Russell Jaffe, the course's hero literature instructor, explains the plot summary of Aristophanes' play The Clouds.
Download the free study guide and infographic for The Clouds here: https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Clouds/infographic/
In Aristophanes' theatrical comedy The Clouds, Strepsiades, a debt-ridden Athenian farmer, needs help. Fortunately, a school led by Socrates, called Thought, offers a solution: learning to argue your way out of debt.
Before he can change his life, Strepsiades must pass Socrates' bizarre initiation tests and please the school's goddesses, the Clouds, who have replaced the traditional choir.
When he fails, he sends his son instead. His son's arguments against his debt ultimately fail and Strepsiades burns the school.
The debates are supervised by the Clouds, who, in chorus, comment on the madness of Socrates and his students.
The play The Clouds by the famous Greek playwright Aristophanes was first performed in 423 BCE. His plays combine loud, obscene humor, parody and choral poetry with pointed social satire. He frequently ridicules Athenian political figures, as in The Clouds, which mocks Socrates and the Sophists, fashionable philosophers in ancient Athens.
The theatrical comedy The Clouds contains many important symbols, including clouds, representing flexible, changeable, and devious persuasion techniques; money, symbolizing need, greed, desire and manipulation; and insects, symbolizing insignificant details that sophists use to win arguments.
Explore Course Hero's collection of free literature study guides, Q&A pairs, and infographics here: https://www.coursehero.com/lit/
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