Misunderstanding Satire: Socrates
Andy Pho Philo 110 - M01 Dr. Katz 05/06/08
Satire: Misunderstanding Socrates
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Socrates was a Greek philosopher who was known to study and discuss anything and everything that occurred around him. However, with all of the discoveries and observations that he made, Socrates never documented any information. All that was known of him was through the works of other contemporaries. Greek philosopher, Plato, and playwright Aristophanes had opposing portrayals of Socrates, even though they both knew him. The teachings of Socrates and the writings of Plato and Aristophanes continue to challenge the minds of those that study Socratic philosophies . People have been unclear about why the contemporaries who knew him have presented Socrates differently until now. A large portion of what is known about Socrates was through the dialogues of Plato: The Apology, The Crito, The Euthyphro, and The Phaedo. Plato wrote The Apology several years after the trial for his apologia, or defense, for Socrates.
At the age of 70 Socrates was charged before an Athenian popular court with impiety` with not believing in the Olympian Gods and corrupting young men
through his constant questioning of everything.1 After his guilty verdict, Socrates was sentenced to death by poison. Plato sought to defend Socrates from the accusations which brought about his conviction and execution, and what he intended to do was to demonstrate the simple fact that Socrates was innocent of any wrongdoing and that the sentence was unjust and undeserved .
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Routledge Encyclopedia of PHILOSOPHY, Socrates, page 8.
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Although it is very possible that Plato has changed the original content of what was said on that day, we can rest assure that his intention was not to provide for us a verbatim or exact account, but one which, in his view, would capture the spirit of Socrates` long statement to the court. 2 Plato was present along with a 501-member jury, many of whom were around to accept his recording of Socrates` testimony under oath. Plato states his feelings about Socrates at the end of The Phaedo with the following statement:
Such, Echecrates, was the end of our comrade, who was, we may fairly say, of all those whom we knew in our time, the bravest and also the wisest and most upright man.3
The idea that Socrates was the bravest and the wisest man was accepted and agreed on by many because of the depth of his philosophies . However, the remainder who disagreed with this view believed that Socrates was , in fact, guilty of what he was accused of and sentenced for. This view can be portrayed in Aristophanes` The Clouds. Aristophanes was a Greek dramatist whose works mainly consisted of satires, the use of humor or exaggeration to criticize people, particularly in the context of contemporary politics.4 Little is known about Aristophanes other than his works. Aristophanes wrote over 40 different plays, which only 11 have
The Fundamental Questions, page 70-71. The Phaedo, as presented in The Fundamental Questions, page 97. 4 Definition, as given by Apple Dictionary.
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survived and typically wrote about and mocked figures who already were familiar to his audience.5 In Aristophanes` play, The Clouds, Strepsiades, an idiotic man who wanted to talk his way out of his problems, sought for Socrates who was represented as a sophist. A sophist is a paid teacher of philosophy and rhetoric in ancient Greece, associated in popular thought with moral skepticism and specious reasoning6. During their first meet, Socrates was represented as a natural philosopher, discussing the natural science about clouds , rain, thunder, and vortexes. Anyone who has had a conversation with Socrates knew that the topics Socrates discussed were always ethical, and never included questions of physical theory or metaphysics or other branches of philosophical study .7 To further convince Strepsiades of Socrates` knowledge, he described the similarities between the sound of thunder and the sound of a fart8 and teaches Strepsiades the differences between masculine and feminine words such as a basin and a bassinette9. Socrates was accused for being impious because he did not accept the Olympian Gods. Socrates called upon the Chorus of Clouds to solve all of Strepsiades` problems. tells Socrates Strepsiades they`re the only deities we
Encyclopedia Britannica Online, Socrates. Definition, as given by Apple Dictionary. 7 Routledge Encyclopedia of PHILOSOPHY, Socrates, page 13. 8 The Clouds, lines 527-532. 9 The Clouds, lines 890-891.
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have--the rest are just so much hocus pocus, 10 thus rejecting the Olympian God, Zeus, of existing. Socrates used The Clouds to his advantage during his trial with Meletus, Socrates` accuser, questioning whether his idea of impiety was not believing in gods altogether.11 Meletus accepted that statement as true, but since the accusation was made based on The Clouds, and Aristophanes had mentioned the Chorus of Clouds as deities, Socrates disproved his impiety. For those that have only read The Clouds may not know his style of writing and may be confused as to why Socrates` contemporaries thought differently of him. Aristophanes was famous for his style of writing satirical comedy, which
show no sympathy for the aristocratic party in Athenian politics .12 His plays
were for the amusement of the people attending them, and The Clouds was no exception. It was produced twenty-five years before the trial, which gave time to spawn the idea of a corruptive and impious Socrates . Even through Plato`s account of Socrates` statement in court, he acknowledged that plays written were meant for amusement, such as with children and adolescents:
Besides, there are a great many of these accusers, and they have been accusing me now for a great many years. And what is more, they approached you at the most impressionable age, when some of you were children or adolescents, and they literally won their case by default, because there was no one to defend me. And the most fantastic thing of all is that it is impossible for me even to know and tell you their names ,
The Clouds, line 482. The Apology, as presented in The Fundamental Questions, paragraphs 57-72. Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia, Aristophanes
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Satire: Misunderstanding Socrates unless one of them happens to be a playwright.13
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Shortly after, Socrates read his accusers` affidavit, which emphasized Aristophanes` portrayal of Socrates` corruptive actions towards the minds of young men. To clear up this misunderstanding, he said, tell one another whether any one of you has ever heard me discuss such questions briefly or at length, and then you will realize that the other popular reports about me are equally unreliable.14 Socrates realized that many people were already drawn into Aristophanes` portrayal of him, so he had to prove with conviction that those views did not apply to him. Socrates has been accused and criticized about his philosophical ideas, and in part, it can be blamed on Aristophanes` comedic play. It is vital to understand that Aristophanes` plays were only intended for entertainment for his audience and not for actual depictions of his characters. Socrates can now be seen as the figure whom Plato had described him to be, and not the fool Aristophanes created in his dramatic work. If this was recognized and presented during his trial, the outcome of his verdict and sentence would have changed the philosophical world.
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The Apology, as presented in The Fundamental Questions, 4th paragraph. The Apology, as presented in The Fundamental Questions, 6th paragraph.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Johnston, Ian. The Clouds. 25 March 2008. Malaspina University-College, Nanaimo, BC. 25 March 2008 <http://www.mala.bc.ca/~Johnstoi/aristophanes/clouds.htm>. Kelly, Eugene, and Luis Navia. The Fundamental Questions. 2nd ed. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, 1997.
Aristophanes. Encyclopedia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. 16 April. 2008 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/34467/Aristophanes>. Aristophanes, Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia. 2007. 16 April. 2008 < http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761575957/Aristophanes.html>. Plato. Routledge Encyclopedia of PHILOSOPHY. 1st ed. 1998. Socrates. Encyclopedia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. 16 April. 2008 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/551948/Socrates>. Socrates. Routledge Encyclopedia of PHILOSOPHY. 1st ed. 1998.
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