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Clouds

aristophanes jeffrey henderson

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This is an English translation of Aristophanes' famous comedy, Clouds, noted for its critique of philosophy, society and education. It includes essays on Old Comedy and the Theater of Dionysus, suggestions for further reading, notes on production, and a map. Focus Classical Library provides close translations with notes and essays to provide access to understanding Greek culture.

97 pages, Paperback

First published January 1,-0423
Places
greece, 

This edition

Format
97 pages, Paperback
Published
November 1, 1993 by Focus Information Group
ISBN
9780941051248
ASIN
0941051242
Language
English
Characters More characters
  • Strepsiades

    Strepsiades

    Strepsiades is the anti-hero of Aristophaness play. He is an older Athenian citizen and a farmer.more...

  • Socrates (philosopher)

    Socrates (philosopher)

    A classical Greek Athenian philosopher. Credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of later classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon and the play...

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About the author

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aristophanes

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Aristophanes (Greek: Αριστοφάνης; c. 446 – c. 386 BC) was an Ancient Greek comic playwright from Athens and a poet of Old Attic Comedy. He wrote in total forty plays, of which eleven survive virtually complete today. These provide the most valuable examples of a genre of comic drama known as Old Comedy and are used to define it, along with fragments from dozens of lost plays by Aristophanes and his contemporaries.
Also known as "The Father of Comedy" and "the Prince of Ancient Comedy", Aristophanes has been said to recreate the life of ancient Athens more convincingly than any other author. His powers of ridicule were feared and acknowledged by influential contemporaries; Plato singled out Aristophanes' play The Clouds as slander that contributed to the trial and subsequent condemning to death of Socrates, although other satirical playwrights had also caricatured the philosopher.
Aristophanes' second play, The Babylonians (now lost), was denounced by Cleon as a slander against the Athenian polis. It is possible that the case was argued in court, but details of the trial are not recorded and Aristophanes caricatured Cleon mercilessly in his subsequent plays, especially The Knights, the first of many plays that he directed himself. "In my opinion," he says through that play's Chorus, "the author-director of comedies has the hardest job of all."

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Community Reviews

Rating(3.9 / 5.0, 100 votes)
5 stars
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4 stars
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GalacticAshla
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 1,2025
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What follows is a transcript of an occurrence that transpired within my place of residence approximately a month before my destruction at the tiny, filthy hands of Frodo. An orc captain, Glumbarg, entered unbidden with a proposition of sorts.

Glum.: Oh great and wise Sauron, who speakest wisdom for and through all Ages, I beg of thee to hear my humble proposal, and to dignify it with no less than seven and one-half seconds of thoughtful contemplation! To have access to your great Ear, O Earless One, is beyond any honor I might have fant–"

Saur.: Speak.

Glum.: My gratitude, most magnificent Lord Sauron. Hast thou ever considered the military and tactical advantages bestowed by the great and heavenly enlightenment that accompanies deep and intricate knowledge of the digestive and intestinal systems of the common fly? It–"

I incinerated him on the spot.
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casc4mybel0ved
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 1,2025
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I thought I might see this play being performed by Bergen Community College. Probably won't. It is about a clash in educational philosophy in Ancient Athens. It is all rather ridiculous with lots of insults thrown around. (It reminds me of the Republican debates, if I am honest.) In addition, there are lots of sexual innuendo and crotch grabbing. (I wonder if that will be next in the debates?)
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Omkarop_06
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 1,2025
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3.5 rounded up.
Damn Aeschylus really likes his dick jokes huh? The writing is fun and the characters are absolutely infuriating. I wanted to smack Strepsiades multiple times throughout the play, I really related to Socrates when he was trying to teach him. He was stubborn and dumb and ugh. I know Aeschylus was trying to ridicule the Socratic thinkers but honestly they sounded pretty fun. I liked the clouds as well, they're pretty.
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khris08
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 1,2025
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I find it really funny how people think that "in the old days" everything was so much better and they were so much mature, but this play proves them so wrong!

I love the way Aristophanes got so offended by the third place that he re-wrote this play and made fun of how he did not win because of his dirty jokes. This comedy proves that even in the ancient Greece the humour were the same as now, and the presence of irony and mocking were ever so funny!
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Novern
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 1,2025
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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
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caileen710
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 1,2025
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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 of Socrates only fueled the general dislike for him. No doubt it had an influence on the outcome Socrates's trial since the jury could have been influence by the play.
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lexie1
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 1,2025
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“Sempre cosí facciamo, a chi vediamo
che piglia gusto a fare birbonate,
finché poi lo cacciamo in qualche guaio,
sí ch'egli impari a rispettare i Numi!”

Un vecchio scaltro per colpa di un figlio spendaccione si ritrova pieno di debiti. Ecco che la sua idea è quella di diventare un bravo oratore per mettere nel sacco i suoi creditori e farla franca. E come riuscire nell’impresa se non affidandosi al grande Socrate?
Le nuvole sono i nuovi dei a cui ci si affida, dimenticandone i soliti e cari. Ma davvero basta cambiare i propri idoli perché la vita ci sorrida? Aristofane ne approfitta per mettere a confronto l’oratoria in un Discorso Giusto (la tradizione) e un Discorso Ingiusto (le nuove filosofie), ma non è tutto oro quello che in fondo riluce.
Una commedia piacevole che credo renda di più sulla scena.
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