of the Mice, declares war upon the Frogs, and later slays Seutlaeus.
• Lichenor, "the licker", (1) a Mouse speared by Hypsiboas, becoming the first casualty of the battle; (2) the Mouse that avenges the death of Troglodytes by killing Limnocharis with his lance, then chases Crambophagus into the lake and kills him.
• Lichomyle, "the licker of mill-stones", mother of the Mouse-prince Psicharpax.
• Lichopinax, "the dish-licker", witnesses Psicharpax's drowning, and informs the Mice; during the battle he slays Borborocoites.
• Meridarpax, "the scrap-catcher", Mouse-prince and a matchless warrior, swears to destroy the Frogs, but is prevented by the intervention of the gods.
• Psicharpax, "the crumb-catcher", (1) the Mouse-prince, whose drowning at the hands of Physignathus precipitates the war; (2) a warrior who, while defending the bodies of the fallen Mice, slays Pelusius with his spear. Splashed with mud by the Frog chieftain Pelobates, he breaks his foe's leg with a stone, but is disemboweled by Craugasides before he can kill Pelobates.
• Pternoglyphus, "the ham-scraper", terrifies Calaminthius, who flees into the lake, casting aside his shield.
• Pternophagus, "the bacon-eater", the Mouse-king, crushed by Hydrocharis with a stone.
• Pternotroctes, "the bacon-eater", maternal grandfather of the Mouse-prince Psicharpax.
• Sitophagus, "the cake-eater", crippled by his wounds, limps away from the battle, and takes refuge in a ditch.
• Troglodytes, "creeper into holes and crannies", slays the Frog Pelion, and is killed by a heavy stone hurled by Limnocharis.
• Troxartes, "the bread-eater", father of the Mouse-prince Psicharpax, wounds Physignathus in the foot, causing the Frog-king to jump to safety in the lake. Prassaeus then attacks him, but the Frog cannot pierce Troxartes' shield.
• Tyroglyphus, "the cheese-rasper", father of Embasichytrus, slain on the lake-shore by Limnisius.

Frogs

• Borborocoites, "sleeper in the mud", speared by Lichopinax.
• Calaminthius, "calamint", flees into the lake at the approach of Pternoglyphus, leaving his shield behind.
• Crambophagus, "the cabbage-eater", flees into the lake at the sight of Limnocharis' death at the hands of Lichenor, who gives chase and slays the Frog.
• Craugasides, "the hoarse-croaker", saves his chieftain, Pelobates, from the Mouse-warrior Psicharpax, whom he disembowels with his lance.
• Hydrocharis, "he who delights in the water", crushes the Mouse-king Pternophagus with a stone.
• Hydromedusa, "governess of the waters", the mother of Physignathus.
• Hypsiboas, "the loud-croaker", slays the Mouse Lichenor with his spear at the beginning of the battle.
• Limnisius, "of the lake", slays Tyroglyphus on the lake-shore.
• Limnocharis, "the beauty of the lake", (1) an epithet of Physignathus, the Frog-king; (2) a warrior who slays Troglodytes with a heavy stone, and is in turn killed by the lance of Lichenor.
• Peleus, "of or belonging to mud", the father of Physignathus (in the Iliad, this is also the name of Achilles' father).
• Pelion, "offspring of the mud", speared by Troglodytes, becomes the first casualty among the Frogs.
• Pelobates, "the mud-walker", one of the Frog chieftains, splashes the Mouse-warrior Psicharpax with mud, only to have his leg broken by a stone hurled by Psicharpax. Craugasides saves him by killing Psicharpax.
• Pelusius, "the muddy", slain by the spear of the Mouse warrior Psicharpax.
• Polyphonus, "the noisy", slain by the spear of Artophagus.
• Physignathus, "the pouter", the Frog-king, begins the war by accidentally drowning the Mouse-prince Psicharpax. Wounded by Troxartes, the father of Psicharpax, he leaps to safety in the lake.
• Prassaeus, "the garlic-dealer", assails Troxartes after the Mouse-prince wounds Physignathus, causing the Frog-king to retreat, but he cannot pierce Troxartes' shield.
• Prassophagus, "the garlic-eater", drags Cnissodioctes into the lake and drowns him.
• Seutlaeus, "the beet-eater", slain by Embasichytrus.

Authorship

The Romans attributed the Batrachomyomachia to Homer, but according to Plutarch, it is the work of Pigres of Halicarnassus, either the brother or son of Artemisia I, the Queen of Caria, and an ally of Xerxes.^[4] In the nineteenth century, the poem was widely considered to be of the fifth century BC or somewhat earlier, but linguistic studies starting in the late 1800s suggest that the poem was written in the late Hellenistic period, or even under the early Roman Empire.^[5] Lucian has been suggested as a possible author, although this attribution would place the poem after Plutarch's death.^[6][7][8] A manuscript of the poem, dating to the eleventh or twelfth century, contains a note attributing the poem to a Tigres or Timarchus of Caria: this could refer to Timarchus the tyrant of Miletus or the Seleucid usurper. Matthew Hosty describes this attribution as "a possibility at best" but suggests that an origin for the poem in third- or second-century BC Ionia is plausible.^[9]

Galeomyomachia

Galeomyomachia (Γαλεομυομαχία), meaning "Battle of the Cats and Mice", was a poem written by the Greek monk Theodore Prodromos in the twelfth century AD and imitates the Batrachomyomachia.^[10]