The Clouds | Study Guide

Aristophanes

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The Clouds | Infographic

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Check out this Infographic to learn more about Aristophanes's The Clouds. Study visually with character maps, plot summaries, helpful context, and more.

the-clouds-aristophanesSocrates, Prologostread the air, as I contemplate the sun.Sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Theatre Database, University of Saskatchewan Copyright © 2017 Course Hero, Inc.InsectsSymbolize insignificant details Sophists use to win argumentsMoneyRepresents need, greed, desire, and manipulationCloudsStand for flexible, shape-shifting, sneaky persuasion techniquesSymbolsEthereal, changeable women; transform in shape and control the weatherChorusAthletic, horse-racing youth, Thinkery scholar, and Strepsiades’s son; beats his fatherPheidippidesEccentric, selfish philosopher and respected head of Thinkery; worships the CloudsSocratesPious, simpleminded Athenian farmer with financial troubles; joins the ThinkeryStrepsiadesMain CharactersAristophanes was one of the best known Greek comedic playwrights. His plays combine boisterous, lewd humor, parody, and choral poetry with sharp social satire. He frequently ridiculed Athenian political figures, as in The Clouds, which mocks Socrates and the Sophists—philosophers trendy in ancient Athens.ARISTOPHANESc. 450–388 BCEAuthorHeavenly goddesses watch over poets, prophets, swindlers, and lazy men.Worshipping WeatherPhilosophers train to win any debate by using the unjust argument.Winning with LanguagePious Greeks struggle to replace religion with science and rhetoric.New EducationDebt-ridden Athenian farmer Strepsiades needs help, and a school called the Thinkery offers a solution: learn to argue his way out of debt. Before he can change his life, Strepsiades has to pass Socrates’s bizarre initiation tests and please the school’s goddesses—the Clouds.Greece’s Wackiest Debate SchoolMAIN IDEASGreekOriginal Language423 BCEFirst PerformedAristophanesAuthorThe CloudsComedyPlay
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