The Clouds, written by Aristophanes, exists as a parody beyond its years. The idea of satire in politics and popular culture still prevails as an element of rhetoric in which ideas and opinions are bulletproof with sufficient evidence and wit combined into persuasive argument.
In this play, Aristophanes sought to not only poke fun at sophists and philosophers such as Socrates, but to also express a popular opinion about them that existed in that particular age. By creating the “anti-hero”, Strepsiades, he degrades the credibility and dignity of the human being so that the audience and the reader look down upon him. This often relates to the idea that comedic plays tend to aim towards depicting men as worse than in real life. Equally, the playwright singles out specific issues which put into context, date the play to a particular time period in which it imposes a stronger reaction if accompanied with such knowledge of the history.
Furthermore, he chooses specific examples, such as the growing issues of atheism and philosophy, to reach out to the people of that current era. His audience enjoys his portrayal of the philosophers and new age thinkers of the time which serves to ridicule important figures such as Socrates. He lampoons their ideas by turning some of the most brilliant of their revelations into simple mediocrity and pomp. By infusing the play with several elements of slapstick humor and double-edged phrases, Aristophanes accomplishes a unique level of editorialist commentary in his works in which he speaks through his characters, mostly the chorus. In its most blatant attempt, the chorus directs its speech to the audience and comments on the lack of praise for the first performance of the play, therein creating a diversion from the actual plot. Despite its digression from its usual characteristics, the chorus returns to its main purposes as a character on its own, representing unique opinions which seem to the audience as one of the most levelheaded of the characters.
Also in this play, a new element of drama comes into action in which two ideas, rather than solid entities, develop a certain battle between good and evil, with evil delving into victory. These characters divide themselves among ideas of education and accomplishment, each attained by either stealth and corruption or faith and credibility. In this case, evil prevails due to its correspondence with the morale of the character Strepsiades. This play contrasts with the idea that Prometheus Bound bequeathed in that the concept of the gods receives more praise than the humanistic quality of error and defiance. Rather, the play portrays man as a composite of inherent evil and self interest.
Whenever any type of event takes place in the world, one critic or another has always been there to comment either positively or negatively on the action. Thus, there exists no surprise in the fact that critics held their place in society in the time of the Ancient Greeks. With a capability of expressing their opinions of current ideas, critics had no fear in relating their opinions on current issues and events. Aristophanes’s work, entitled The Clouds, certainly exemplifies critiquing in the realm of satire. With the role played by the chorus, the agglomeration of ideas that exists in the form of Socrates, and the obvious comedy in the writing itself, this work comes to represent a certain realm of critiquing within the area of satire.
Throughout the work, we cannot doubt the important role played by the chorus. Surely, knowing the important function the chorus takes on, we cannot ignore its importance in this piece of literature. From the very beginning, we notice that the chorus takes on the form of clouds. Though this paints a funny picture in our minds, we truly notice its comedic and satiric effect when we realize that Aristophanes portrays Socrates as deifying the clouds themselves. Thus, the image of people comparing clouds to gods wonderfully fulfills the chorus’s function of spectacle. Since the work itself criticizes contemporary ideas of the time, a senseless idea such as worshipping clouds as gods provides a wonderful satiric effect.
Throughout the work, Strepsiades exemplifies the fool who believes in the new ideas circulating around the city. When he questions “What are you saying now? Who causes the rain to fall? Answer me that!”(Aristophanes 11), he so easily buys into the answers Socrates responds with, provided some circular argument leading to confusion exists. Here, the chorus prevails as extremely important, for whenever Strepsiades ponders whether or not to believe Socrates, the chorus executes a tiny push, persuading him to believe in Socrates’s tall tales. At the conclusion of the play, when Strepsiades questions why the chorus acts in such a way, the chorus itself admits to assuming the position of devil’s advocate: “We always act thus, when we see a man conceive a passion for what is evil; we strike him with some terrible disgrace, so that he may learn to fear the gods”(39).
Surely in this work, we cannot fail to notice the myriad falsities that Socrates represents. From the very beginning, we notice his outlandish actions that distinguish him as the leader of fools. While he swings from his contraption which keeps him afloat, he speaks to Strepsiades and gives him foolish reasons for his actions (7). Therefore, we can immediately identify Socrates as the model of foolish ideas. The extremely funny image painted in our imagination plays an important role in the satire, since it facilitates the identifying of the criticized entity. As Socrates rambles on and Strepsiades continues to listen, we notice the myriad comments made by Socrates concerning natural events and see how some logic mixed with non-truths can lead to a fool jumping to illogical and ridiculous conclusions. Since we understand that Strepsiades represents the fool, we know that Aristophanes might be showing that the main following of the new ideas of Sophism consists of fools. This provides the satire with persuasion, since we will now inherently identify Sophism with foolishness.
Surely, we cannot ignore the importance of comedy within the work. For any successful satire there comes an element of comedy woven into the text. Since the satire concentrates on Socrates and the ideas of Sophism he represents, we easily find the comedy in this work. From the images of Socrates swinging in his basket to the farfetched conversation he has with Strepsiades, we pick up on the humorous effect woven into the satire. Aside from the obviously wild antics of Socrates, Language such as “farts” (1) and imagery such as Phidippides beating his father Strepsiades and actually using the Sophism his father wanted him to learn to explain the beating provide for an overall enjoyable satire.
Thus, the chorus, Socrates, and the comedy all play integral roles in the work. Without them, the satire would lose its effect. In this work, Socrates successfully attacks the ideas of Sophism and allows the audience to understand his argument against them.
The element of humor in The Clouds, by Aristophanes, varies from our modern perspective of humor considerably. This difference could be due to several factors, one being the obvious difference in time, accounting for the slapstick jokes that were once funny now failing to even attract attention from the reader today. A more obscure reason is the type of humor found in Aristophanes’s play is not simple humor, rather, it is satirical. The writer’s mockery of the new idea of teaching science leads readers to believe school is ridiculous and inconsequential.
The notion of science was relatively new when Aristophanes wrote this play, and was therefore written to show the concept laughable. To make light of this recent discovery of science, when Strepsiades enters the place of study, he speaks with a disciple of Socrates that implies the studies of the institution to be secret and important. However, when he is persuaded by Strepsiades to speak of these studies, they turn out to be trivial research regarding how far fleas hop and the flatulence of gnats. Also, on the disciple and Strepsiades’s walk through the institution, they come across other men on their knees working on research with their “cruppers mounted up” (p68) to enable them to stargaze. This ludicrous mockery of research allows readers to perceive Socrates’ notions of science as wholly laughable. Socrates is made an even larger joke as he enters a scene in a basket, saying “lower me [Socrates] to earth, and my mind’s subtle powers, seiz’d by contagious dullness, lose their spirit” (p69). In this portrayal of Socrates, Aristophanes literally applies Socrates’ idea of suspending one's judgment. When Socrates attempts to explain science as a type of new religion, Aristophanes misunderstands and believes he is to worship the clouds. Jokes such as this would have been found humorous when this play was written, approximately 423 B.C. but now are imperceptible to readers.
The satirical writing of The Clouds, by Aristophanes is humorous through its mockery of science and the ideas of Socrates. It is difficult for readers to find the comedy today as the ideas of science are accepted. However, when this play was written, these ideas were new and therefore the public was skeptical of the studies of animals, their habits and objects beyond our skies. Through exaggeration of the disciples’ studies, Aristophanes was able to write a play that supported the people’s feelings towards the notions of Socrates and consequently the work was popular and entertaining. It is not humor that changes through time but the way people view an idea, either making it laughable or practical.
Aristophanes writes of two Sophist characters in his story, The Clouds. His main characters, Pheidippides and Strepsiades, each use rhetoric to manipulate and deceive others. Both characters use manipulation for their own individual reasons, while each battling with their own moral issues. Pheidippides is a young man, and the son of Strepsiades. He practices sophistry when he uses clever talk to deceive his father. He is greedy, spoiled, and feels that he deserves much more than he does. He convinces his father to buy him many extravagant things. He ends up putting his own father into massive debt because of his love for racehorses. He is greedy because he knows that his father is in debt, but does not seem to care at all. When his father suggests to him that he cut down on his expenditures he refuses. His father suggests to him that he attend class at the “Thinkery.” Strepsiades tells him that there he will learn injustice logic so that his creditors “shall never touch a drachma” (67) that he owes them. Pheidippides refuses to attend the school, leaving his father with no other choice but to attend it himself. Pheidippides is the perfect example of a spoiled child, who uses deceptive rhetoric to manipulate his father into buying him what ever he wants. Strepsiades, Pheidippides father, is also a Sophist. He is a Sophist because he attempts to learn clever rhetoric to argue his way out of paying his creditors. The arguments that he attempts to learn are morally wrong, but sound good rhetorically. He tries to give his son everything, and by doing so accumulates massive debt. He states that he is “racket and rent in tatters” (69). He is greedy because he does not want to pay back his creditors. Instead, he wants to learn how to manipulate and con his creditors out of their money. He goes to class at the “Thinkery” to learn various techniques of persuasion. At the “Thinkery” he wishes to find “A new receipt for sending off [his] creditors, and foiling them by the art logical” (69). This is where his greed begins to flourish. He learns that he has two options, right and wrong, which he can use to outsmart his creditors. He picks wrong, which is morally inferior but quite convincing. This argument is the dishonest way out of his problems, but he chooses it anyway because he does not want to pay out the money that he owes. Aristophanes writes this book with a humorous tone towards sophistry. His humorous tone emphasizes his dislike for those who practice sophistry. He shows his dislike throughout the book by mocking the Sophist characters, Strepsiades and Pheidippides, which he creates. He begins the story by detailing to readers their manipulative ways, and then ends the book with the father and son fighting. He writes about their wrongdoings in a humorous tone, while still emphasizing that what they are doing is wrong and distasteful.
As is common in within Greek plays, the Chorus plays a crucial role in the progression of Aristophanes’s The Clouds . In this drama, the Chorus of Clouds produces a spectacle of epic proportions which is characteristic of the works of Aristophanes. The chorus also uses changes in rhythm to emphasis the magnitude of their words. The role of the ideal spectator fulfilled by the Chorus of Clouds provides an essential connection between the chorus and the action in the play.
Aristophanes successfully provides spectacle through the use of the Chorus of Clouds. The anti-humanistic nature of the chorus is a technique often used in the works of Aristophanes, which adds greatly to the spectacle in the work. The Greek chorus in this work was represented as the Clouds, the goddess daughters of Ocean. All of the members of the chorus were outfitted as clouds. Socrates stresses this point to Strepsiades, “Hast thou ne’er seen a cloud, which thout could’st fance / Shap’d like a centaur, leopard, wolf, or Bull?” (72). This choice in costume allows the audience to make a clear connection that the Clouds are real goddesses. The Clouds are capable of changing form, and thus, spy over the mortals, particularly those who are not morally correct. This is a common characteristic of the gods of Ancient Greece.
The Chorus of Clouds also provides the rhythm for this work through the actual composition and the method in which their lines are delivered. The chorus in this play has two types of lines that are separated by varying importance by the use of rhyme. When they deliver lines of great importance, the lines are composed of an even number of sets of rhyming couplets. When the Clouds are introduced their first lines are, “Ascend, ye watery Clouds, on high / Daughters of Ocean, climb the sky” (70). These lines set up the background for their character, and assist in showing the elite goddess standing of the chorus. Also, some of the lines delivered by the chorus do not follow this pattern providing a change in rhythm which is evident to the audience. This change in rhythm draws the attention of the spectators and assists them in keying into the more important points provided by the chorus.
The role of the ideal spectator of the chorus is well represented this play. The Clouds display this character in various instances, however, most importantly during the argument between Dicæologos and Adicæologos. The chorus acts as the referee in the debate between those characters. “And he, who gives the best display / Of argument, shall win the day” (84), sets up the rules for the persuasion of Pheidippides by both Dicæologos and Adicæologos. This could also be considered as maintaining the ethical boundaries of the work by allowing a fair and just debate. Also, these lines are a rhyming couplet attributing a sense of importance to this portion of dialogue.
The Chorus of Clouds adds essential emphasis on certain aspects of the drama merely through their spectacle, manipulation of rhythm, and role as the ideal spectator. The spectacle of their representation as clouds, and the manipulation of this un-human form add to the illusion of their goddess power. The use of rhythm and its alteration throughout the work add emphasis to certain lines providing a deviation between the aspects that are essential plot and those that are not as crucial. Furthermore, the chorus fulfills the role of the ideal spectator through providing moral guidelines and providing insight into the debate between Dicæologos and Adicæologos. The overall role of the chorus shows that their participation in the action is an essential part of the progression in this work as well as many other dramas of Ancient Greece.
Humor has always been a way to get one’s opinion across to other people without necessarily offending someone directly. The comedic playwright Aristophanes is a prime example of this. In his comedy, The Clouds, the playwright is able to make fun of Socrates without calling him a fool to his face. At the same time, Aristophanes has his audience in stitches with jokes about flatulence and other bathroom humor jokes. The satirical portrayal of Socrates is not something new to Aristophanes as it can be seen in other works of his such as The Banqueters. Though in The Clouds, the entire focus and underlying theme is the idea that Socrates is a fool whose thoughts are just a passing fad with no deeper meaning.
A primary example of how Aristophanes depicts Socrates as a fool can be found in the lines of Pheidippides where he states, “Out upon ‘em! Poor rogues, I know them now; you mean those scabs, those squalid, barefoot beggarly impostors, the mighty cacodæmons of whose sect are Socrates and Chærephon. Away” (Aristophanes 66)! Here Aristophanes shows how he and others view Socrates and his followers, as unintelligent raggedy-looking beggars. Later on, the followers of Socrates are portrayed laughable in the setting of the scene where Strepsiades walks into the Socratic school and sees the students in “various grotesque situations and positions” (p. 68).
Socrates is rendered a daft atheist in the line where he asks Strepsiades if he thought the Clouds where goddesses. Strepsiades’s reply to this is, “Not I, so help me! Only I’d a notion that they were fog and dew and dusky vapor” (p. 71). Aristophanes also portrays Socrates as blasphemous in the lines, “What Jupiter? What god? Prithee no more – away with him at once” (p. 72)! The idea of being punished for blaspheming the gods is another prevalent theme in many ancient Greek and Roman plays. In The Clouds, Strepsiades and Socrates are both punished for denouncing the gods. Strepsiades is beaten by his son who calls him a blasphemer. Soon after, Socrates’s school is burnt down by Strepsiades while asking forgiveness from Mercury.
Towards the end of the play, when asked what he was doing, Strepsiades ironically quotes Socrates in the lines “Treading on air – contemplating the sun” (p. 97). He is says this bit of comedy while burning down the scholars’ house. Earlier in the comedy, Socrates had said the same words to Strepsiades on page 69 when the philosopher was floating in a suspended basket. The suspension in the basket supposedly helped Socrates think clearer and quicker. At the end of the play, Strepsiades showed how he was thinking clearer as he was suspended atop a ladder, destroying the scholars’ house.
Examples of political satire are still continued today by people such as John Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and Howard Stern. The fact that satirical politics is something still prevalent today is a reason why Aristophanes’s plays are so successful. His plays have themes and humor that are timeless. Even today, world leaders and thinkers are portrayed as dim-witted fools through comedy. One can see this with just one viewing of The Daily Show. Poking fun at some of the most influential people of the time appears to have always been a way to get one’s opinion across while making others laugh.
The rhetorical device satire has been used for centuries throughout literature for two reasons: to subtly provide a humorous aspect to a story or play and/or to criticize the social and political aspects of the time period in which they were written. The Clouds by Aristophanes exemplifies satire in that it does both.
The humor in the play is not overt for the most part, and this is useful considering that Aristophanes was attempting to make a point about society’s obsession with philosophy and wanted to be taken seriously. There is some traces of overt humor, such as in the beginning of the play when Strepsiades and Phedippides are sleeping and Phedippides begins to display flatulence, which both annoys and revolts his father, but these are few and far between for good reason. The real humor of the play lies in its irony; Strepsiades goes to the Thinkery to learn how to argue by twisting facts rather than providing actual fact based support for his arguments, yet is cajoled into believing anything Socrates tells him even though his support is merely an attempt at averting the attention away from the matter at hand. Socrates tells him that rain comes from the chorus (the Clouds themselves) and he is eager to believe him even though just seconds ago he was positive that it was Zeus who caused the rain. He knows he is entering a school that is geared at being able to win an argument or persuade someone of something even if you are wrong, yet he falls into the trap as fast as anyone else possibly could have.
This is also the basis of Aristophanes’ criticism of the social and political situation of the time. Everyone was beginning to worship philosophers and sophists because their rants sound good, but in reality, most of what they said was simply a twist or spin on what the truth of the matter really was. It is hilarious to watch our anti-hero fall for everything the philosophers at the Thinkery tell him, for it is to be able to lie to others that he has gone there for. This irony is what makes the play subtly funny, allowing Aristophanes to be taken seriously while also entertaining the masses.
In the comedy The Clouds, both high and low denominators of humor are used to mock the different characters and whom they represent. Aristophanes, the playwright, takes advantage of those denominators, both slapstick and high comedy, to entertain all members of the audience. Moreover, he builds off several themes that allow him to satirize the political and philosophical bodies of the time, such as the role reversal in power as well as constant allusion to the actions of those he mocks.
As the audience held not only educated nobles but also peasants, the scenes had jokes that appealed to the lower classes as well. Such humor was found in the fart jokes and blunt insults of the characters. As when Strepsiades is pledging to the Clouds, stating that, “I too am your Cloudships’ most obedient, / And under sufferance trump against your thunder.” Then only to turn to Socrates and say, “Take it how you may, my frights and fears / Have pinch’d and cholic’d my poor bowels so, / That I can’t choose but treat their holy nostrils / With an unsavory sacrifice” (Aristophanes 70). The latter statement from the Socratic apprentice can be interpreted to appeal to every audience. However, what is interesting is that many modern audiences may not catch such jokes because they focus too much on the idea that since the play is written in a similar manner to many tragedies, it must be serious.
Aristophanes also utilizes higher comedy to appeal to the more educated audience such as through the irony of Strepsiades’s quest. The protagonist goes to the school which is intended to find truth and develop knowledge in different sciences. However, he pleads to be taught “a new receipt / For sending off my creditors, and foiling them / By the art logical” (Aristophanes 69). Therefore, instead of gaining wisdom, he seeks a way to relinquish his debts.
Throughout the story, the roles of power among the characters are reversed such as with Strepsiades and his son, Pheidippides, or Socrates and his pupil, Strepsiades. The son should not be telling the father how he should spend his money and be negligent of his father’s wishes. Moreover, the pupil should not be so coarse with his master after being granted any knowledge.
The playwright also alludes throughout the narrative to the different actions and histories of the characters to mock them. Aristophanes is able to poke fun at Socrates’s mentor, Plato, as when the main character explains how he will outwit the legal system, if he is found guilty. The defendant should supposedly hang himself because “a man that’s dead is out of the law’s reach” (Aristophanes 81). In the same token, Plato committed suicide by drinking hemlock after he was persecuted by the judicial system and sophists.
Therefore, Aristophanes is able to create a satiric comedy that suits all audiences by implementing both high and low comedy. As well as develop the play by reversal of roles in power and allusion to the characters’s actions and histories.
“The Clouds,” by Aristophanes, is a comedic play centrally based around education. The author uses satire to depict his beliefs on how an Athenian should be taught. When Strepsiades enters the “Thinkery,” he is greeted by one of Socrates’s disciples. The disciple quickly begins telling Strepsiades wondrous ideas Socrates has recently had. Aristophanes writes about these findings satirically, expressing his beliefs that this school of thought is ridiculous and unnecessary. The disciple says that Socrates was able to answer “how many of his own lengths at one spring a flea can hop- for we did see one vault from Chaerephon’s black eyebrow to the head of the philosopher” (67). Socrates answered this important question most inaccurately; he “dipt the insect’s feet in melted wax, which, hardening into sandals as it cool’d, gave him the space by rule infallible” (67). The disciple also tells of Socrates answering whether a gnat hummed “from mouth of tail” (67). The playwright uses these small insects to describe how insignificant he thinks these philosophies are.
Aristophanes uses the Dicaeologos and the Adicaeologos (simplified here as Just and Unjust, respectively) to argue his outlook with a philosopher’s. Just represents the author, and Unjust represents a philosopher, such as Socrates. Just believes that justice “lies with the immortal gods,” (83), and seeks an a strict education that focuses solely on literature and some physical education. It is the more traditional of the two arguments and looks down upon these new age education belies. At one point, in reference to Unjust’s argument, Just “sicken(s) at an impiety so gross, (its) stomach kicks against it” (83). Unjust doesn’t believe in such a thing as justice and is more focused on representing disdainful thoughts towards education, revealing that he thinks the rules are “worm-eaten” and “stale” (85). Although Aristophanes favors the Just argument, he tarnishes his opinions by having his sexual appetite get the best of him, causing him to look like a fool in the end.
I refuse to formulate some bogus excuse as to why the quality of this response is so shabby, or accept today as my one time opportunity to turn in a paper late. I will break the mold, and take the grade I deserve for not saving my first document to a disc or e-mail. Library West laptops are NOT reliable, which explains losing the majority of my work one and a half hours before the assignment was due. Shame on me.
Aristophanes’ comedy, The Clouds is a creative read that had me periodically raising my eyebrows, sometimes smirking, and often questioning the sanity of the Greeks in general.
The first scenes are easy enough to follow. Strepsiades, our protagonist, is blessed with a wife who is a “vain, extravagant, and high-blooded dame”(Clark 65) and a son, Pheidippides, who could only be the product of such a mother. This darling son has a nuisance equestrian obsession and has squandered a large sum of his father’s wealth on enrolling in a riding school. Now, poor Strepsiades is in debt. He sweetly asks his son to show love and obedience by quitting the riding school and entering the college (where Socrates is a teacher) which has a slightly different school of thought. Pheidippides immediately shoots down this suggestion and shows his insolence with the classic “I- have- a-rich- uncle” response. Furthermore, Pheidippides claims that the school is filled with “squalid, barefoot, beggarly imposters.” (66)
Strepsiades decides to visit the school for himself and is in wonder of the principles being taught and the odd scientific instruments that fill the rooms. The first student he meets is a disciple of Socrates and quite a sassy fellow. He scolds Strepsiades for interrupting his thought and claims that by “ kicking with such vengeance, you have marr’d./ The ripe conception of my pregnant brain, And brought on a miscarriage.” (67) Poor Strepsiades is embarrassed, yet inquisitive, “What curious thought my luckless din has strangled, just as your brain was hatching.” (67) This type dialogue is absolutely comical. I can’t imagine how we would communicate with our peers if we spoke like this on a regular basis. The disciple later explains to Strepsiades that the students have discovered a way to measure the distance a flea hops. This scene had me in hysterics. I can perfectly envision the expression on Strep’s face.
My favorite character is the wacky Socrates, who is introduced to the audience shortly after father and son have their disagreement. He first encounters Socrates while he is suspended in the air in a basket. Socrates swears, “Sublime in air, sublime in thought I carry my mind with me…/ To the pure atmosphere, in which I float…” (68) It takes only a matter of minutes before Strepsiades is pouring out the story of his plight. Socrates listens and provides our protagonist with some contemporary ideas that has dear Strepsiades reeling. The two argue over the genders of nouns, whether or not gods exist, and where thunder and lightening come from. All the while hilarious dialogue is exchanged between the two.
In his piece, through the use of humor, Aristophanes has cleverly tried to deliver the importance of education and expanding one’s thoughts beyond society’s perception of what is safe and readily accepted.
In the writing of the comedic drama The Clouds by Aristophanes there seems to be more sarcasm than comedy. At the time Aristophanes wrote this drama, he didn’t think too highly of the philosophers that were prominent. More specifically he attempts to make Socrates look like a fool by writing that one of his disciples say “I will impart, but set it down in thought amongst our mysteries, This is the question, as it was put but now to Chaerephon, by our great master Socrates, to answer how many of his own lengths at one spring a flea can hop-for we did see one vault from Chaerephon’s black eye-brow to the head of the philosopher”. Today, people through media try to make others look foolish. Examples of this can be seen in everything from music, television, internet and newspapers. It would be most difficult to omit the opinions of sophist because they can shed light to things that are not obviously seen by people. The fact that Aristophanes writes in a way to make his readers (or watchers) to question the philosophy of Socrates is rare when others think highly of a person. This is seen today in political satire such as the Daily Show or Colbert Report These programs sarcastically points out opposing views in modern day culture that others may have not thought about. Just like The Clouds, these shows could be blamed for civic dissension. Sophistry like this tends to exaggerate the portrayal of the person or the situation. The final scene in this comedy also seems to have a hidden agenda. When Strepsiades takes the torch on the roof and sets it on fire, Socrates responds saying “Ah me! I’m Suffocated smother’d lost-. This kind of comedy still can be responsible for people taking action of situations that they are not in favor of. Even today this kind of sophistry is practiced discretely to make people not only ponder, but also to act upon what they have made a decision about. This may be at the reader’s digression whether to just take a piece of art as comedy or to contemplate taking action. In our culture, all too many times we see young people taking action for or against something just because they saw it on television, heard it on the radio or it was a video game.
Aristophane’s "The Clouds" is a satirical play about sophists and people’s opinion of them at the time. In the story the two main characters Strepsiades and his son Pheidippides are trying to evade creditors by using their sophist knowledge. The clouds play the part of the chorus. They exhibit some of the main characteristics of a Greek chorus; ideal spectator and ethical framework. Also, this play is a satire in which they make jokes that are still funny today.
The chorus of clouds exhibits the ideal spectator because they encourage the action of the characters. For example, the chorus of clouds says, “Go, brave adventurer, proceed!\ May fortune crown the gallant deed’ Tho’ far advanc’d in life’s last stage…” They are telling Strepiades to enter to talk to Socrates. They facilitate the action of the play. The clouds also play the important part of the ethical framework. They praise the moral intent of the playwright. They explain that he uses satire to teach lessons.
There are many comments made by the characters throughout the play that are humorous. For example, Strepsiades makes a joke to Socrates when he says, “…That I can’t choose but treat their holy nostrils/With an unsavoury sacrifice.” He is making fun of Socrates’s belief that the clouds are divine and that gods don’t really exist. They chorus of cloud also tells of how Strepiades will be ruined in the end due to him forcing his son Pheidippides. It is ironic because this does happen. This plays into the satirical theme of the play. In the end Pleidippides beats his father until he runs out of the house. His Sophist education instead of racehorses has caused him to be smarter than his father, therefore enhancing his ability to win arguments against him.
< i> The Clouds < i>, Aristophanes’ satiric comedy, exemplifies irony at its highest peak. Upon reading the work, a world of moral indecision and political difference breaks open, enveloping all into the life of a man by the name of Strepsiades. Plunged into debt he seeks answer from an Academy of Science, which ironically, brings forth a combination of issues ranging from politics to pious belief. It is through the utilization of themes as well as relativity to modern times, however, that the writer depicts a tale worthy of comic approval.
“…I lie awake the whilst:/ and what cares he but to coil up his locks,/ Ride, drive his horses, dream of them all night…” (Aristophanes 65). The dramatists’ use of contradicting themes is most prevalent throughout his text. Regard initially when the protagonist, Strepsiades, sits in his chamber, warped in contemplation of his newly acquired debt. It brings him to compare the essence of youth - fallacious tranquility, carefree notion, and innocent bliss- with the harsh realities of adulthood- stress, debt, and credits. Another clashing theme is that of Father versus Son; or better yet past and present. View the argument between Adicaeologos and Dicaeologos. In the debate scene, Dicaeologos pushes toward the conventional style of educating young men, while the other, Adicaeologos, advocates a newer, more radical approach. Now compare the old mans’ wishes for his son, more or less, to attend the Science Academy. The boy, Pheidippides, continues to contemptuously. To the father, wisdom prevails; to the son, freewill prevails. This is the continuous battle inter past and present which Aristophanes chooses to relay to his audience.
As one moves further into the tale, it cannot be helped not to acknowledge the emphasis Aristophanes pushes towards mankind’s vulnerability in times of trial. The basis of this statement resides within the walls of the infamous School of Science which Strepsiades was once so fond of. The Academy worshiped the God’s of Science and Nature, while atheistic culture was preserved to the core; yet the protagonist found no objection in denouncing his Olympic God’s to follow theirs’. Strepsiades allowed himself to be swayed. “If from this hour henceforth I ever waste/ A single thought on any other gods,/ or give them sacrifice… Nay. Even common courtesy, renounce me.” (74). Is mankind truly as desperately gullible as Aristophanes illustrates? Will man, in definite time of trial replace moral integrity with promised satisfaction? In the case of the Strepsiades, erasing piety was deemed a small price to pay for the ability to influence opinion through language. This is what mattered most at the time, thus this is what he held predominant.
Aristotle defined a comedy as a work that brought a man of high nature to a place of lower classification. It is by this that < i> The Clouds < i> is defined. Through the use of imagery, bitter irony, and contradicting themes, it is apparent that Aristophanes wished to fulfill a moderate sense of humor throughout the work. He did indeed succeed.
There is a lot of humor throughout Aristophanes’s play, The Clouds, though it may not always be evident when reading from a modern-day view. The idea of comedy in the year four hundred and twenty-three B.C. is considerably different from what comedy means today. When watching shows today such as “That 70’s Show,” most people can agree that it’s obviously funny. This is how the humor must have been back in the time of Aristophanes and Socrates. Comedy was probably obviously funny to most watching a play years ago, and their comedies were most likely as funny to them as ours are to us in the present. So when first reading The Clouds, the humor is not always clear and immediately funny to us because the type of humor in the play is different from what most of us are used to.
In The Clouds, it seems obvious that Aristophanes is making fun of the Sophists and their way of thinking. He portrays the infamous Socrates as a joke through his words and actions in the play. When Socrates is calling upon the Clouds to prove to Strepsiades that they are Goddesses, Aristophanes writes a note in parentheses before Socrates speaks to let the reader know how ‘cleverly’ he speaks. The note reads, “(Socrates) assuming all the magical solemnity and tone of voice of an adept” (70). Aristophanes includes subtle notes and jokes like this throughout the play to support his view that the Sophists think they are much more wiser than they really are. A more clearer example of Aristophanes’s dislike for the school of Sophos occurs later in the play when Socrates tries to get Strepsiades to meditate. Socrates instructs Strepsiades to lie down on one side and think until something stumps him; then he should just turn onto his other side and think of something else (78). Aristophanes is attempting to show how ridiculous some of the ideology and methods of the Sophists were, by writing this scene where Socrates tells a man to ‘meditate’ by thinking until something confuses him and then just forgetting about it and repeating the cycle. I know a lot of concepts, such as humor, are different today than what they were years ago, but meditation is even older and the point of it is to relax your mind so that you can concentrate to think things all the way through. Again, Aristophanes is exemplifying his views of the unreasonable ways of the Sophists.
The Clouds is an excellent example of past-era comedy, evident through Aristophanes’s humorous and satirical writing. Aristophanes continuously makes jokes about the Sophists, and portrays them as fools for their unconventional and nonsensical beliefs. The Sophists thought that they had a higher level education, one that was worth paying for in order to succeed in life. But the humorous ending of the play proves just the exact opposite. Strepsiades doesn't end up talking his way out of debt using the lessons of the Sophists. He actually "comes to his senses" and burns the school of the Sophos down after realizing that they aren't as smart as they claim to be, and that their words can't persuade the minds of "lesser educated" people (which is what Aristophanes reinforces throughout the play).
Aristophanes leaves nothing to the imagination of his feelings for political figures when one examines his work, The Clouds. In portraying those “enlightened” thinkers as barbarians, merely making crude jokes, and wasting their time, Aristophanes makes his distaste for them quite obvious. The playwright satires the use of rhetoric, or sophistry, to show the absolute ridiculousness that he sees in those in the hierarchy of society.
The general plot of the story begins with Strepsiades not being able to sleep due to money troubles. These money troubles are due to the constant funding of his son, Pheidippides’s equestrian studies. While Strepsiades stays awake counting his debts, Pheidippides lies sound asleep. Upon wakeing Pheidippides, Strepsiades tries to convince him of joining the disciples of Socrates, due to the lesser cost, and the following ability for Pheidippides to ward of Strepsiades’s debtors by using the sophist ways from the disciples. Upon denying the plea, Pheidippides is thrown out of the house and Strepsiades, in turn, decides that he will study under the great thinkers. When allowed into the house of study, Strepsiades finds the students in preposterous positions studying their crafts and Socrates suspended in the air in a basket to allow his mind to run free. After proving to Strepsiades that there are no gods, and that the weather is caused by a chorus of clouds, Socrates convinces him to strip off his cloak, and the two enter into a room. Upon coming back out, and arguing of the gender of nouns, Strepsiades is made to lie on a bed full of bugs, in order that he might think more clearly. After nearly losing his mind, Strepsiades devises a plan to foil his creditors. After hearing the plan, Socrates tells him that he his is failed student, and the chorus of clouds convinces him to enroll his son in the school. Pheidippides, at first does not want to attend, but then caves after much cajoling. When bringing the child to the school, the audience is confronted with two characters fighting over how Pheidippides should be educated. After this has been decided, Pheidippides goes into school. When all is said and done, and Strepsiades pickes Pheidippides up from the school, he is promised that the child is well versed in the area of sophistry. When the debtors come, Strepsiades tries to fool them, but to no avail, and goes to get his son from the house. They come out, and Pheidippides is beating Strepsiades and the two argue about proper recitation of prose. Pheidippides, using the sophistry that he has learned, beats Strepsiades in the argument who is angered at the fact. Strepsiades yells at the clouds for convincing him to enroll the child in school, to which they return a chastisement, and lesson, which was he needed to learn from the whole situation.
Clearly the “enlightened” disciples of Socrates represent the politicians of his time, and ours, which behind closed doors are nothing but crass, dirty, illogical people, and in the open only spew rhetoric and in the end, help no one. One example of this backwards logic is displayed in Strepsiades’s first impression of the school, as the students study astronomy with their posteriors in the sky, and “their eyes so riveted to th’ earth” (Aristophanes). These students also muse on the question of “when a gnat humm’d whether the sound did issue / From mouth or tail.”
The Rhetoric that is spewed is very clearly evident when Strepsiades speaks with Socrates, for example, because the scholar convinces the mere mortal to strip and give him the cloak and shoes from his body. Socrates also convinces him that there are no gods, by use of circular logic. In hope of solving his problems, Strepsiades sends his son to learn the art of sophistry, much like young politicians are sent into big politics to change the world, and they, just like Pheidippides, end up being changed and turn against us.
The use of sophistry throughout this work is astonishing, and is most definitely an eye opener for the readers as to what our own politicians might be doing to us in our own day, just as they were doing to Aristophanes in his day. One might wonder whether or not Aristophanes could have ever had anything nice to say about politicians. After seeing the evidence in The Clouds , it can be safely said, that the chances are slim to none. Our own lesson to be learned from this is to watch who is saying what to us, and to gauge whether or not it can be said to be trustworthy, so that our own children will not end up beating us, unforeseen by any of this day.
The ideas of logos, ethos, and pathos have persuaded audiences for many a century. None can debate that point when presented with The Clouds written by Aristophanes. The use of satire throughout the play conveys more than just a story, but an indepth critic of the "wise men" of the age- the sophist and thier contemporaries.
Humor, when aplied correctly, can be very effective. In the days of this work the subtle ties to humor present a far more serious meaning. For example, by mocking the study of science Aristophanes creates an almost hypocritical viewpoint of Socrates. By showcasing the chorus as clouds they form into an almost god-like contenance which Socrates seems to mock. Obivously, such a wise man of science would recognize this and attempt to avoid the mixed signals but without this almost laughable element,Aristophanes's point would be lost.
Continuing through the play the story presents a story many in the audience could relate with. A father and son quarreling over money troubles is common enough that an author can use it to present a myriad of underlying themes. In this play the theme of mockery for the ideals of Socrates shows itself most clearly in the school of "Thinkery." When the father is duped by the son, contempt can be seen and the chorus lends itself to the prearranged station of ideal commentor- critizing the new ideas being discussed and undermining them with flatulence jokes.
Critics debate Aristophanes’s intended arguments in The Clouds. Many agree, though, the author satirizes Socrates’s involvement with the new era’s school of thought, sophistry. However, the playwright’s redefinition of the chorus is irrefutable. Not only does the chorus of clouds adheres to the roles of the dramatic chorus as defined by Aristotle, but the writer also grants the clouds the ability to speak directly to the audience and foresight. Combined, these two new roles enhance the influence of the chorus and Aristophanes’s reputation.
Around 350 B.C.E. Aristotle outlined the six basic functions of the chorus: ideal spectator, an interactive character, mood, rhythm, ethical framework and spectacle. The chorus of clouds satisfies the aforementioned roles either by speaking with the actors (70), rhyming cadences (86), honoring the gods with due praise (79), or simply arriving on stage dressed as floating clouds (70).
Additionally, the chorus of clouds possesses two new abilities, prophetic foresight and speaking plainly with the audience on the author’s behalf. On page 95, Strepsiades, whose son has beaten him and now plans on abusing his mother, pathetically cries, “O Clouds! In you confiding all these woes fall on me.” The chorus explains to Srepsiades his choice to be trained in the “wrong” school of sophistry caused his son to do wrong, an evil begets evil circumstance. Strepsiades asks the clouds why they didn’t forewarn him. The clouds respond, “‘Tis not for us to warn a willful sinner.” Not only could the clouds foresee events, but they also utilize the vocative case. By directly addressing the audience, Aristophanes becomes a credible playwright. In relating to the spectators plainly, he forgoes both vulgarity and jokes at Cleon’s expense (76). Furthermore, the author blames the entangling bureaucracy of the Greek judicial system not on the government but on the expansion of sophistry.
Since Socrates instructs Pheidippides in the ways of rhetoric, Socrates’s credibility is questionable. Once this doubt has been instilled in the audience, all instructions, philosophies, and teachings of the sophist master become bunk. Henceforth, Aristophanes’s reputation is restored and the success of his comedy, through satire, realized. In using a chorus with remarkable capabilities paired with satire, the writer effectively displays a wayward youth thwarting the right ways associated with the past.
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The Clouds, written by Aristophanes, exists as a parody beyond its years. The idea of satire in politics and popular culture still prevails as an element of rhetoric in which ideas and opinions are bulletproof with sufficient evidence and wit combined into persuasive argument.
In this play, Aristophanes sought to not only poke fun at sophists and philosophers such as Socrates, but to also express a popular opinion about them that existed in that particular age. By creating the “anti-hero”, Strepsiades, he degrades the credibility and dignity of the human being so that the audience and the reader look down upon him. This often relates to the idea that comedic plays tend to aim towards depicting men as worse than in real life. Equally, the playwright singles out specific issues which put into context, date the play to a particular time period in which it imposes a stronger reaction if accompanied with such knowledge of the history.
Furthermore, he chooses specific examples, such as the growing issues of atheism and philosophy, to reach out to the people of that current era. His audience enjoys his portrayal of the philosophers and new age thinkers of the time which serves to ridicule important figures such as Socrates. He lampoons their ideas by turning some of the most brilliant of their revelations into simple mediocrity and pomp. By infusing the play with several elements of slapstick humor and double-edged phrases, Aristophanes accomplishes a unique level of editorialist commentary in his works in which he speaks through his characters, mostly the chorus. In its most blatant attempt, the chorus directs its speech to the audience and comments on the lack of praise for the first performance of the play, therein creating a diversion from the actual plot. Despite its digression from its usual characteristics, the chorus returns to its main purposes as a character on its own, representing unique opinions which seem to the audience as one of the most levelheaded of the characters.
Also in this play, a new element of drama comes into action in which two ideas, rather than solid entities, develop a certain battle between good and evil, with evil delving into victory. These characters divide themselves among ideas of education and accomplishment, each attained by either stealth and corruption or faith and credibility. In this case, evil prevails due to its correspondence with the morale of the character Strepsiades. This play contrasts with the idea that Prometheus Bound bequeathed in that the concept of the gods receives more praise than the humanistic quality of error and defiance. Rather, the play portrays man as a composite of inherent evil and self interest.
Whenever any type of event takes place in the world, one critic or another has always been there to comment either positively or negatively on the action. Thus, there exists no surprise in the fact that critics held their place in society in the time of the Ancient Greeks. With a capability of expressing their opinions of current ideas, critics had no fear in relating their opinions on current issues and events. Aristophanes’s work, entitled The Clouds, certainly exemplifies critiquing in the realm of satire. With the role played by the chorus, the agglomeration of ideas that exists in the form of Socrates, and the obvious comedy in the writing itself, this work comes to represent a certain realm of critiquing within the area of satire.
Throughout the work, we cannot doubt the important role played by the chorus. Surely, knowing the important function the chorus takes on, we cannot ignore its importance in this piece of literature. From the very beginning, we notice that the chorus takes on the form of clouds. Though this paints a funny picture in our minds, we truly notice its comedic and satiric effect when we realize that Aristophanes portrays Socrates as deifying the clouds themselves. Thus, the image of people comparing clouds to gods wonderfully fulfills the chorus’s function of spectacle. Since the work itself criticizes contemporary ideas of the time, a senseless idea such as worshipping clouds as gods provides a wonderful satiric effect.
Throughout the work, Strepsiades exemplifies the fool who believes in the new ideas circulating around the city. When he questions “What are you saying now? Who causes the rain to fall? Answer me that!”(Aristophanes 11), he so easily buys into the answers Socrates responds with, provided some circular argument leading to confusion exists. Here, the chorus prevails as extremely important, for whenever Strepsiades ponders whether or not to believe Socrates, the chorus executes a tiny push, persuading him to believe in Socrates’s tall tales. At the conclusion of the play, when Strepsiades questions why the chorus acts in such a way, the chorus itself admits to assuming the position of devil’s advocate: “We always act thus, when we see a man conceive
a passion for what is evil; we strike him with some terrible disgrace, so that he may learn to fear the gods”(39).
Surely in this work, we cannot fail to notice the myriad falsities that Socrates represents. From the very beginning, we notice his outlandish actions that distinguish him as the leader of fools. While he swings from his contraption which keeps him afloat, he speaks to Strepsiades and gives him foolish reasons for his actions (7). Therefore, we can immediately identify Socrates as the model of foolish ideas. The extremely funny image painted in our imagination plays an important role in the satire, since it facilitates the identifying of the criticized entity. As Socrates rambles on and Strepsiades continues to listen, we notice the myriad comments made by Socrates concerning natural events and see how some logic mixed with non-truths can lead to a fool jumping to illogical and ridiculous conclusions. Since we understand that Strepsiades represents the fool, we know that Aristophanes might be showing that the main following of the new ideas of Sophism consists of fools. This provides the satire with persuasion, since we will now inherently identify Sophism with foolishness.
Surely, we cannot ignore the importance of comedy within the work. For any successful satire there comes an element of comedy woven into the text. Since the satire concentrates on Socrates and the ideas of Sophism he represents, we easily find the comedy in this work. From the images of Socrates swinging in his basket to the farfetched conversation he has with Strepsiades, we pick up on the humorous effect woven into the satire. Aside from the obviously wild antics of Socrates, Language such as “farts” (1) and imagery such as Phidippides beating his father Strepsiades and actually using the Sophism his father wanted him to learn to explain the beating provide for an overall enjoyable satire.
Thus, the chorus, Socrates, and the comedy all play integral roles in the work. Without them, the satire would lose its effect. In this work, Socrates successfully attacks the ideas of Sophism and allows the audience to understand his argument against them.
The element of humor in The Clouds, by Aristophanes, varies from our modern perspective of humor considerably. This difference could be due to several factors, one being the obvious difference in time, accounting for the slapstick jokes that were once funny now failing to even attract attention from the reader today. A more obscure reason is the type of humor found in Aristophanes’s play is not simple humor, rather, it is satirical. The writer’s mockery of the new idea of teaching science leads readers to believe school is ridiculous and inconsequential.
The notion of science was relatively new when Aristophanes wrote this play, and was therefore written to show the concept laughable. To make light of this recent discovery of science, when Strepsiades enters the place of study, he speaks with a disciple of Socrates that implies the studies of the institution to be secret and important. However, when he is persuaded by Strepsiades to speak of these studies, they turn out to be trivial research regarding how far fleas hop and the flatulence of gnats. Also, on the disciple and Strepsiades’s walk through the institution, they come across other men on their knees working on research with their “cruppers mounted up” (p68) to enable them to stargaze. This ludicrous mockery of research allows readers to perceive Socrates’ notions of science as wholly laughable. Socrates is made an even larger joke as he enters a scene in a basket, saying “lower me [Socrates] to earth, and my mind’s subtle powers, seiz’d by contagious dullness, lose their spirit” (p69). In this portrayal of Socrates, Aristophanes literally applies Socrates’ idea of suspending one's judgment. When Socrates attempts to explain science as a type of new religion, Aristophanes misunderstands and believes he is to worship the clouds. Jokes such as this would have been found humorous when this play was written, approximately 423 B.C. but now are imperceptible to readers.
The satirical writing of The Clouds, by Aristophanes is humorous through its mockery of science and the ideas of Socrates. It is difficult for readers to find the comedy today as the ideas of science are accepted. However, when this play was written, these ideas were new and therefore the public was skeptical of the studies of animals, their habits and objects beyond our skies. Through exaggeration of the disciples’ studies, Aristophanes was able to write a play that supported the people’s feelings towards the notions of Socrates and consequently the work was popular and entertaining. It is not humor that changes through time but the way people view an idea, either making it laughable or practical.
Aristophanes writes of two Sophist characters in his story, The Clouds. His main characters, Pheidippides and Strepsiades, each use rhetoric to manipulate and deceive others. Both characters use manipulation for their own individual reasons, while each battling with their own moral issues.
Pheidippides is a young man, and the son of Strepsiades. He practices sophistry when he uses clever talk to deceive his father. He is greedy, spoiled, and feels that he deserves much more than he does. He convinces his father to buy him many extravagant things. He ends up putting his own father into massive debt because of his love for racehorses. He is greedy because he knows that his father is in debt, but does not seem to care at all. When his father suggests to him that he cut down on his expenditures he refuses. His father suggests to him that he attend class at the “Thinkery.” Strepsiades tells him that there he will learn injustice logic so that his creditors “shall never touch a drachma” (67) that he owes them. Pheidippides refuses to attend the school, leaving his father with no other choice but to attend it himself. Pheidippides is the perfect example of a spoiled child, who uses deceptive rhetoric to manipulate his father into buying him what ever he wants.
Strepsiades, Pheidippides father, is also a Sophist. He is a Sophist because he attempts to learn clever rhetoric to argue his way out of paying his creditors. The arguments that he attempts to learn are morally wrong, but sound good rhetorically. He tries to give his son everything, and by doing so accumulates massive debt. He states that he is “racket and rent in tatters” (69). He is greedy because he does not want to pay back his creditors. Instead, he wants to learn how to manipulate and con his creditors out of their money. He goes to class at the “Thinkery” to learn various techniques of persuasion. At the “Thinkery” he wishes to find “A new receipt for sending off [his] creditors, and foiling them by the art logical” (69). This is where his greed begins to flourish. He learns that he has two options, right and wrong, which he can use to outsmart his creditors. He picks wrong, which is morally inferior but quite convincing. This argument is the dishonest way out of his problems, but he chooses it anyway because he does not want to pay out the money that he owes.
Aristophanes writes this book with a humorous tone towards sophistry. His humorous tone emphasizes his dislike for those who practice sophistry. He shows his dislike throughout the book by mocking the Sophist characters, Strepsiades and Pheidippides, which he creates. He begins the story by detailing to readers their manipulative ways, and then ends the book with the father and son fighting. He writes about their wrongdoings in a humorous tone, while still emphasizing that what they are doing is wrong and distasteful.
As is common in within Greek plays, the Chorus plays a crucial role in the progression of Aristophanes’s The Clouds . In this drama, the Chorus of Clouds produces a spectacle of epic proportions which is characteristic of the works of Aristophanes. The chorus also uses changes in rhythm to emphasis the magnitude of their words. The role of the ideal spectator fulfilled by the Chorus of Clouds provides an essential connection between the chorus and the action in the play.
Aristophanes successfully provides spectacle through the use of the Chorus of Clouds. The anti-humanistic nature of the chorus is a technique often used in the works of Aristophanes, which adds greatly to the spectacle in the work. The Greek chorus in this work was represented as the Clouds, the goddess daughters of Ocean. All of the members of the chorus were outfitted as clouds. Socrates stresses this point to Strepsiades, “Hast thou ne’er seen a cloud, which thout could’st fance / Shap’d like a centaur, leopard, wolf, or Bull?” (72). This choice in costume allows the audience to make a clear connection that the Clouds are real goddesses. The Clouds are capable of changing form, and thus, spy over the mortals, particularly those who are not morally correct. This is a common characteristic of the gods of Ancient Greece.
The Chorus of Clouds also provides the rhythm for this work through the actual composition and the method in which their lines are delivered. The chorus in this play has two types of lines that are separated by varying importance by the use of rhyme. When they deliver lines of great importance, the lines are composed of an even number of sets of rhyming couplets. When the Clouds are introduced their first lines are, “Ascend, ye watery Clouds, on high / Daughters of Ocean, climb the sky” (70). These lines set up the background for their character, and assist in showing the elite goddess standing of the chorus. Also, some of the lines delivered by the chorus do not follow this pattern providing a change in rhythm which is evident to the audience. This change in rhythm draws the attention of the spectators and assists them in keying into the more important points provided by the chorus.
The role of the ideal spectator of the chorus is well represented this play. The Clouds display this character in various instances, however, most importantly during the argument between Dicæologos and Adicæologos. The chorus acts as the referee in the debate between those characters. “And he, who gives the best display / Of argument, shall win the day” (84), sets up the rules for the persuasion of Pheidippides by both Dicæologos and Adicæologos. This could also be considered as maintaining the ethical boundaries of the work by allowing a fair and just debate. Also, these lines are a rhyming couplet attributing a sense of importance to this portion of dialogue.
The Chorus of Clouds adds essential emphasis on certain aspects of the drama merely through their spectacle, manipulation of rhythm, and role as the ideal spectator. The spectacle of their representation as clouds, and the manipulation of this un-human form add to the illusion of their goddess power. The use of rhythm and its alteration throughout the work add emphasis to certain lines providing a deviation between the aspects that are essential plot and those that are not as crucial. Furthermore, the chorus fulfills the role of the ideal spectator through providing moral guidelines and providing insight into the debate between Dicæologos and Adicæologos. The overall role of the chorus shows that their participation in the action is an essential part of the progression in this work as well as many other dramas of Ancient Greece.
Humor has always been a way to get one’s opinion across to other people without necessarily offending someone directly. The comedic playwright Aristophanes is a prime example of this. In his comedy, The Clouds, the playwright is able to make fun of Socrates without calling him a fool to his face. At the same time, Aristophanes has his audience in stitches with jokes about flatulence and other bathroom humor jokes. The satirical portrayal of Socrates is not something new to Aristophanes as it can be seen in other works of his such as The Banqueters. Though in The Clouds, the entire focus and underlying theme is the idea that Socrates is a fool whose thoughts are just a passing fad with no deeper meaning.
A primary example of how Aristophanes depicts Socrates as a fool can be found in the lines of Pheidippides where he states, “Out upon ‘em! Poor rogues, I know them now; you mean those scabs, those squalid, barefoot beggarly impostors, the mighty cacodæmons of whose sect are Socrates and Chærephon. Away” (Aristophanes 66)! Here Aristophanes shows how he and others view Socrates and his followers, as unintelligent raggedy-looking beggars. Later on, the followers of Socrates are portrayed laughable in the setting of the scene where Strepsiades walks into the Socratic school and sees the students in “various grotesque situations and positions” (p. 68).
Socrates is rendered a daft atheist in the line where he asks Strepsiades if he thought the Clouds where goddesses. Strepsiades’s reply to this is, “Not I, so help me! Only I’d a notion that they were fog and dew and dusky vapor” (p. 71). Aristophanes also portrays Socrates as blasphemous in the lines, “What Jupiter? What god? Prithee no more – away with him at once” (p. 72)! The idea of being punished for blaspheming the gods is another prevalent theme in many ancient Greek and Roman plays. In The Clouds, Strepsiades and Socrates are both punished for denouncing the gods. Strepsiades is beaten by his son who calls him a blasphemer. Soon after, Socrates’s school is burnt down by Strepsiades while asking forgiveness from Mercury.
Towards the end of the play, when asked what he was doing, Strepsiades ironically quotes Socrates in the lines “Treading on air – contemplating the sun” (p. 97). He is says this bit of comedy while burning down the scholars’ house. Earlier in the comedy, Socrates had said the same words to Strepsiades on page 69 when the philosopher was floating in a suspended basket. The suspension in the basket supposedly helped Socrates think clearer and quicker. At the end of the play, Strepsiades showed how he was thinking clearer as he was suspended atop a ladder, destroying the scholars’ house.
Examples of political satire are still continued today by people such as John Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and Howard Stern. The fact that satirical politics is something still prevalent today is a reason why Aristophanes’s plays are so successful. His plays have themes and humor that are timeless. Even today, world leaders and thinkers are portrayed as dim-witted fools through comedy. One can see this with just one viewing of The Daily Show. Poking fun at some of the most influential people of the time appears to have always been a way to get one’s opinion across while making others laugh.
The rhetorical device satire has been used for centuries throughout literature for two reasons: to subtly provide a humorous aspect to a story or play and/or to criticize the social and political aspects of the time period in which they were written. The Clouds by Aristophanes exemplifies satire in that it does both.
The humor in the play is not overt for the most part, and this is useful considering that Aristophanes was attempting to make a point about society’s obsession with philosophy and wanted to be taken seriously. There is some traces of overt humor, such as in the beginning of the play when Strepsiades and Phedippides are sleeping and Phedippides begins to display flatulence, which both annoys and revolts his father, but these are few and far between for good reason. The real humor of the play lies in its irony; Strepsiades goes to the Thinkery to learn how to argue by twisting facts rather than providing actual fact based support for his arguments, yet is cajoled into believing anything Socrates tells him even though his support is merely an attempt at averting the attention away from the matter at hand. Socrates tells him that rain comes from the chorus (the Clouds themselves) and he is eager to believe him even though just seconds ago he was positive that it was Zeus who caused the rain. He knows he is entering a school that is geared at being able to win an argument or persuade someone of something even if you are wrong, yet he falls into the trap as fast as anyone else possibly could have.
This is also the basis of Aristophanes’ criticism of the social and political situation of the time. Everyone was beginning to worship philosophers and sophists because their rants sound good, but in reality, most of what they said was simply a twist or spin on what the truth of the matter really was. It is hilarious to watch our anti-hero fall for everything the philosophers at the Thinkery tell him, for it is to be able to lie to others that he has gone there for. This irony is what makes the play subtly funny, allowing Aristophanes to be taken seriously while also entertaining the masses.
In the comedy The Clouds, both high and low denominators of humor are used to mock the different characters and whom they represent. Aristophanes, the playwright, takes advantage of those denominators, both slapstick and high comedy, to entertain all members of the audience. Moreover, he builds off several themes that allow him to satirize the political and philosophical bodies of the time, such as the role reversal in power as well as constant allusion to the actions of those he mocks.
As the audience held not only educated nobles but also peasants, the scenes had jokes that appealed to the lower classes as well. Such humor was found in the fart jokes and blunt insults of the characters. As when Strepsiades is pledging to the Clouds, stating that, “I too am your Cloudships’ most obedient, / And under sufferance trump against your thunder.” Then only to turn to Socrates and say, “Take it how you may, my frights and fears / Have pinch’d and cholic’d my poor bowels so, / That I can’t choose but treat their holy nostrils / With an unsavory sacrifice” (Aristophanes 70). The latter statement from the Socratic apprentice can be interpreted to appeal to every audience. However, what is interesting is that many modern audiences may not catch such jokes because they focus too much on the idea that since the play is written in a similar manner to many tragedies, it must be serious.
Aristophanes also utilizes higher comedy to appeal to the more educated audience such as through the irony of Strepsiades’s quest. The protagonist goes to the school which is intended to find truth and develop knowledge in different sciences. However, he pleads to be taught “a new receipt / For sending off my creditors, and foiling them / By the art logical” (Aristophanes 69). Therefore, instead of gaining wisdom, he seeks a way to relinquish his debts.
Throughout the story, the roles of power among the characters are reversed such as with Strepsiades and his son, Pheidippides, or Socrates and his pupil, Strepsiades.
The son should not be telling the father how he should spend his money and be negligent of his father’s wishes. Moreover, the pupil should not be so coarse with his master after being granted any knowledge.
The playwright also alludes throughout the narrative to the different actions and histories of the characters to mock them. Aristophanes is able to poke fun at Socrates’s mentor, Plato, as when the main character explains how he will outwit the legal system, if he is found guilty. The defendant should supposedly hang himself because “a man that’s dead is out of the law’s reach” (Aristophanes 81). In the same token, Plato committed suicide by drinking hemlock after he was persecuted by the judicial system and sophists.
Therefore, Aristophanes is able to create a satiric comedy that suits all audiences by implementing both high and low comedy. As well as develop the play by reversal of roles in power and allusion to the characters’s actions and histories.
“The Clouds,” by Aristophanes, is a comedic play centrally based around education. The author uses satire to depict his beliefs on how an Athenian should be taught. When Strepsiades enters the “Thinkery,” he is greeted by one of Socrates’s disciples. The disciple quickly begins telling Strepsiades wondrous ideas Socrates has recently had. Aristophanes writes about these findings satirically, expressing his beliefs that this school of thought is ridiculous and unnecessary. The disciple says that Socrates was able to answer “how many of his own lengths at one spring a flea can hop- for we did see one vault from Chaerephon’s black eyebrow to the head of the philosopher” (67). Socrates answered this important question most inaccurately; he “dipt the insect’s feet in melted wax, which, hardening into sandals as it cool’d, gave him the space by rule infallible” (67). The disciple also tells of Socrates answering whether a gnat hummed “from mouth of tail” (67). The playwright uses these small insects to describe how insignificant he thinks these philosophies are.
Aristophanes uses the Dicaeologos and the Adicaeologos (simplified here as Just and Unjust, respectively) to argue his outlook with a philosopher’s. Just represents the author, and Unjust represents a philosopher, such as Socrates. Just believes that justice “lies with the immortal gods,” (83), and seeks an a strict education that focuses solely on literature and some physical education. It is the more traditional of the two arguments and looks down upon these new age education belies. At one point, in reference to Unjust’s argument, Just “sicken(s) at an impiety so gross, (its) stomach kicks against it” (83). Unjust doesn’t believe in such a thing as justice and is more focused on representing disdainful thoughts towards education, revealing that he thinks the rules are “worm-eaten” and “stale” (85). Although Aristophanes favors the Just argument, he tarnishes his opinions by having his sexual appetite get the best of him, causing him to look like a fool in the end.
I refuse to formulate some bogus excuse as to why the quality of this response is so shabby, or accept today as my one time opportunity to turn in a paper late. I will break the mold, and take the grade I deserve for not saving my first document to a disc or e-mail. Library West laptops are NOT reliable, which explains losing the majority of my work one and a half hours before the assignment was due. Shame on me.
Aristophanes’ comedy, The Clouds is a creative read that had me periodically raising my eyebrows, sometimes smirking, and often questioning the sanity of the Greeks in general.
The first scenes are easy enough to follow. Strepsiades, our protagonist, is blessed with a wife who is a “vain, extravagant, and high-blooded dame”(Clark 65) and a son, Pheidippides, who could only be the product of such a mother. This darling son has a nuisance equestrian obsession and has squandered a large sum of his father’s wealth on enrolling in a riding school. Now, poor Strepsiades is in debt. He sweetly asks his son to show love and obedience by quitting the riding school and entering the college (where Socrates is a teacher) which has a slightly different school of thought. Pheidippides immediately shoots down this suggestion and shows his insolence with the classic “I- have- a-rich- uncle” response. Furthermore, Pheidippides claims that the school is filled with “squalid, barefoot, beggarly imposters.” (66)
Strepsiades decides to visit the school for himself and is in wonder of the principles being taught and the odd scientific instruments that fill the rooms. The first student he meets is a disciple of Socrates and quite a sassy fellow. He scolds Strepsiades for interrupting his thought and claims that by “ kicking with such vengeance, you have marr’d./ The ripe conception of my pregnant brain, And brought on a miscarriage.” (67)
Poor Strepsiades is embarrassed, yet inquisitive, “What curious thought my luckless din has strangled, just as your brain was hatching.” (67) This type dialogue is absolutely comical. I can’t imagine how we would communicate with our peers if we spoke like this on a regular basis. The disciple later explains to Strepsiades that the students have discovered a way to measure the distance a flea hops. This scene had me in hysterics. I can perfectly envision the expression on Strep’s face.
My favorite character is the wacky Socrates, who is introduced to the audience shortly after father and son have their disagreement. He first encounters Socrates while he is suspended in the air in a basket. Socrates swears, “Sublime in air, sublime in thought I carry my mind with me…/ To the pure atmosphere, in which I float…” (68) It takes only a matter of minutes before Strepsiades is pouring out the story of his plight. Socrates listens and provides our protagonist with some contemporary ideas that has dear Strepsiades reeling. The two argue over the genders of nouns, whether or not gods exist, and where thunder and lightening come from. All the while hilarious dialogue is exchanged between the two.
In his piece, through the use of humor, Aristophanes has cleverly tried to deliver the importance of education and expanding one’s thoughts beyond society’s perception of what is safe and readily accepted.
In the writing of the comedic drama The Clouds by Aristophanes there seems to be more sarcasm than comedy. At the time Aristophanes wrote this drama, he didn’t think too highly of the philosophers that were prominent. More specifically he attempts to make Socrates look like a fool by writing that one of his disciples say “I will impart, but set it down in thought amongst our mysteries, This is the question, as it was put but now to Chaerephon, by our great master Socrates, to answer how many of his own lengths at one spring a flea can hop-for we did see one vault from Chaerephon’s black eye-brow to the head of the philosopher”. Today, people through media try to make others look foolish. Examples of this can be seen in everything from music, television, internet and newspapers. It would be most difficult to omit the opinions of sophist because they can shed light to things that are not obviously seen by people.
The fact that Aristophanes writes in a way to make his readers (or watchers) to question the philosophy of Socrates is rare when others think highly of a person. This is seen today in political satire such as the Daily Show or Colbert Report These programs sarcastically points out opposing views in modern day culture that others may have not thought about. Just like The Clouds, these shows could be blamed for civic dissension. Sophistry like this tends to exaggerate the portrayal of the person or the situation.
The final scene in this comedy also seems to have a hidden agenda. When Strepsiades takes the torch on the roof and sets it on fire, Socrates responds saying “Ah me! I’m Suffocated smother’d lost-. This kind of comedy still can be responsible for people taking action of situations that they are not in favor of. Even today this kind of sophistry is practiced discretely to make people not only ponder, but also to act upon what they have made a decision about. This may be at the reader’s digression whether to just take a piece of art as comedy or to contemplate taking action. In our culture, all too many times we see young people taking action for or against something just because they saw it on television, heard it on the radio or it was a video game.
Aristophane’s "The Clouds" is a satirical play about sophists and people’s opinion of them at the time. In the story the two main characters Strepsiades and his son Pheidippides are trying to evade creditors by using their sophist knowledge. The clouds play the part of the chorus. They exhibit some of the main characteristics of a Greek chorus; ideal spectator and ethical framework. Also, this play is a satire in which they make jokes that are still funny today.
The chorus of clouds exhibits the ideal spectator because they encourage the action of the characters. For example, the chorus of clouds says, “Go, brave adventurer, proceed!\ May fortune crown the gallant deed’ Tho’ far advanc’d in life’s last stage…” They are telling Strepiades to enter to talk to Socrates. They facilitate the action of the play. The clouds also play the important part of the ethical framework. They praise the moral intent of the playwright. They explain that he uses satire to teach lessons.
There are many comments made by the characters throughout the play that are humorous. For example, Strepsiades makes a joke to Socrates when he says, “…That I can’t choose but treat their holy nostrils/With an unsavoury sacrifice.” He is making fun of Socrates’s belief that the clouds are divine and that gods don’t really exist. They chorus of cloud also tells of how Strepiades will be ruined in the end due to him forcing his son Pheidippides. It is ironic because this does happen. This plays into the satirical theme of the play. In the end Pleidippides beats his father until he runs out of the house. His Sophist education instead of racehorses has caused him to be smarter than his father, therefore enhancing his ability to win arguments against him.
Thanks for your assignments; I look forward to reading them!
Ms Letostak
< i> The Clouds < i>, Aristophanes’ satiric comedy, exemplifies irony at its highest peak. Upon reading the work, a world of moral indecision and political difference breaks open, enveloping all into the life of a man by the name of Strepsiades. Plunged into debt he seeks answer from an Academy of Science, which ironically, brings forth a combination of issues ranging from politics to pious belief. It is through the utilization of themes as well as relativity to modern times, however, that the writer depicts a tale worthy of comic approval.
“…I lie awake the whilst:/ and what cares he but to coil up his locks,/ Ride, drive his horses, dream of them all night…” (Aristophanes 65). The dramatists’ use of contradicting themes is most prevalent throughout his text. Regard initially when the protagonist, Strepsiades, sits in his chamber, warped in contemplation of his newly acquired debt. It brings him to compare the essence of youth - fallacious tranquility, carefree notion, and innocent bliss- with the harsh realities of adulthood- stress, debt, and credits. Another clashing theme is that of Father versus Son; or better yet past and present. View the argument between Adicaeologos and Dicaeologos. In the debate scene, Dicaeologos pushes toward the conventional style of educating young men, while the other, Adicaeologos, advocates a newer, more radical approach. Now compare the old mans’ wishes for his son, more or less, to attend the Science Academy. The boy, Pheidippides, continues to contemptuously. To the father, wisdom prevails; to the son, freewill prevails. This is the continuous battle inter past and present which Aristophanes chooses to relay to his audience.
As one moves further into the tale, it cannot be helped not to acknowledge the emphasis Aristophanes pushes towards mankind’s vulnerability in times of trial. The basis of this statement resides within the walls of the infamous School of Science which Strepsiades was once so fond of. The Academy worshiped the God’s of Science and Nature, while atheistic culture was preserved to the core; yet the protagonist found no objection in denouncing his Olympic God’s to follow theirs’. Strepsiades allowed himself to be swayed. “If from this hour henceforth I ever waste/ A single thought on any other gods,/ or give them sacrifice… Nay. Even common courtesy, renounce me.” (74). Is mankind truly as desperately gullible as Aristophanes illustrates? Will man, in definite time of trial replace moral integrity with promised satisfaction? In the case of the Strepsiades, erasing piety was deemed a small price to pay for the ability to influence opinion through language. This is what mattered most at the time, thus this is what he held predominant.
Aristotle defined a comedy as a work that brought a man of high nature to a place of lower classification. It is by this that < i> The Clouds < i> is defined. Through the use of imagery, bitter irony, and contradicting themes, it is apparent that Aristophanes wished to fulfill a moderate sense of humor throughout the work. He did indeed succeed.
There is a lot of humor throughout Aristophanes’s play, The Clouds, though it may not always be evident when reading from a modern-day view. The idea of comedy in the year four hundred and twenty-three B.C. is considerably different from what comedy means today. When watching shows today such as “That 70’s Show,” most people can agree that it’s obviously funny. This is how the humor must have been back in the time of Aristophanes and Socrates. Comedy was probably obviously funny to most watching a play years ago, and their comedies were most likely as funny to them as ours are to us in the present. So when first reading The Clouds, the humor is not always clear and immediately funny to us because the type of humor in the play is different from what most of us are used to.
In The Clouds, it seems obvious that Aristophanes is making fun of the Sophists and their way of thinking. He portrays the infamous Socrates as a joke through his words and actions in the play. When Socrates is calling upon the Clouds to prove to Strepsiades that they are Goddesses, Aristophanes writes a note in parentheses before Socrates speaks to let the reader know how ‘cleverly’ he speaks. The note reads, “(Socrates) assuming all the magical solemnity and tone of voice of an adept” (70). Aristophanes includes subtle notes and jokes like this throughout the play to support his view that the Sophists think they are much more wiser than they really are. A more clearer example of Aristophanes’s dislike for the school of Sophos occurs later in the play when Socrates tries to get Strepsiades to meditate. Socrates instructs Strepsiades to lie down on one side and think until something stumps him; then he should just turn onto his other side and think of something else (78). Aristophanes is attempting to show how ridiculous some of the ideology and methods of the Sophists were, by writing this scene where Socrates tells a man to ‘meditate’ by thinking until something confuses him and then just forgetting about it and repeating the cycle. I know a lot of concepts, such as humor, are different today than what they were years ago, but meditation is even older and the point of it is to relax your mind so that you can concentrate to think things all the way through. Again, Aristophanes is exemplifying his views of the unreasonable ways of the Sophists.
The Clouds is an excellent example of past-era comedy, evident through Aristophanes’s humorous and satirical writing. Aristophanes continuously makes jokes about the Sophists, and portrays them as fools for their unconventional and nonsensical beliefs. The Sophists thought that they had a higher level education, one that was worth paying for in order to succeed in life. But the humorous ending of the play proves just the exact opposite. Strepsiades doesn't end up talking his way out of debt using the lessons of the Sophists. He actually "comes to his senses" and burns the school of the Sophos down after realizing that they aren't as smart as they claim to be, and that their words can't persuade the minds of "lesser educated" people (which is what Aristophanes reinforces throughout the play).
Politics are a Joke
Aristophanes leaves nothing to the imagination of his feelings for political figures when one examines his work, The Clouds. In portraying those “enlightened” thinkers as barbarians, merely making crude jokes, and wasting their time, Aristophanes makes his distaste for them quite obvious. The playwright satires the use of rhetoric, or sophistry, to show the absolute ridiculousness that he sees in those in the hierarchy of society.
The general plot of the story begins with Strepsiades not being able to sleep due to money troubles. These money troubles are due to the constant funding of his son, Pheidippides’s equestrian studies. While Strepsiades stays awake counting his debts, Pheidippides lies sound asleep. Upon wakeing Pheidippides, Strepsiades tries to convince him of joining the disciples of Socrates, due to the lesser cost, and the following ability for Pheidippides to ward of Strepsiades’s debtors by using the sophist ways from the disciples. Upon denying the plea, Pheidippides is thrown out of the house and Strepsiades, in turn, decides that he will study under the great thinkers. When allowed into the house of study, Strepsiades finds the students in preposterous positions studying their crafts and Socrates suspended in the air in a basket to allow his mind to run free. After proving to Strepsiades that there are no gods, and that the weather is caused by a chorus of clouds, Socrates convinces him to strip off his cloak, and the two enter into a room. Upon coming back out, and arguing of the gender of nouns, Strepsiades is made to lie on a bed full of bugs, in order that he might think more clearly. After nearly losing his mind, Strepsiades devises a plan to foil his creditors. After hearing the plan, Socrates tells him that he his is failed student, and the chorus of clouds convinces him to enroll his son in the school. Pheidippides, at first does not want to attend, but then caves after much cajoling. When bringing the child to the school, the audience is confronted with two characters fighting over how Pheidippides should be educated. After this has been decided, Pheidippides goes into school. When all is said and done, and Strepsiades pickes Pheidippides up from the school, he is promised that the child is well versed in the area of sophistry. When the debtors come, Strepsiades tries to fool them, but to no avail, and goes to get his son from the house. They come out, and Pheidippides is beating Strepsiades and the two argue about proper recitation of prose. Pheidippides, using the sophistry that he has learned, beats Strepsiades in the argument who is angered at the fact. Strepsiades yells at the clouds for convincing him to enroll the child in school, to which they return a chastisement, and lesson, which was he needed to learn from the whole situation.
Clearly the “enlightened” disciples of Socrates represent the politicians of his time, and ours, which behind closed doors are nothing but crass, dirty, illogical people, and in the open only spew rhetoric and in the end, help no one. One example of this backwards logic is displayed in Strepsiades’s first impression of the school, as the students study astronomy with their posteriors in the sky, and “their eyes so riveted to th’ earth” (Aristophanes). These students also muse on the question of “when a gnat humm’d whether the sound did issue / From mouth or tail.”
The Rhetoric that is spewed is very clearly evident when Strepsiades speaks with Socrates, for example, because the scholar convinces the mere mortal to strip and give him the cloak and shoes from his body. Socrates also convinces him that there are no gods, by use of circular logic. In hope of solving his problems, Strepsiades sends his son to learn the art of sophistry, much like young politicians are sent into big politics to change the world, and they, just like Pheidippides, end up being changed and turn against us.
The use of sophistry throughout this work is astonishing, and is most definitely an eye opener for the readers as to what our own politicians might be doing to us in our own day, just as they were doing to Aristophanes in his day. One might wonder whether or not Aristophanes could have ever had anything nice to say about politicians. After seeing the evidence in The Clouds , it can be safely said, that the chances are slim to none. Our own lesson to be learned from this is to watch who is saying what to us, and to gauge whether or not it can be said to be trustworthy, so that our own children will not end up beating us, unforeseen by any of this day.
The ideas of logos, ethos, and pathos have persuaded audiences for many a century. None can debate that point when presented with The Clouds written by Aristophanes. The use of satire throughout the play conveys more than just a story, but an indepth critic of the "wise men" of the age- the sophist and thier contemporaries.
Humor, when aplied correctly, can be very effective. In the days of this work the subtle ties to humor present a far more serious meaning. For example, by mocking the study of science Aristophanes creates an almost hypocritical viewpoint of Socrates. By showcasing the chorus as clouds they form into an almost god-like
contenance which Socrates seems to mock. Obivously, such a wise man of science would recognize this and attempt to avoid the mixed signals but without this almost laughable element,Aristophanes's point would be lost.
Continuing through the play the story presents a story many in the audience could relate with. A father and son quarreling over money troubles is common enough that an author can use it to present a myriad of underlying themes. In this play the theme of mockery for the ideals of Socrates shows itself most clearly in the school of "Thinkery." When the father is duped by the son, contempt can be seen and the chorus lends itself to the prearranged station of ideal commentor- critizing the new ideas being discussed and undermining them with flatulence jokes.
Critics debate Aristophanes’s intended arguments in The Clouds. Many agree, though, the author satirizes Socrates’s involvement with the new era’s school of thought, sophistry. However, the playwright’s redefinition of the chorus is irrefutable. Not only does the chorus of clouds adheres to the roles of the dramatic chorus as defined by Aristotle, but the writer also grants the clouds the ability to speak directly to the audience and foresight. Combined, these two new roles enhance the influence of the chorus and Aristophanes’s reputation.
Around 350 B.C.E. Aristotle outlined the six basic functions of the chorus: ideal spectator, an interactive character, mood, rhythm, ethical framework and spectacle. The chorus of clouds satisfies the aforementioned roles either by speaking with the actors (70), rhyming cadences (86), honoring the gods with due praise (79), or simply arriving on stage dressed as floating clouds (70).
Additionally, the chorus of clouds possesses two new abilities, prophetic foresight and speaking plainly with the audience on the author’s behalf. On page 95, Strepsiades, whose son has beaten him and now plans on abusing his mother, pathetically cries, “O Clouds! In you confiding all these woes fall on me.” The chorus explains to Srepsiades his choice to be trained in the “wrong” school of sophistry caused his son to do wrong, an evil begets evil circumstance. Strepsiades asks the clouds why they didn’t forewarn him. The clouds respond, “‘Tis not for us to warn a willful sinner.” Not only could the clouds foresee events, but they also utilize the vocative case. By directly addressing the audience, Aristophanes becomes a credible playwright. In relating to the spectators plainly, he forgoes both vulgarity and jokes at Cleon’s expense (76). Furthermore, the author blames the entangling bureaucracy of the Greek judicial system not on the government but on the expansion of sophistry.
Since Socrates instructs Pheidippides in the ways of rhetoric, Socrates’s credibility is questionable. Once this doubt has been instilled in the audience, all instructions, philosophies, and teachings of the sophist master become bunk. Henceforth, Aristophanes’s reputation is restored and the success of his comedy, through satire, realized. In using a chorus with remarkable capabilities paired with satire, the writer effectively displays a wayward youth thwarting the right ways associated with the past.
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