The Clouds

By Aristophanes

Socrates' "Thinkery" is at the center of Clouds, which spoofs untraditional techniques for educating young men.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Start Publishing LLC
• Release date: Nov 1, 2012
• ISBN: 9781625580726

Aristophanes

Often referred to as the father of comedy, Aristophanes was an ancient Greek comedic playwright who was active in ancient Athens during the fourth century BCE, both during and after the Peloponnesian War. His surviving plays collectively represent most of the extant examples of the genre known as Old Comedy and serve as a foundation for future dramatic comedy in Western dramatic literature. Aristophanes’ works are most notable for their political satire, and he often ridiculed public figures, including, most famously, Socrates, in his play The Clouds. Aristophanes is also recognized for his realistic representations of daily life in Athens, and his works provide an important source to understand the social reality of life in Ancient Greece. Aristophanes died sometime after 386 BCE of unknown causes.

Reviews for The Clouds

[bruce_deming_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

satire on philosophy and Socrates. tad crude at times and funny at times

[gbsallery · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I'm not sure I get this, but it's an interesting glimpse into Athenian life a very long time ago. The moral appears to be that you should not trust philosophers; there's not much else to it.

[hemlokgang · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What a pleasant surprise this drama was! I picked this ancient Greek play up in anticipation of an intellectual muscle stretcher and ended up laughing out loud. Who knew Aristophanes could be so wonderfully entertaining! That silly old Socrates! This drama was entered into a competition in roughly 423 B.C. as an attempt to regain the playwright's standing as the champion. Excellent choice! He poked fun at the Sophists quite well! Very readable too!

[danielstj · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was really decent. It was a play full of high, and low, comedy as well as interesting (historically and fictionally) characters as well as situations that you could appreciate the humour of. I didn't think I would like this very much, but I was proven wrong from almost the beginning. For those who like drama, classics, or Greek literature- you should read this and give it a try.3.75 stars.

[jonfaith · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

While this edition suffers from a too modern translation The Clouds resonates, all too self aware, castigating the audience, slurring them actually. This great farce takes aim at the secular university and the godless wiseasses it produces.

As Goodreads friend Sologdin noted, it is intriguing to see Socrates cast as a pre-Socratic. Much like Derrida’s post card.

A middle class father is deep in debt as a result of his son's lavish lifestyle. Father hopes education will allow the son to use logic and rhetoric to defeat these legal challenges. Son learns well and eventually canes his father.

The pale effeminate world of the sophists is ridiculed at every turn, though I wasn’t expecting the apocalyptic conclusion.

I recommend this satire at those who can still giggle with Deconstruction.

[moonswanni · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

STORY: A farmer named Strepsiades wants to get out of debt. So he recruits his son to become a student of Socrates at the school called The Thinkery. Strepsiades believes if his son can learn rhetoric, then he'll be able to use his skill to get rid of his creditors. His son’s education doesn't go initially as planned but in the end they made amends.

HISTORY: The play was written in a time (423 BC) when Athens was experiencing turbulent intellectual change. Education, ethics, rhetoric, science and religion were being challenged. In philosophy, some people thought the sophist were corrupting old Athenian social and moral values. They viewed the skill of rhetoric as a way to get around the law for their own personal gain. Like The Frogs, there is this tension between the old and new ideology.

SOCRATES: In the play, Socrates is a composite character of intellectuals and leading sophists of the time. The Clouds was written twenty-six years before the trial of Socrates, but if we believe Plato, it may have been a source of prejudice used against Socrates at his trial. This is questionable since Socrates could have left Athens or made different decisions at his trail. So we don’t really know the impact the comedy had on the trial, but at the time of its writing, Socrates wasn't offended by it.

OPINION: I don’t know about this one. It wasn't that funny and the humor was too lowbrow. There were too many references to asses, crapping, and farting. I get the point Aristophanes thinks these intellectuals were assholes, there is no mistaking that point, but it was a tad too much. Complicating matters is Aristophanes tendency to criticize everyone and everything, so it is difficult to know the motive behind the comedy. My favorite parts are the scenes with the clouds. I thought these sections were creative, but I didn't want to add a spoiler, so I'll stop there.

Fans of Blazing Saddles Will Like This.

[kaionvin · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Probably only interesting to your hardcore classical Greek/Athens inter/intra-philosophy-school-fighting crowd (who also like bawdy 'jokes'). And the people who study them. Kind of goofy for my tastes.

[bluedream_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I miss this style of comedic plays. ( he says, as though he were around back then )

[jpsnow · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Aristophanes won some of the drama competitions under a pseudonym before he was old enough to enter. He references both Aeschylus (as a conservatives choice) and Euripides (as liked by the new "wrong logic" generation of youth). In addition, he continues his debate/feud with Cleon. More than anything, this work represents the same criticisms put against Socrates during his trial -- that he was leading the youth of the time away from discipline and tradition. The victory of Wrong Logic in his debate with Right logic demonstrates the twisted argument that men found so hard to refute. The sexual innuendo is also thick throughout the interaction with Socrates and his students. I often wonder how much the content has been altered from the original when the rhyme is this good. It was fun to read, aloud even, and would make a great speech excerpt. The thought process by Strepsiades is hilarious in places, and the words of the Clouds (chorus) are quite powerful.

[clytemnestra215_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Strepsiades was a terrible character, and I adored him. The way that he stomped on everything insightful or serious with a fart joke should have pissed me off, but instead it had me laughing out loud. My favorite part is near the beginning, where the chorus comes on for the first time. This must have been hilarious seen on the stage. Socrates is revering the chorus and going, "O great Clouds!" and so forth, and Strepsiades says, with the same religious fervor, that he's so amazed and enraptured by him that if it's allowed, and even if it's not, he's so awed that he must take a crap. I am not at all a fan of crude humor like that on a general basis, but for whatever reason, I find myself unfailingly amused.The whole thing was a mixture of the terribly wonderful. It was interesting to see Socrates being approached as a regular guy with a bit of an ego problem. In my encounters of learning about Socrates, he'd always held some heavy connotations of serious thought, though he did have his light-hearted moments. It's both ridiculous and hilarious to see Socrates, such a revered scholar, being made fun of. Whenever I read Plato, I now have this impression in the back of my mind of some guy swinging down on a wire and talking in a haughty voice about ducks. I'd say the play did its job.

[harleth_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This translation retains much of the raunchy Greek comedy. As such, this is not a book for the prudish or faint of heart. For any classics scholar, dramatist or theater fan this is a must read classic.