Birds

Acts

• Prologue

  Two Athenians seek Tereus the hoopoe. They want to find a better place to live, free of lawsuits and politics.

  261 lines
• Parodos

  The birds assemble, furious at the humans. Pisthetaerus proposes building a city in the sky to blockade the gods.

  132 lines
• First Episode

  The birds once ruled before the gods usurped them. If they build a wall between earth and heaven, they can starve the gods.

  83 lines
• First Parabasis

  A bird cosmogony: in the beginning was Chaos, Night, and Erebus. The birds came before the gods.

  38 lines
• The City

  Construction of Cloudcuckooland begins. Pisthetaerus and Euelpides sprout wings.

  22 lines
• Second Episode

  Unwanted visitors arrive: a poet, oracle-monger, city-planner, inspector, decree-seller. All are driven away.

  191 lines
• First Stasimon

  The chorus proclaims the laws of Cloudcuckooland.

  12 lines
• Third Episode

  The wall is complete. Iris is intercepted — the blockade works.

  48 lines
• Second Parabasis

  The birds address the audience as the new supreme beings.

  123 lines
• Fourth Episode

  Humans are going bird-mad. Everyone wants wings.

  279 lines
• Second Stasimon

  The chorus celebrates its growing power.

  58 lines
• Fifth Episode

  More visitors: a father-beater, bad poet, sycophant. Each dealt with in turn.

  212 lines
• Third Stasimon

  The chorus describes exotic wonders — including a tree where politicians grow.

  22 lines
• Sixth Episode

  Prometheus reveals the gods are starving. He advises demanding Zeus's sceptre and Basileia.

  150 lines
• The Embassy

  Gods send Poseidon, Heracles, and a barbarian god. Heracles, promised dinner, agrees to everything.

  273 lines
• Third Parabasis

  The chorus reflects on the triumph of wit over divine authority.

  14 lines
• Exodos

  Pisthetaerus marries Basileia and receives the thunderbolt. He is now king of gods, birds, and men.

  48 lines