Context: This ribald comedy of human foibles is set in the underworld where Bacchus has long wished to visit. He pretends to be Hercules in order to get through the entrance of Hades, but this act sets up a clamor because of the theft of Cerberus, the three-headed watchdog. After many difficulties Bacchus and his servant are seated as guests of Pluto with the leading dramatists, Aeschylus and Euripedes, the latter claiming the former's chair. The quarrel over who is the better dramatist is to be judged by the visitor, who reminisces with Aeschylus on the good old days.