Essay About Newer Model And Aforementioned Strepsiades Quote

Reflections On “The Clouds” By Aristophanes
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“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 didnt. 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 dont 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 found it
interesting that Aristophanes chose to illustrate this metaphor
between the clouds and the Sophists beliefs into a literal
representation. He furthered this illustration by choosing to
bring Socrates on his first appearance floating in on a basket
down to the stage.
Another aspect I find interesting in Aristophanes “The
Clouds,” is the fact that even though its obvious Aristophanes
is preaching to readers a more non-religious message of the
importance of truthfulness, civic responsibility, and virtue,
the play takes on a religious tone (as can be seen in the
aforementioned Strepsiades quote). 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 couldnt 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. Despite
the fact I agree with Johnson in that Aristophanes may be a
“staunch defender of old values,” Aristophanes saw that if
something widely accepted was left unquestioned for too long, it
would become idle. Basically, an idea that I believe should be
applied more in the world we live in today — a traditionally
accepted theory or belief could lose the exact fundamentals and
values it was based on.
I agree with Johnson in that I believe the play has a very
obvious shift in tone. Towards the end of Johnsons essay, he
addresses the ending Aristophanes chooses for “The Clouds.” I
fall into the group that Johnson says, “see that this powerful
ominous ending as a persuasive possibility.” As Johnson