Reflections on "The Clouds" by Aristophanes Essay Example
"The Clouds" by Aristophanes, is a play centrally concerned with education. Aristophanes employs satire to illustrate his conservative beliefs. It is intended to show readers that in the tendency to philosophical subtleties lies the neglection of the real needs of the Athenians. According to Aristophanes, philosophical speculation only acts to shake the established foundations of accepted religion, gods, and ideals of morality.
Specifically, as it was even discused in "The Apology,"
Aristophanes believed that philosophical attitudes held by the
Sophists enabled those who held them to convince others of wrong or weaker beliefs simply by sounding as if they knew what they were talking about -- when in reality they didn't. It seems as if Aristophanes would approve of an education based souly around the reading of clasiscal literature and some physical excersize.
I believe the fact that Athenian youth were starting to ask questions of the elders in the city really bothered
Aristophanes. I think he really thought it to be dangerous and detrimental to society; as can be seen through the line
Strepsiades yells towards the end, "revenge for the injured gods
(II.i.1506)." I believe Aristophanes to be part of the group that accused Socrates of not accepting the recognized gods of state, which many believed to be a part of the corruption of
Athenian youth. While I don't agree with that accusation -- primarily because of Socrates recognition of Apollo through the
Oracle at Delphi -- I can see some Aristophanes' points of contention with what he thought the Sophists and other philsophers stood for. The Clouds, who form the chorus in Aristophanes' play, are a physical representation of the "philosophical speculation" that
Aristophanes speaks of. According to Aristophanes, these speculations do not come from a grounded sense of experience, but rather float about without definite framework and actualization, simply in the realm of possibility. I
Specifically, as it was even discused in "The Apology,"
Aristophanes believed that philosophical attitudes held by the
Sophists enabled those who held them to convince others of wrong or weaker beliefs simply by sounding as if they knew what they were talking about -- when in reality they didn't. It seems as if Aristophanes would approve of an education based souly around the reading of clasiscal literature and some physical excersize.
I believe the fact that Athenian youth were starting to ask questions of the elders in the city really bothered
Aristophanes. I think he really thought it to be dangerous and detrimental to society; as can be seen through the line
Strepsiades yells towards the end, "revenge for the injured gods
(II.i.1506)." I believe Aristophanes to be part of the group that accused Socrates of not accepting the recognized gods of state, which many believed to be a part of the corruption of
Athenian youth. While I don't agree with that accusation -- primarily because of Socrates recognition of Apollo through the
Oracle at Delphi -- I can see some Aristophanes' points of contention with what he thought the Sophists and other philsophers stood for. The Clouds, who form the chorus in Aristophanes' play, are a physical representation of the "philosophical speculation" that
Aristophanes speaks of. According to Aristophanes, these speculations do not come from a grounded sense of experience, but rather float about without definite framework and actualization, simply in the realm of possibility. I