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Clouds

3.76 of 5 stars 3.76 · rating details · 2,107 ratings · 67 reviews

This new paperback edition of Aristophanes' popular play includes the complete Greek text and extensive notes and commentary. Dover examines the two versions of the play, recounts the history of the text, and analyzes a number of problems surrounding the play's interpretation, including the Greek notion of right and wrong, the purpose of the chorus, and Aristophanes' sexua...more

Paperback, Clarendon Paperbacks, 416 pages

Published September 28th 1989 by Oxford University Press, USA (first published -423)

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Mar 19, 2013 Praj rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: phanes

“Well, what do the slanderers say? They shall be my prosecutors, and I will sum up their words in an affidavit: 'Socrates is an evil-doer, and a curious person, who searches into things under the earth and in heaven, and he makes the worse appear the better cause; and he teaches the aforesaid doctrines to others.' Such is the nature of the accusation: it is just what you have yourselves seen in the comedy of Aristophanes (Aristoph., Clouds.), who has introduced a man whom he calls Socrates, goi...more

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May 20, 2013 Victoria rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classical-literature, plays, classics

The edition of 'The Clouds' that I read was a part of the anthology Eight Great Comedies and was translated by Benjamin Bickley Rogers. This book that was lent to me by my school as a part of our English unit on comedy, where we briefly studied The Importance of Being Earnest, another play within the volume. As this school year is coming to an end, I figured that I should try to read some of the other comedies while I had the book in my hands.

Reading ancient plays do, by nature, come with some d...more The edition of 'The Clouds' that I read was a part of the anthology Eight Great Comedies and was translated by Benjamin Bickley Rogers. This book that was lent to me by my school as a part of our English unit on comedy, where we briefly studied The Importance of Being Earnest, another play within the volume. As this school year is coming to an end, I figured that I should try to read some of the other comedies while I had the book in my hands.

Reading ancient plays do, by nature, come with some difficulties for me. I admit to having little knowledge of Greek history and the context in which The Clouds was written – I possess more knowledge on Ancient Rome than Greece. I do, however, know my mythology, which definitely helped in furthering my understanding of this work. Having an understanding of context would assist in comprehension, and perhaps I will return to this work after gaining that knowledge.

Despite this, I still found The Clouds enjoyable. This play tells this story of Strepsiades, a man deeply in debt. He enrolls in a “thinking house” to be taught how to outwit his creditors in court by Socrates. He proves to be completely incompetent and is replaced by his son, who, of course, doesn’t want to go to this school where there are pale-faced nerds; he would much rather hang out with his horses. The knowledge that Strepsiads’s son Pheidippides gains, however, comes at a price…

Although it is a comedy, this play does contain a serious undertone in which Aristophanes heavily criticises Socrates and Sophists in general. Through the debate between ‘Right Logic’ and ‘Wrong Logic’ (guess which one Aristophanes is criticising!), Aristophanes explains how ‘Wrong Logic’, the ability to live life with no effort and talk yourself out of all trouble, regardless of its unjust and immoral nature, is how many politicians and people of high status have become so fortunate. The ending, I felt, brought the serious and critical undertone to the surface. I suppose I would have to see the play performed to observe its intended meaning (although I guess this would vary as well, depending on the directors interpretation).

A lot of people are also commenting about how crude this play is. I suspect that I am reading either a euphemistic or censored translation, as I’ve noticed minimal bawdiness. I’m probably missing out. I don’t know enough Ancient Greek to judge the translation, but otherwise, the flowing, rhyming dialogue is quite interesting to read. Overall, I enjoyed this play, although admittedly, it didn’t make me laugh out loud. I would recommend it to, obviously, fans of Greek comedy, although it is a relatively readable one for those who want to give it a try for the first time.

Entertainment value: 3.5/5
Readability (would vary according to translation): 2.5/5 (5 being the most difficult to read)
Characters (depth/development): 2/5
Plot: 3.5/5
(less)

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May 03, 2013 Brian Schiebout rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Clouds is a comedy written by the ancient Greek Aristophanes and which was translated into English by Benjamin Rogers. The Clouds deals with the group of people who normally have their minds stuck in the clouds, that is the philosophers. While I guess this portrayal should infuriate me as I have a bachelors degree in philosophy, it didn't. Instead I found much to be true in the portrayal. The story begins when Strepsiades a foolish Greek from the countryside tries to enroll his son into a sc...more

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Jan 11, 2013 David Sarkies rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Those who want to explore Greek culture a bit more

Recommended to David by: David Hester

Shelves: comedy

I guess on of the great things I loved about this play was how relevant it is to today's society. Okay, the problem with understanding the relevance is that when it is translated in a way that retains all of the Ancient Athenian references it can be difficult for a modern who has little to no knowledge of Athenian culture to have a full appreciation of the of the way that Aristophanes mocks the education system of the Athenians. Further, even a little knowledge of the system can have an effect...more I guess on of the great things I loved about this play was how relevant it is to today's society. Okay, the problem with understanding the relevance is that when it is translated in a way that retains all of the Ancient Athenian references it can be difficult for a modern who has little to no knowledge of Athenian culture to have a full appreciation of the of the way that Aristophanes mocks the education system of the Athenians. Further, even a little knowledge of the system can have an effect in making the reader think that what Aristophanes says about Socrates is true to Socrates, when in fact what Aristophanes is doing is using Socrates, probably the most well known philosopher of the day, to poke fun at the beliefs of many of the philosophers in Athens at the time. It would be like using Bishop Spong to poke fun at fundamentalist Christianity, or using Slajov Zizek to poke fun at the Atheism propounded by Richard Dawkins (though it is unfortunate that at this time I cannot actually think of a modern example that people would understand).
As mentioned, there are a lot of references in the play that unless you understood Athenian culture, it would be difficult to understand the references. For instance, Pheidipidies is a lover of horses, and has racked up a lot of debt in his father's name because of his love of horses. To us we might thing that Pheidipidies spends all of his time at the race track gambling, but that is not actually the case. In those days (as it is today) it is very expensive to own a horse, however being a member of the cavalry was a status symbol. It is not that Pheidipidies would spend his days down at the race track betting on the horses, but rather he was one that was spending money to pretty much live it up and be a member of the in crowd. A modern example would be like being a member of the local high school (or college) football team, and having to live it up with all of the other members of the football team, despite the fact that you could not really afford the extravagant parties and the expensive holidays.
However what this play is about is about education and the new philosophies that were appearing around Athens of the day. In many cases it is very similar to the debates even today between Creation and Evolution. Back in those days Creation was the main belief and anybody who challenged that were considered mad (and to an extent, dangerous) whereas today Evolution is the general popular belief and those that think otherwise are living in the stone age. Mind you, Athens was a very liberal culture, and in many cases most of the inhabitants did not care either way, but did acknowledge, and make offerings to, the many gods that the Greeks believed in. However, if one were to suggest that the Sun is not a god, but a rock, they would think that they were silly. Yet, consider what beliefs have lasted to this day, and as it turns out it was the beliefs of the philosophers of the time.
In the Ancient World, scientific inquiry and moral philosophy were one and the same, and would be taught part and parcel in this schools. That did not mean that philosophers did not specialise, as we notice that Socrates was more interested in moral philosophy, while Aristotle seemed to drift more towards the scientific inquiry, however Aristotle did still write a lot about moral philosophy as well as law and rhetoric.
What we see in this play is what we would call rhetoric, or pretty much, what is taught in our modern law schools. Whereas today if you want to argue a case in court, you would pay a lawyer, in Athens you had to do it yourself, so you would approach somebody to get them to teach you how to argue, or to even write your speech themselves. Once again, the desire of the father to get out of his debts using rhetoric is very much the same today. People get into debt and then look for ways to get out of it without having to pay any money. For instance 'I did not understand the contract' is a common one (though I would be surprised if a judge actually accepts the argument 'I did not know that I had to pay it back'), though this generally only works for people who either have little grasp of the English language, or we are dealing with complicated contracts. Most sophisticated investors would be hard pressed to get out of such a contract. I do suspect that a lot of foreign immigrants do fall back on the 'I do speaka da Inglish' when they discover that they are on the losing side of an argument with a bank or an insurance company, despite the fact that they know exactly what is going on.
Mind you, the way the modern law is structured, process is as important as being able to understand the contract. For something to happen you must follow the process and follow the process exactly, and the more sophisticated you are (ie you work for a corporation) the more you are expected to follow that process. Many people can get out of contracts (or criminal charges) because the process has not been followed to the letter. For instance, if you have a tenant that is not paying their rent, there is a process that you have to use to get rid of that tenant, and that means that you can go for weeks, even months, losing money because of this non-paying tenant, yet the tenant still gets to live in the house with a roof over their head. Moreso, because the process means that there are delays in getting to court (and the landlord is generally considered to be sophisticated, so the system is weighed against them) what in effects happens is that the tenant gets free housing and the landlord loses money. I do understand that not all landlords are good, particularly when you are dealing with corporate agencies, and it is a shame that the bad landlords seem to get away with being pricks, while the good landlords seem to screwed over.(less)

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Apr 29, 2012 Summer rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a wonderfully written play, and very humorous. The translation I read was very uncensored, but I believe that that was part of the intended tone of the book.

In the seminar I was in over this play, we couldn't quite decide if Aristophanes was being purely satirical about how the common people view philosophers, or if he truly believed that philosophy and the pursuit of knowledge seemed that silly and corrupt.

I was also slightly shocked at his depiction of Socrates, but, of course, I've be...more

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Jul 31, 2011 Mathew Huff rated it 3 of 5 stars

beyond my knowledge at the moment, much of the subtext and themes are lost on my ignorance of so much, as well as what I felt was a very poor translation (Great Books 1st edition translation). Overall, pretty clever and a few times I chuckled out loud such as "when you are on the ground studying the patterns of gnat shit, maybe your ass pointed up is studying the stars?"

other than that, what was obvious was that the sophists are portrayed not just with derision, but as worthless buffoons, clowns...more

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May 18, 2013 JP rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Aristophanes won some of the drama competitions under a pseudonym before he was old enough to enter. He references both Aeschylus (as a conservatives choice) and Euripides (as liked by the new "wrong logic" generation of youth). In addition, he continues his debate/feud with Cleon. More than anything, this work represents the same criticisms put against Socrates during his trial -- that he was leading the youth of the time away from discipline and tradition. The victory of Wrong Logic in his deb...more

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Jan 20, 2012 aobibliophile™ rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

“Some people use one half their ingenuity to get into debt, and the other half to avoid paying it.” - George Prentice

Strepsiades is an elderly Athenian whose sleep has been troubled lately due to his mounting debts. he devises a plan and asks his son Pheidippides to enroll at The Thinkery. the young man protests and refuses to be persuaded. the old man decides to enroll so he can learn from Socrates himself how to beat his creditors by employing winning arguments in court.
The Clouds is a comedy...more

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Apr 06, 2013 Mark rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: gbww

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Jan 04, 2012 Brian Albrecht rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: classic-literature

The translation I read was not well done. It was not this one so I feel bad rating it poorly. However, the story is confusing and not that entertaining. It is a drama of decent size which makes fun of Socrates and his philosophy and way of teaching. He basically convinces two family members of absurd things so they fight. I would not recommend for the casual read or like me a serious read who wants an overview of Western books (I'm doing the The Great Conversation: The Substance Of A Liberal Edu ...more

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Apr 27, 2012 Jason Jaszemski rated it 3 of 5 stars

Not sure if it was the particular translation I read or the actual work itself, but the book was difficult to read at points. Nevertheless, there were points where I was able to break through the difficulty and enjoy this satire of Socrates.

While I was reading this, I was upset having known that this work partially lead to the eventual execution of Socrates, however, reading and doing research afterward, it seems as if it was produced years before the execution and also that Socrates had indeed...more

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Nov 10, 2010 Julie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Julie by: Mr. C

Shelves: 2010, classical-studies, philosophy, plays

There is no better way to understand the general population of 5th century Greece's view of philosophy than through The Clouds. This is the only play I've read by Arisophanes's so far, but I would suspect that his other satires would have the same impact. There is something about the play that is almost like a time capsule to the past. What's even better is that despite its antiquity, it's still hilarious today.

Arisophane's plays were influence, I suspect, because I think the negative portrayal...more

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May 24, 2011 Jeff rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: humor

Aristophanes was an Athenian conservative, and here he illustrated his dislike for those that taught the new way of knowledge, all of whom he identifies as sophists. The clouds are a lovely metaphor for the shifty and subjective nature of sophistic reasoning--one sees what one wishes to see. Socrates (although not actually a sophist) is caricatured and mocked, and dies miserably at the end. All throughout, the clever and crass jokes work superbly, even 2,500 years on. The moral can't be taken se...more

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May 15, 2011 Claire rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: great-book-of-the-western-world

This is Aristophanes' satire lambasting the Sophists, and Socrates in particular (even though Socrates despised the Sophists he was associated with them by the masses). It's also a critique of the litigious nature of Athens at that time. I was struck by some similarities today, especially, ironically, the underlying concept of our society's lax attention to morality in the face of personal gain. "lie a little, take advantage of one's neighbor a little..." etc.

My first foray into the works of Ari...more

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Jun 11, 2009 Sara Elice rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: play, translation, greek

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Mar 28, 2009 Juan Pablo rated it 2 of 5 stars

Obra que critica la sofística (y a Sócrates como sofista, lo que es bastante interesante para la historia de la filosofía), planteando un conflicto que no nos es ajeno, entre folosofía-retórica-conocimento-ciencia y tradición-. El protagonista (un viejo llamado Estrepsíades, adeudado por la afición de su hijo Fidípides a los caballos) va en busca de Sócrates para que le enseñe el arte de la oratoria, a fin de poder librarse de sus acreedores que pronto lo llevarán a juicio. Lo encuentra, como es...more Obra que critica la sofística (y a Sócrates como sofista, lo que es bastante interesante para la historia de la filosofía), planteando un conflicto que no nos es ajeno, entre folosofía-retórica-conocimento-ciencia y tradición-. El protagonista (un viejo llamado Estrepsíades, adeudado por la afición de su hijo Fidípides a los caballos) va en busca de Sócrates para que le enseñe el arte de la oratoria, a fin de poder librarse de sus acreedores que pronto lo llevarán a juicio. Lo encuentra, como es sabido, "suspendido en el aire, en un cesto".

Sócrates lo hará hacer ciertas reflexiones bastante ridículas sobre el lenguaje y la naturaleza, así como sobre los dioses (por ejemplo: Que Querefón ha sido el único en medir los saltos de las pulgas, o que las únicas diosas son las Nubes, que dan todos los dones e inspiran a los sabios... Las nubes chocan para que llueva ¿Pero no es Zeus acaso que las hace chocar? pregunta el viejo -Sócrates contesta: No es Zeus, sino que el "Torbellino etéreo..." ).

Sócrates "de andar arrogante, mirar desdeñoso" se aprovecha de Estrepsíades mientras éste tiene el "entusiasmo inicial", y lo termina convenciendo de que obligue a su hijo a asistir a su escuela: el viejo vuelve a su casa y habla con Fidípides, diciéndole que aprendería algunas cosas importantes, que le sorprenderían, como que Zeus no existe, ya que ha sido expulsado por el "Torbellino etéreo". Elogia, además, a "esos hombres hábiles e inteligentes que, por economía, no se rasuran, ni se perfuman, ni van nunca al baño para lavarse". Como resultado, Fidípides va donde Sócrates y termina conociendo el arte de la oratoria, y pudiendo defender tanto la causa justa como la injusta, según conveniencia.

Así, hacia el final, Estrepsíades insulta a sus acreedores y se siente libre de sus deudas, pero se sorprende de pronto al ver que su hijo lo golpea por haber insultado a Eurípides y sus versos, "corrigiéndolo" por su insolencia. Porque dice Fidípides: ¿no se golpea a los niños cuando están mal? Y si Estrepsíades afirma luego que la ley permite golpear a los chiquillos, y no así a los padres, su hijo le contesta que las leyes han sido dictadas por hombres como ellos "¿Qué se opone a que yo haga una nueva por la cual sus hijos puedan castigar a sus padres?". El mismo Fidípides exclama "¡Qué grato es vivir entre cosas nuevas e ingeniosas y poder despreciar las leyes establecidas".

Así que al final Estrepsíades se arrepiente de haber tratado de engañar a sus acreedores y de negar a los dioses ("¡Pobre de mi que tomé por un dios a un vaso de arcilla!") y decide quemar la casa donde vive Sócrates con sus discípuulos.

Es un final bastante tradicional.(less)

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May 28, 2010 Robert rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If you don't laugh when you read this play, you simply don't have a pulse...

This play is "immediately-turn-you-into-an-actor-reciting-lines-while-walking-through-your-house-by-yourself-as-you-laugh" funny...

But one problem is, I suspect I will never see a live performance that lives up to the one portrayed in my imagination. Honestly a great play to read and probably an especially difficult play to pull off on stage. You need to be very reckless, loud, and have some eccentric, brilliant exaggera...more

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Nov 13, 2011 Ferris rated it 4 of 5 stars

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

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Oct 03, 2011 Yaser Lal Al-Hindi rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

السحب مسرحية من تألي الشاعر أريستوفانيس
أمير شعراء الكوميديا في العصر الكلاسيكي الإغريقي في القرن الرابع قبل الميلاد
العمل يعكس سقيم المجتمع الـي ألف فيه من النواحي الفكدية والسياسية والإجتماعية
بطل المسرحية هوسقراط الفيلسوف المرموق

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May 09, 2012 Victoria rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: st-john-s-reads

Although its content focuses mostly on fart jokes and crude mockery, The Clouds is not a light read. Aristophanes cleverly pokes fun at Socrates, and in doing so, he is challenging his audience to consider whether Socrates is the ridiculous or if they are ridiculous in their criticism of him. I was also surprised at how genuinely funny and relevant I found Aristophanes' jokes thousands of years later.

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Sep 14, 2011 The Chestertonian rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: greco-roman, plays, satire

The language in this version is pretty crude (Hickie translation is cleaner), but the play is great comedy. Poor Socrates is not treated kindly; the older folks' attachment to the good ol' days as well as the younger people's immoral modernity also receive rough treatment. I won't give away the ending but it's one of my all-time favorite climaxes.

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Dec 01, 2011 Michael rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, drama

Sigh. I think I'm in the minority here, but for the most part, I just don't find Aristophanes funny. I found myself reading over passages thinking, Okay, I should be laughing, but probably ended up looking like this the entire time:

That is all.

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Jun 02, 2011 Rob added it

Shelves: classics, literature, plays, read-in-2011

(Too old to rate.) A nice refreshing reminder that not everyone in Ancient Greece was a chin-stroking philosopher. I wouldn't go so far as to say that Clouds is still funny today (the humour is pretty obscure, and that's not even counting the Ancient Greek puns, and of course we can now sit through a play without the chorus periodically popping in to tell us everything is going to work), but it does provide some entertainment, if only in showing that there were semi-conservative sitcoms making f...more

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Feb 25, 2012 Abigail rated it 3 of 5 stars

I really don't know what to think of The Clouds. There's something enjoyable about it, but at the same time, it's detestable. That's why I gave it a 3--right in the middle. All I can say is you really have to read it for yourself and make your own opinion about it.

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Jun 17, 2009 Chris Ebert rated it 5 of 5 stars

Absolutely brilliant - the best satire in history. The dialogue is so absurd it's difficult to believe somebody could actually write it! Aristophanes depicts Socrates proving everything and nothing all at once and insults all of Greece in the same breath

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Feb 10, 2011 Wendy Budetti rated it 5 of 5 stars

Funny, witty Greek comedy. Only thing I've fully understood in my Ancient Philosophy class so far. Amusing to read such crass humor and language from the Ancients- it was like reading a really good SNL skit set a couple thousand years ago.

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Mar 08, 2012 Shai-Hulud rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: greek-literature, play, funny

Em "As Nuvens", comédia de Aristófanes, o personagem principal busca alistar-se e a seu filho como discípulos de Sócrates, não para alcançar qualquer elevação de espírito ou de pensamento, mas para ser capaz de defender o "injusto" com argumentos sagazes e conseguir assim ver-se livre de várias dívidas, ganhando as causas no Tribunal.

Trata-se de evidente sátira ao pensamento e disciplina socráticos e da subversão dos costumes e ideias clássicas na Grécia. Recomendo aos que desejarem lê-la que, s...more

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Feb 21, 2008 Mattomic rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: students of ancient lit, philosophers, ancient Greek nerds

OK, so I read only a fragment of this for a philosophy course many, many years ago. The context added to the humor from Aristophanes' biting satire. I'm sure were I to read this today, not as well steeped in ancient Greek philosophy, I wouldn't get such a kick out of it. Overly generous as my rating is, I have to give it props for the good memories it conjures up in me. Aristophanes tears Socrates and his ilk (more accurately, the sophists - people who can argue circles around others, but posses...more

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May 08, 2012 Brittany Petruzzi rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: plays, classics

It must be much funnier in the Greek. Whatever wordplay is going on is almost wholly lost in translation, unfortunately. Still, it's a clever little piece. I rather liked it.

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Feb 10, 2012 Oz Barton rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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About Aristophanes

Of all the writers of "Old Comedy", only one remains. Lost forever are the works of Chionides, Magnes, Ecphantides, Cratinus, Crates, and Eupolis. All the extant comedies of the fifth century B.C. belong to one man--Aristophanes. On his shoulders alone rests the reputation of an entire age of comedy. Fortunately, by most accounts Aristophanes was the greatest comic writer of his day.

By the time Ar...more Of all the writers of "Old Comedy", only one remains. Lost forever are the works of Chionides, Magnes, Ecphantides, Cratinus, Crates, and Eupolis. All the extant comedies of the fifth century B.C. belong to one man--Aristophanes. On his shoulders alone rests the reputation of an entire age of comedy. Fortunately, by most accounts Aristophanes was the greatest comic writer of his day.

By the time Aristophanes began to write his comedies, democracy had already begun to sour for the Athenians. The people were increasingly demoralized by the ongoing conflicts of the Peloponnesian War and the loss of their greatest hero, Pericles, had been taken from them and replaced by unscrupulous politicians such as Cleon and Hyperbolus. It is little wonder, therefore, that Aristophanes laughter is tinged, even from the beginning, with tones of apprehension and grief.

Aristophanes' first two comedies, The Banqueters and The Babylonians have been lost. His first surviving play, The Acharnians, was written in the sixth year of the War and, coincidentally, happens to be the world's first anti-war comedy. Inspired by the suffering of the rural population of Attica, the area surrounding Athens which was exposed to continual invasions, the poet built his plot around a hard headed farmer who, tired of the hostilities, determines to make a private peace with the Spartans. Denounced as a traitor by his fellow citizens and forced to plead for his life, Dicaeopolis turns to the tragic poet Euripides who lends him a whole assortment of tragic stage effects. His collection depleted, Euripides complains, "You miserable man! You are robbing me of an entire tragedy!"

In his next play Aristophanes turned his satirical powers on Cleon, the demagogue who had succeeded Pericles. However, the dictator's power was so great that no actor dared impersonate him, and legend has it that the poet played the role himself, his face smeared with wine dregs in mockery of Cleon's bloated and alcoholic countenance. The people of Athens were quick to recognize their tyrannical leader as the Paphlagonian tanner in The Knights, and although the play had no real political effect, it took first prize at the festival.

Aristophanes barbs, however, were not reserved exclusively for political figures. In fact, he often saved his sharpest attacks for other cultural figures. In The Clouds, he turns his attentions to the great thinker of the day--Socrates. The story revolves around an old man named Strepsiades. Deeply in debt because of his son's gambling and desperate to preserve his fortune, he enrolls in Socrates' Thinking Shop in order to learn how to confute his creditors with logic. What he finds on the first day of training, however, is the great thinker suspended in a basket and contemplating the sun. Only confused by this first lesson, Strepsiades determines to have his son educated instead. The young man responds quickly to Socrates' teachings and is soon able to prove, after beating his father, that he was morally justified in doing so.(less)

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Books by Aristophanes

Four Plays: The Clouds / The Birds / Lysistrata / The Frogs

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Quotes from Clouds

“How can I study from below, that which is above?” — 4 people liked it

“Socrate. Tiens-tu quelque chose ?
Strepsiade. Non, par Zeus, non certes.
Socrate. Rien du tout ?
Strepsiade. Rien... que ma verge dans ma main droite.” — 1 person liked it

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title link	preview: Clouds
avg rating	preview: Clouds Goodreads rating: 3.76 (2107 ratings)
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/763602.Clouds?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327910462l/763602.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/763602.Clouds?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Clouds by Aristophanes[/url]

Clouds

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