Key Quotes: The Birds by Aristophanes.

Previously I was torn between the two plays 'The Birds' and 'The Orestia', but in developing the kind of projects I'd like to produce, I've noticed a natural preference in 'The Birds', as most of my designs seem to be more geared towards that play. In order to gain inspiration directly from the text, as well as analyse and develop the play, I've read through a translation of 'The Birds' and collected some key quotes that may assist in furthering my project or design ideas.

"Weak mortals, chained to the earth, creatures of clay as frail as the foliage of the woods, you unfortunate race, whose life is but darkness, as unreal as a shadow, the illusion of a dream."
- Strong imagery, also conveys the view that the birds have regarding humans. A lot could be made out that quote alone in the form of artistic animation or clever film making, as there are a lot of descriptive terms that could create a very surreal image, e.g. dream, shadow, clay, woods etc. 

"I would treat her like an egg, the shell of which we remove before eating it; I would take off her mask and then kiss her pretty face." 
- Promotes the theory that the bird characters may not actually be animals, but humans wearing masks. Asks what roles are really being played, and how that could be conveyed in theatre, film, animation etc. Whether the birds are in fact just birds, or if they're symbolic.

"Ye children of Man! Whose life is a spark, protracted with sorrow from day to day, Naked and featherless, feeble and querulous, sickly, calamitous creatures of clay!" 
- Gives a physical description of the birds perception of men. A mental imagery of humans, and something I could potentially work into my designs, Mentions clay as well; something I could physically use to prototype character designs and stay true to the imagery in the text. 

"A fox is subtlety itself." 

- Ties into the anthropomorphic theme I've been looking into, and emphasizes how the symbol of an animal can simultaneously give characteristics to a human. Promotes the idea that if a character is fox-like, then they are sly, sneaky, crafty etc. Can use this to add anthropomorphic features into my character designs. 

These four quotes are a small collection of the lines I thought could develop my ideas and themes specifically.