"The Clouds" by Aristophanes-An Introduction to Insult
Aristophanes is widely regarded as one of the grandfathers of comedy, and certainly the master of Greek comedic drama. Somehow this incredible man was able to incorporate elements of slapstick, wordplay, insult, and ridiculousness to create something on stage that worked. He has been kept alive for thousands of years by translators because he was deemed the most important to maintain through the Dark Ages and beyond. This guy is kind of a big deal. "The Clouds" was considered by Aristophanes to be his greatest work, and his self praise shows. There is actually a soliloquy in the middle of the play, given by the play write, that outlines exactly why his work is the best.
Aristophanes certainly had a sharp tongue on him: this is noticeable quite readily through the first few pages of "The Clouds". This dude hates the philosophical icon that is Socrates. He HATES him. Like...he REALLY does not like him. The entirety of the play is something of an exploration of the comedic landmark "the idiot boss". Everyone knows examples of this comedic role in modern film and press...such as Steve Carrell in the modern T.V. show "The Office". Socrates is shown to be wandering about in his home called "The Thinkery" and giving misguided philosophical advice to those under his tutelage. Aristophanes actually takes a more conservative approach in this play, and calls out Socrates to be a manipulator and corrupter of young minds. The young Pheidippides is turned from a horse-obsessed child into a conniving and sadistic young man who even turns on his bumbling for Strepsiades (which is Greek translates into "debt-dodger). Socrates eventually meets a kind of demise by the end of the play when The Thinkery is burned down by Strepsiades out of frustration for losing his son to the minds of Socrates and his lackies. As with most any other traditional comedy, the evil of the play is terminated and the protagonist (however idiotic) ends up triumphant. In case you are wondering...yes...even the debt collectors that would inevitably be following him on behalf of his time are trampled by the end of the play. Hooray!
The play most certainly has unity of setting and time. This all takes place next to The Thinkery, as the distraught Strepsiades needs to figure out a way to avoid paying his debtors. He owes them money partly because of spoiling his son, Pheidippides with horses and other luxuries in his youth. There was obviously not an honest way to get away from this predicament, so our hero decides to use immoral logic to get out. He goes to Socrates and tries to undergo training. After some incorrect grammer and misplaced theology, Strepsiades still is unable to grasp the flawed logic of The Thinkery. Socrates ironically calls out Strepsiades as a moron and refuses to teach him. Again, the idiotic boss figure is at full force here. The son ends up convinced to take courses, and is initially introduced to possibly one of the most ridiculous scenes I have ever read in drama: a cockfight between Philosophy and Sophistry. The ancient and noble art of Philosophy, a stately bird, is promptly defeated in a puff of logic by the mangled and diseased-looking Sophistry.
This play allows the reader to see the political nature of comedy, and how it can be used to many ends. Comedy can be used to publicly humiliate a person's image...such as that of Socrates. The twisting of truth to one's own devices is a common theme, and so is immorality. Phallic and masturbation jokes are quite literally everywhere here. I challenge you to open to a page of the book and find a place where there is not some reference to a penis. (Ok well if you look hard enough you should find one, but MAN are there a lot of penis references)!
Aristophanes certainly had a sharp tongue on him: this is noticeable quite readily through the first few pages of "The Clouds". This dude hates the philosophical icon that is Socrates. He HATES him. Like...he REALLY does not like him. The entirety of the play is something of an exploration of the comedic landmark "the idiot boss". Everyone knows examples of this comedic role in modern film and press...such as Steve Carrell in the modern T.V. show "The Office". Socrates is shown to be wandering about in his home called "The Thinkery" and giving misguided philosophical advice to those under his tutelage. Aristophanes actually takes a more conservative approach in this play, and calls out Socrates to be a manipulator and corrupter of young minds. The young Pheidippides is turned from a horse-obsessed child into a conniving and sadistic young man who even turns on his bumbling for Strepsiades (which is Greek translates into "debt-dodger). Socrates eventually meets a kind of demise by the end of the play when The Thinkery is burned down by Strepsiades out of frustration for losing his son to the minds of Socrates and his lackies. As with most any other traditional comedy, the evil of the play is terminated and the protagonist (however idiotic) ends up triumphant. In case you are wondering...yes...even the debt collectors that would inevitably be following him on behalf of his time are trampled by the end of the play. Hooray!
The play most certainly has unity of setting and time. This all takes place next to The Thinkery, as the distraught Strepsiades needs to figure out a way to avoid paying his debtors. He owes them money partly because of spoiling his son, Pheidippides with horses and other luxuries in his youth. There was obviously not an honest way to get away from this predicament, so our hero decides to use immoral logic to get out. He goes to Socrates and tries to undergo training. After some incorrect grammer and misplaced theology, Strepsiades still is unable to grasp the flawed logic of The Thinkery. Socrates ironically calls out Strepsiades as a moron and refuses to teach him. Again, the idiotic boss figure is at full force here. The son ends up convinced to take courses, and is initially introduced to possibly one of the most ridiculous scenes I have ever read in drama: a cockfight between Philosophy and Sophistry. The ancient and noble art of Philosophy, a stately bird, is promptly defeated in a puff of logic by the mangled and diseased-looking Sophistry.
This play allows the reader to see the political nature of comedy, and how it can be used to many ends. Comedy can be used to publicly humiliate a person's image...such as that of Socrates. The twisting of truth to one's own devices is a common theme, and so is immorality. Phallic and masturbation jokes are quite literally everywhere here. I challenge you to open to a page of the book and find a place where there is not some reference to a penis. (Ok well if you look hard enough you should find one, but MAN are there a lot of penis references)!