The Frogs Who Desired a King

According to the story, a group of frogs lived happily and peacefully in a pond. Over time, however, they became discontented with their way of life, and thought they should have a mighty king to rule over them. They called out to the great god Zeus to send them a king.

Zeus was amused by the frogs’ request, and cast a large log down into their pond, saying “Behold, your king!” At first, the frogs were terrified of the huge log, but after seeing that it did not move, they began to climb upon it. Once they realized the log would not move, they called out again to Zeus to send them a real king, one that moved.

Annoyed by the frogs, Zeus said, “Very well, here is your new king,” and sent a large stork to the pond. The stork began devouring frogs. In terror, frogs called out to Zeus to save them. Zeus refused, saying the frogs now had what they’d wanted, and had to face the consequences.

To some, the simple lesson of the story is “leave well enough alone,” or “be careful what you wish for.”

More politically minded readers would interpret the story as a warning against giving too much power to a monarch, president, or chief executive of a geographic area. In times of crisis, people may desire a strong ruler to protect them, but a strong ruler can quickly and easily become a tyrant.[1]

Samuel’s Warning Against Kings

So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him. He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”[2]

From Judith Evans-Gallagher

[1] “The Frogs Who Desired a King,” Aesop’s Fables,https://aesopsfables.wordpress.com/the-frogs-who-desired-a-king/, retrieved December 24, 2024.

[2] “1 Samuel 8:10-18,”BibleGateway, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Samuel%208%3A10-18&version=ESV, retrieved December 24, 2024.