Written between 1773 and 1779, it was published in part in the periodical Der teutsche Merkur (The German Mercury) in 1774 and was first issued as a collection in book form in 1780.
In the final part, Die Frösche der Latona, divisions between rival sects of frog-worshippers mean that the Abderites fail to take action against the town's sacred frogs and consequently find themselves being driven out of their homes.
At the end of the book, Wieland makes his satirical intent clear with the statement that although Abdera had long since disappeared, the Abderites still exist and are to be found in every town and city in Germany.
[1][2] Wieland intended the book to serve as a satire of the parochial and self-satisfied nature of provincial German life, using Abdera as the setting.
[3] Wieland sought not only to satirise the petty-minded and Philistine nature of the small-town German bourgeoisie but to attack the excessive enthusiasm for Classical ideals that he perceived at the time.