Aristophanes ' Clouds : A Religious Commentary On The Changing Philosophical Climate

In ancient Greek Myths, the description of Zeus’ character can range from a heroic leader to that of a vile dictator, depending on the author’s intention. This contrast is especially noteworthy when comparing Hesiod’s Theogony with Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound, as Zeus is presented as the world’s protector in the former, while he is portrayed as selfish and ruthless in Aeschylus’ tale.

Throughout Aristophanes’ “Clouds” there is a constant battle between old and new. It makes itself apparent in the Just and Unjust speech as well as between father and son. Ultimately, Pheidippides, whom would be considered ‘new’, triumphs over the old Strepsiades, his father. This is analogous to the Just and Unjust speech. In this debate, Just speech represents the old traditions and mores of Greece while the contrasting Unjust speech is considered to be newfangled and cynical towards the old. While the defeat of Just speech by Unjust speech does not render Pheidippides the ability to overcome Strepsiades, it is a parallel that may be compared with many other instances in Mythology and real life.

A reading of Thucydides’, Pericles’ Funeral Oration and The Melian Dialogue uncovers both contrasting and comparable viewpoints on Athenian politics, power, aims of war, and empire. Thucydides presents two differing characteristics of Athens, one as the civilizer in Pericles’ funeral oration and the other as an tyrant in the Melian dialogue. In the funeral oration delivered by Pericles during the first year of the war, the Athenian leader emphasizes the idealized personal image of the Athenians in regard to their constitution and good character. Pericles goes on to praise the Athenian democratic institution of Athens that contributes to their cities greatness; in Pericles’s own words, “The Athenian administration favors the many instead of few… they afford equal justice to all of their differences” (112, 2.37). This quote emphasizes the good character of the Athens’ to coax and encourage the Athenians to preserve and better their great empire into the future. On the other hand, in the Melian dialogue, this notion of justice and equality is irrelevant; one, because Athens compared to Melos, is the stronger of the two and thus, is more powerful. Further, Athens, will continue to acquire absolute power and build its empire by conquering Melos and whomever else stands in its way. Through Pericles’ funeral oration and the Melian dialogue, the following conclusions/themes will demonstrate both the changing and somewhat stable nature of Athenian policy with regards to empire,

Pericles’ Funeral Oration by Thucydides, and Sophocles’ play, Antigone, both illustrate cultural values that are crucial in understanding the dynamic of Ancient Athens. In these two pieces of literature, the cultural values are explained and understood through death. Pericles delivered the Funeral Oration as part of a public funeral for some of the Athenian fatalities in the first year of the Peloponnesian War. In Antigone, Sophocles is able to encompass values and conflicts through the death of Antigone’s brother. Pericles connects the death of soldiers to the importance of community, trust, personal freedoms, and social order that was essential in the success of Ancient Athenian Culture. Sophocles addresses the values of family, religion, and loyalty in his play, Antigone. The values highlighted in each of these works are very similar as they institute the importance of the patrioi nomoi (Athenian constitution) to the success of the Athenian state.

First, in the story of Phaethon, Phaethon is characterized as a thoughtless and headstrong boy. These characteristics lead to catastrophic results, and help relate back to the main theme; A prideful disregard of the warnings from those who are older and wiser can quickly lead to disastrous consequences. For example, while driving the sun chariot and contemplating flying closer to Earth so everyone will see him, Phaethon exclaims, “Apollo said not to come too close to the Earth, but how will he know? And I won't stay long, just dip down towards the villages.” (53). This implies the Phaethon does not think about his actions, nor their consequences, and only does what benefits him and his reputation. Another adjective that could be used to describe Phaethon is stubborn, which is also demonstrated in this quote. It illustrates the idea that Phaethon was being overconfident and arrogant about

In Aristophanes the Clouds’, Socrates questions the role of the Gods in human’s everyday lives. Even though he explains to Strepsiades that clouds and rain are created by nature, not God, old Strepsiades misunderstands him and thinks Socrates is inventing new Gods. SOCRATES: “What Zeus! Don’t babble. Zeus doesn’t even exist.” (131). STREPSIADES “ And who is it that compels them to be borne along? Isn’t it Zeus?” (131). SOCRATES “Not in the least. It’s ethereal vortex. (131). STREPSIADES “ Vortex? I hadn’t noticed that Zeus doesn’t exist, and that instead of him Vortex is now King.” (131). Euthyphro believes that the traditional stories about the gods are true, unlike Socrates. “… why I am defendant against the indictments: that whenever someone says such things about the gods, I receive them somehow with annoyance…,” (47). Socrates explains to Euthyphro that if the Gods favor something, that alone does not make it pious. Socrates states he believes in “…sun and moon are the gods, as other human beings go. In Plato’s Apology of Socrates, Socrates says that the gods are considered the highest and most respected beings, and the citizens believe that they should follow the laws that were invented by the gods. With that he

Socrates was a pompous man who believed that he was wiser than most, if not all, Athenian men of his time. He is also credited as one of the fathers of western philosophy, his own philosophy revolving around the welfare of one’s soul and reflecting on what the good life was. He was told by an oracle that he was the wisest of men and spent a great deal of time trying to prove it false, he decided that he was considered wise for accepting that he knew nothing, and never claimed to know anything that he questioned. In Plato’s text “Apology” Socrates is depicted as a man who was arrogant, hypercritical of others, and fixed on his ways no matter the consequences. He had the qualities of a man who saw no error in what he was doing because he

Undeniably, the ancient Greek society places a heavy emphasis on values and traditions. The two texts of the “Clouds” by Aristophanes and “History of the Peloponnesian war” by Thucydides, although contextually divergent, are actually conceptually convergent. Both texts are built around the central theme of the collapse of conventional values. While the breakdown of traditional values in the “History of the Peloponnesian war” is presented in a more metaphorical and symbolical manner, the downfall of conventional values in the “Clouds” is on a more direct basis. Although both texts essentially convey across the same solemn message that the relinquishment of

Elenchus, as a famous Socratic method for education, uses dialogue and questions to approach philosophical truths. The method is presented in both Plato’s the Euthyphro and Aristophanes’s the Clouds. However, Socrates’s personal image and characteristics, as well as the nature of his questioning differ a lot in these two works. While the Euthyphro presents a philosopher king guiding the less wise people in discovery of truths, Socrates in the Clouds has little interest in either exploring the ethical truth or helping others get out of “Plato’s cave”. Instead, he is portrayed as a sophist who corrupts people with mysterious and useless knowledge, ignores traditional Athenian education, and debilitates Athenian men. Compared to Plato’s focus on Socrates’s wisdom reflected in the dialogue, the Clouds is a distorted interpretation of Socrates’s elenchus. Rather than justifiably criticizing Socrates, Aristophanes depicts him from a common Athenian 's perspective. It is this misunderstanding of the value of Socrates’s teaching by Athenian citizens that constitutes the failure of elenchus in both the Clouds and the Euthyphro.

In this essay, I argue that Empedocles’ views on cosmogony and theology maintain the mythological frame of reference of the Ancient Greek myths, while expanding on the ideas of creationism. To present this, I will compare and contrast the stances of Empedocles and the myths. After, I will clarify my thesis and use the compared and contrasted ideas to support it. In Empedocles’ cosmogony and theology and Hesiod’s

Greek literature is characteristic for it’s deep ties to the culture and heritage. Looking through specific passages of texts provides context to the way of life in early Greek culture. Through the following climatic passage from Aristophanes’ comedy Clouds, Aristophanes utilizes literary devices to convey the play’s overall theme that logic does not necessarily equal morality. Aristophanes utilizes devices such as tones, rhetorical questions, and sarcasm within the literature in order to provide a successful mode of introducing and conveying this theme. Pheidippides Let’s return to my earlier point, the one you made me interrupt; answer me this, to start things off: did you beat me when I was small?

In doing some background research into why this would be, I discovered that Aristophanes' religious undertones could stem from the fact that Athenians were trying to harmonize science and religion. When new scientific theories were starting to surface and be questioned, many people couldn't even consider them without sounding as if they were committing treason against the state. Aristophanes turns to religion in order to remind his audience that both religion and science have to be equally open to questions, critique, and even in Aristophanes' case, satire. This suggestion, that certain things need to be equally suceptable to to critique and questions can also be seen through the way that Aristophanes suggests there is both a problem with the accepted model of a "well-rounded" education, and the newer model brought about by such philopophers as the Sophists. Aristophanes saw the danger in not questioning an accepted theory or belief.

Aristophanes’ play, The Clouds, has an inconsistent message about morality. Morality is the difference between what is right and what is wrong. Morality affects our action, thoughts, and what is perceived as good and bad. For the ancient Greeks nomos was the concept of law and moral conduct, while physis was natural behavior. In both plays there were incidents that have a moral argument. In The Cloud, there are scenes where morality is question about what a character is doing. Compared to Euripides’ play, Electra, morality is a key issue. Some people may say that in The Clouds, the moral argument is view differently than in Electra. In this paper I will argue that the concept of what is moral is different yet the same for the characters in both plays and some characters are more vulnerable to having their sense of morality swayed.

At the same time, it reminds us that these myths do not really constitute the religion of the Greeks. These myths are more similar to proto-scientific stories that are meant to explain usual phenomena, such as thunderstorms or the setting of the sun. Some myths are pure amusement and are not meant to explain anything. On the whole, the later myths appear more religious, as Zeus, the primary god, begins to resemble the sort of omnipotent God--figure familiar to modern readers—in the Iliad, he is very human and moody, but by the Odyssey he is more wise and sympathetic. Zeus changes so much from the old philanderer he once was that he begins to look very much like the Judeo-Christian concept of God. These all concepts relate to the myths and if in today’s world one were to think of it as reality one would laugh on this.

“I have a better right to command, men of Athens, than another…” (Thucydides p.111). This simple excerpt from Thucydides is much more than a subtle gesture of self-acclamation, it is the thesis for the life of Alcibiades. For he truly, to his core, believed he was special, apart from the average Athenian. Time and time again, we see Alcibiades go to extremes to achieve the essence of this very statement. Again and again it is evident that would stop at nothing to take control of Athens and even if Athens refused him he would remain steadfast in attaining his maxim. This notion of character giving rise to destiny presents itself exquisitely through Alcibiades. The polarity in his character illustrates that the choices one makes directly impacts