Hi folks! As we start discussing Clouds, I want to hear what you reacted to in the first two sections. How do you see Strepsiades, the father? What’s the symbolism of the son, Pheidippides? What does the “Socrates” of the play seem to want?

At the start of Clouds, Aristophanes suggests that Athens has drifted away from genuine values and become overly fascinated with fancy words and clever reasoning. Strepsiades, the old farmer, is portrayed as both comical and tragic—he’s drowning in debt and turns to new forms of “education” hoping they can magically fix his troubles, even though he barely grasps what they mean. His son, Pheidippides, stands as a reflection of Athens’ spoiled youth, more invested in luxury, horses, and showing off than in hard work or responsibility. The play’s version of Socrates embodies the dangers of this intellectual trend; he’s so absorbed in abstract thought that he seems completely cut off from everyday life and moral sense. Through this sharp satire, Aristophanes warns that Athens’ obsession with clever talk and argument has blinded it to reason, integrity, and the simple wisdom that once defined the city.

I found it interesting how mentalities of both Strepsiades and Pheidippides can be seen in today’s generation, and it looks like a reflection of our society. Strepsiades (who can represent the elders of our society) believes his son and the youth in general have lost the traditional values that society upholds. He sees them as lazy in both mind and body. While Pheidippides represents the youths who don’t feel it’s necessary to follow the plan your parents have in mind and go out on their own doing whatever they like, which can be seen as lazy. I think the author perfectly displayed the gap between the elders and youth which stems from misunderstanding & unfamiliarity.

In the first parts of Clouds, Aristophanes seems to be showing that Athens has gotten kind of lost in fancy talk and clever arguments instead of focusing on real values. Strepsiades, the father, comes off as both funny and a little sad because he is desperate to get out of debt and does not really understand all this new “thinking” stuff, but he is drawn to it anyway because he thinks it will solve his problems. His son, Pheidippides, feels like a symbol of the spoiled, lazy youth of Athens who are more interested in expensive hobbies and showing off than in responsibility. The “Socrates” in the play seems to represent how intellectual life has become twisted since he is so focused on abstract ideas that he is totally disconnected from reality or morality. Overall, Aristophanes seems to be warning that Athens’ obsession with cleverness and argument is making the city lose its common sense and ethics.

One detail that jumped out at me as I read through was Socrates in detail describing to Strepsaides about the goddesses in the clouds.Strepsaides’ response is to leave his past beliefs about the gods behind and to only worship the goddesses. This struck me as interesting due to the fact that Socrates was not a devoted individual towards religion, his commentary was sarcastic but Strepsaides was unable to catch that. It makes me wonder if he was in such a place of desperation that he was willing to absorb any information that came his way or whether Socrates spoke in a convincing way, structuring his argument to cause Strepsaides to abandon his long-held beliefs about the gods. I think the author was trying to communicate to the audience that the false speech operated in such a persuasive manner although the argument itself was ridiculous. He gave us an example of this in the conversation about the clouds between Socrates and Strepsaides. I would like to find out more about the impact that attending the Thinkery will have on Strepsaides. Will he learn to argue falsely and be able to get out his son’s debt?

In the first sections of Clouds, what stood out to me was how Strepsiades is portrayed & he felt relatable while trying to escape his problems in any way he can. His decision to turn to Socrates and the “Thinkery” shows how desperate he is and it also highlights how easily people can be drawn in by trying to take the easy way out. Pheidippides is more focused on comfort and appearance than responsibility this shows the tension between old and new values in Athens. The “Socrates” in the play seems less interested in truth and more in logic for its advantage. Aristophanes appears to warn that people can twist truths to serve their own interests instead of wanting to know the actual truth.

I thought it was interesting just how much bias is presented in the story towards Socrates. The author didn't agree with Socrates thinking or his teachings and it comes cross in the way he presents Socrates as a joke and a hypocrite. Like, in agreeance with Adonise, he doesn't believe in the gods and yet allows himself to be treated like one. To me, this reads that the author thought philosophers like Socrates spread their teachings to their students in order to turn them away from the gods and indulge in what he believes is everything against Athens beliefs. So far, I think Pheidippides is supposed to symbolize tradition in the sense that he takes after his mother, liking expensive things and similar noble hobbies. This reminds me of how tradition is born from legacies and passing down whatever you can to the next generation, therefore, if Pheidippides strays form what he knows and goes to the thinkers, he will become "corrupt" and go against tradition.

As I was reading the play of Clouds I saw the main character Strepsiades as someone who is who is old school and somewhat foolish when it comes to learning the modern ways of speech during that time. But he is also a character that could be relatable to the audience as his struggles are of one of mortal man who is looking to make money the easy way. His son on the other hand is completely opposite. He a person of what is considered of the modern times within their time period and understands how to use the ways of false speech to get what he wants but that also makes him selfish, egoistic and stubborn. Socrates who been teaching wants to know more about how nature works and how everything is connected. The author somewhat mocks him tho as he is seen as person who feels that he can achieve knowledge to somewhat of the gods by questioning everything

I hope to learn more about the main character and see if he uses false speech in new way or maybe find something new about it.

In the second section of Clouds, the part that stood out to me was when Socrates introduces Strepsiades to the “new” way of thinking, where arguments can make the weaker cause seem stronger. This was surprising because it shows how logic and education were being twisted for selfish purposes rather than truth. Aristophanes seems to be warning that Athens’ love for clever speech and intellectual games is leading people away from morality and common sense. He uses humor to show how easily people can be misled by false wisdom. I’d like to learn more about how this reflects the real debates about education and philosophy in Athens during that time.

The problems were that there was a war in Athens and the resources were being scared the scholars did not know how to fix that problem and because of that people have suffered. In turn they went into the Thinkery in which there are more people who can think better about this.

One part of the story that reached out to me was the way Athenian society viewed Socrates as a laughable and expendable visionary. I always viewed Socrates as a well-respected philosopher who's ideas became some of the most iconic in ancient history. This story shines light on how the general public reacted to his beliefs which resulted in Socrates becoming an outsider. The author is trying to convey how Socrates was treated during his life so that the audience can compare it to Socrates's real life and how modern audiences react to his work. I'm interested in seeing how Socrates causes chaos with other protagonists like Strepsiades.

One detail that stood out to me was “Socrates”’s character. I like the irony that although “Socrates” doesn’t believe in gods, he has his students bow to him and suspend him level in a basket., which is a comical twist on the trope “deus ex machina”.

I think the author is trying to communicate that Socrates and philosophers like him are blasphemous and pretentious people who are too absorbed in themselves.

I’d like to find out more about the Thinkery and the Sophists and whether or not Strepsiades’s plan will backfire.