Classical
CLASS 1110 Second Paper Assignment
Shonell Maynard
In the books; The Clouds written by Aristophanes, and The Apology, written by Plato, the philosopher Socrates is portrayed in two different ways. Plato, being a loyal follower of Socrates, portrays him as being a very simple man who is always open to learning new wisdom. However, Aristophanes portrays him as an atheist who practices sophistry along with a number of different crimes. People question whether or not Plato exaggerated the character of Socrates in an effort to gain sympathy for him, while others question if Aristophanes wrote the book The Clouds to slander Socrates’ character. Aristophanes uses satire to ridicule and criticize Socrates and the Sophists. In The Clouds, Socrates holds the characteristics of a sarcastic atheist with no patience. He is the man in charge of the “Thinkery,” a school where students learned the teachings of sophistry; a way of using clever argument. He meets a farmer named Strepsiades who is willing to learn sophistry in an effort to avoid paying his debts. After Strepsiades swears by all gods that he’ll pay Socrates any fee in exchange for his teaching of sophistry, Socrates replies: “What do you mean, ‘the gods’? In the first place, gods aren’t legal tender here.” (The Clouds: 247) Socrates view of the world in “Clouds,” conflicts with what people outside of the “Thinkery” would agree with, according to him, the gods do not exist. After dealing with the character Strepsiades, Socrates shows his frustration and impatience. He views Strepsiades as nothing but an uneducated and ignorant man; he no longer wants to teach him, which leads Strepsiades to convincing his son to enroll into the “Thinkery” instead. Although Socrates speaks like he is an intelligent philosopher, he exhibits it a very negative way to make other people feel as though they are worth less than him. In my opinion,
Shonell Maynard
In the books; The Clouds written by Aristophanes, and The Apology, written by Plato, the philosopher Socrates is portrayed in two different ways. Plato, being a loyal follower of Socrates, portrays him as being a very simple man who is always open to learning new wisdom. However, Aristophanes portrays him as an atheist who practices sophistry along with a number of different crimes. People question whether or not Plato exaggerated the character of Socrates in an effort to gain sympathy for him, while others question if Aristophanes wrote the book The Clouds to slander Socrates’ character. Aristophanes uses satire to ridicule and criticize Socrates and the Sophists. In The Clouds, Socrates holds the characteristics of a sarcastic atheist with no patience. He is the man in charge of the “Thinkery,” a school where students learned the teachings of sophistry; a way of using clever argument. He meets a farmer named Strepsiades who is willing to learn sophistry in an effort to avoid paying his debts. After Strepsiades swears by all gods that he’ll pay Socrates any fee in exchange for his teaching of sophistry, Socrates replies: “What do you mean, ‘the gods’? In the first place, gods aren’t legal tender here.” (The Clouds: 247) Socrates view of the world in “Clouds,” conflicts with what people outside of the “Thinkery” would agree with, according to him, the gods do not exist. After dealing with the character Strepsiades, Socrates shows his frustration and impatience. He views Strepsiades as nothing but an uneducated and ignorant man; he no longer wants to teach him, which leads Strepsiades to convincing his son to enroll into the “Thinkery” instead. Although Socrates speaks like he is an intelligent philosopher, he exhibits it a very negative way to make other people feel as though they are worth less than him. In my opinion,