Interesting In Aristophanes The Clouds example essay topic

'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 neglect ion 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 disc used 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 didn't. It seems asif Aristophanes would approve of an education based soul around the reading of literature and some physical.

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 lineStrepsiades 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 don't 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 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 it's 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 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 toto 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 philosophers 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 Johnson's essay, headdresses the ending Aristophanes chooses for 'The Clouds. ' If all into the group that Johnson says, 'see that this powerful ominous ending as a persuasive possibility. ' As Johnson says, Aristophanes traps his audience; they " re engaged because of the humor and satirical nature of the beginning of the play. We can laugh at someone, like Socrates, that we have nothing in common with.

But as the satire gets closer and closer to us withStrepsiades burning down 'the Thinker,' it becomes obvious that the audience is no longer laughing at Socrates, with whom we have nothing in common, but rather at the vision of the people we could become if we engage behavior motivated by self-interest. Ironically, as Johnson points out, Aristophanes was correct in his warnings. Athens did fall due to it's own self-destruction. I find it interesting and a little bit scary because I believe we could apply this ominous warning to our own nation. We are guilty, just as the Athenians were, of sometimes being too proud of our political independence.

I believe wars, like that in Iraq, could lead to our demise. Even more obvious to me is the fact that I definitely believe we are losing sight of our traditional moral virtues. Americans find it so easy to point the finger, and refuse to examine our own beliefs, trying to impose them on others that may not be able to survive our view of what democracy or freedom should be. I find it morally questionable that we centralize our efforts thousands of miles away when we have so many problems that have the potential to be our end looming within the borders of our own country.'s trepsiades is pointing forward to much of the self-destructiveness which brought the Athenians, and countless other cultures proud of their values, to grief,' Johnson says.

Believe many of our leaders and citizens could never for see a fate like this in America -- but it is that belief that has the potential to bring us off our self inflicted pedestal. Another interesting point Johnson brings to our attention is his warning in the problem of 'how do we keep the good will of our children on whom we are going to depend? What is it that keeps children from exerting their superior power to abuse their parents when they don't get their way?' I believe that this breakdown of the immediate family is prevalent in our modern-day society. While it's a bit different than what Johnson is suggesting, never before in history, has our lack of respect and concern for those who came before us been so obvious. Unfortunately, I can't think of a family who has a sick grandparent or other elder member of their family living in their home.

Nursing homes and hospitals have become a place where we can tuck them away so as not to have to forfeit any aspect of our lives in order to help preserve theirs. If we forget and turn a blind eye to traditions formerly viewed as important in our society, we run the risk of as Johnson puts it, being 'left with a situation in which the only basis for human relationship is power. ' Power is the basis for all of our accepted laws and behaviors, if that for some reason shifts, so would the laws. Then, as Johnson suggests, a son would be free to harm his parents. 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.

In 'The Apology,' Socrates speaks of death as more of an unknown -- something he can't be afraid of, because he doesn't understand what it means. In Socrates' eyes, death has the potential to be something great, as long as a person lives a good and virtuous life. Aristophanes, on the other hand, seems to be more concerned with what his peers and leaders will think of him and do to him and others, if they commit some sort of a crime. Aristophanes paints a portrait of death as more of an end, rather than having the potential to be beginning. Comedic satire and philosophical dialectic are similar in that they are both practices of arriving at the truth by the exchange of logical (and in the case of satire, funny) arguments. In the dialectic, it's by presenting a thesis, developing a contradictory antithesis, and combining and resolving them into a coherent synthesis, and in satire it's by attacking human vice through irony and wit.

In the case of Aristophanes, he urges the people of Athens to make changes through his satirical play. As I discussed formerly in my essay, he warned of things to come through 'The Clouds' ominous ending. Essentially, I think that 'The Clouds,' can be a piece of classical Greek literature applicable to our own modern world. If we do not take the time to examine practices and beliefs, they have the potential to lose the weight and value that they were once based or formed on. While Aristophanes aimed at entertaining his audience through comedic satire, he also had avery serious warning -- that ended up holding true -- for the people of Athens. A nation too proud and too sure in it's own beliefs and politics, has proven through history, never to work.

Sadly, while I believe the United States is a great nation with moral goals and hopes, I believe we exemplify some of the problems that the Athenian state suffered from, and eventually died from. We often times refuse to examine our beliefs. We automatically view them as 'the best,' or 'the most moral. ' This can be seen in our current struggle in Iraq. If we constantly leave our borders to try and convince others around the world American knows best, we " re doomed for failure. As exemplified in " The Clouds,' we then become the ones throwing stones at people we don't agree with -- a fate almost worse than death..