What is Aristophanes critique of Socrates in clouds?

Aristophanes viewed Socrates and the sophists as detrimental to the Athenian community. In fact, Aristophanes viewed Socrates as being the best Sophist of all. It was rather easy for Aristophanes to adopt this viewpoint because Socrates was known to be arrogant in his teachings.

How is Socrates depicted in Aristophanes play the clouds?

Socrates is presented in The Clouds as a petty thief, a fraud and a sophist with a specious interest in physical speculations. However, it is still possible to recognize in him the distinctive individual defined in Plato’s dialogues.

How does Aristophanes represent Socrates?

Aristophanes’ portrayal of Socrates shows an atheistic sophist who teaches Athenian youth how to make the “wrongful argument” seem right in a debate through deception and trickery (Aristophanes 116). Although this character has the name Socrates, it is ambiguous whether he truly represents his namesake.

Why did Aristophanes not like Socrates?

Aristophanes made a mockery of Socrates by showing him as a sophist and a natural philosopher who was seen praying to the clouds. Another cause of upset for the Athenians concerning Socrates was that his young followers were imitating his style of rhetoric and annoying their elders by attempting to prove them wrong.

What did Aristophanes write about Socrates?

In his play The Clouds, Aristophanes revisits an old theme; the old or traditional versus the new or innovative. The conservative anti-war author wrote against a changing Athens and chose the philosopher Socrates as a symbol of this change. To him, Socrates represented all that he disliked about a new Athens.

Did Aristophanes make fun of Socrates?

Aristophanes Makes Fun of Socrates Of more than 40 plays written by Aristophanes, 11 survive.

What was the purpose of the Clouds by Aristophanes?

The Clouds is a play primarily concerned with education. Nevertheless, it is a play with a strong moral message and a tragic arc that ends with the reassertion of the gods: Strepsiades shrieks, “Revenge for the injured gods!” as he stones the fleeing sophists (II. i. 1506).

Are Aristophanes Clouds comedy?

The Clouds by Aristophanes is a comedy written in 432 B.C. Aristophanes lived 446 BC – 386 BC and was a playwright in ancient Athens. Except for a few fragments by other comics, his plays are all that remain of Old Comedy. Old Comedy was Middle Comedy and then New Comedy.

Did Aristophanes know Socrates?

Socrates and Aristophanes, Basic Books, 1966. Aristotle did not know Socrates’ thought except through reports oral or written; Aristophanes, Xenophon, and Plot knew Socrates himself. …

Was Aristophanes friends with Socrates?

While Xenophon and Plato were friends and admirers of Socrates, Aristophanes was not; he seems to present Socrates as a sophist in the Socratic sense of the term.

How does Aristophanes define love Eros in his speech in Plato’s Symposium?

Love is the desire we have to find our other half, in order to become whole. Agathon follows Aristophanes, and his speech sees Eros as youthful, beautiful, and wise; and as the source of all human virtues. Before Socrates gives his speech he asks some questions of Agathon regarding the nature of love.

What is Aristophanes best known for?

Aristophanes, (born c. 450 bce—died c. 388 bce), the greatest representative of ancient Greek comedy and the one whose works have been preserved in greatest quantity. He is the only extant representative of the Old Comedy—that is, of the phase of comic dramaturgy (c.

Why is Socrates important in clouds by Aristophanes?

Socrates is Aristophanes’ symbol of the new age of education and learning. Aristophanes thought Socrates, and his new school of thought, to be illogical and very much ridiculous. The mere fact that Aristophanes wrote Clouds as a satire conveys how he did not think this “new age” of learning should be taken seriously.

What can we learn from Aristophanes’ play “the clouds”?

Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of UKEssays.com. Aristophanes’ play “The Clouds” is a play that is very intricate and in many ways speaks to the nature of mankind.

How does Aristophanes’ view of Justice differ from Socrates’?

Aristophanes does have somewhat of a different view of justice than Socrates. Whereas I believe Aristophanes is concerned more with governmental consequences of actions and adoption of certain beliefs that could be considered treason, Socrates believes that consequences will come not in his lifetime, but rather after his death.

What did Aristophanes accuse philosophers of?

So Aristophanes accuses philosophers of charging young people money, corrupting them, leading them into impiety and sexual vice, undermining society through dishonest teaching, coaching them to lie, pursuing trivial and esoteric knowledge, and being arrogantly against those around them. Academics might find some of these charges familiar.