Page "The Birds (play)" Paragraph 125

* Unwelcome Visitors: The protagonist's early victory in the agon generally tends to ease dramatic tension early in the play and this is usually offset to some extent by a stream of minor characters or ' unwelcome visitors ' that have to be chased off by the triumphant hero.

This play is exceptional in that there are three waves of unwelcome visitors-the first wave comes before the walls of Cloudcuckooland have been completed, the second wave comes immediately after and the third wave comes as a delegation from Zeus.

This repetition is the reason why The Birds is much longer than the other surviving plays.