The Clouds Analysis

Well, we don't get a lot of description of Athens, but we definitely get a pretty clear vibe about the Thinkery (where a lot of the action takes place). From the first moment Strepsiades shows up t...

Even though The Clouds is a drama—and therefore doesn't have a typical narrator—it does give us a little more to work with in terms of POV because we get the Chorus speaking for the author via...

Well, this is pretty much a no-brainer: The Clouds is definitely an example of Greek comedy. Even while the play is going after Socrates's philosophies and teachings, jokes (and filthy language/pot...

Aristophanes appears just as interested in bringing us over to his views as his character Socrates. With the Chorus weighing in early and often on topics ranging from Athenian politics to the chara...

The translation we're reading here doesn't shy away from the potty humor and references to sex in the original, and so we get the dirty stuff alongside all the serious talk about politics and philo...

The Clouds are pretty important to the action, so it seems only right that they get to be in the title, right? They're godlike entities that, represented by the Chorus, get to weigh in on the play'...

Having seen the error of his ways in going to the Thinkery and using its teachings to be dishonest, Strepsiades decides that the best course of action is to burn the place to the ground. As we disc...

The translated language is pretty straightforward and accessible, with few fancy words (but lots of dirty ones)—so, nothing too difficult to deal with there. However, there are a lot of Greek nam...

Less Money, Mo' Problems An Athenian dude named Strepsiades is upset because he's managed to go waaaay into debt financing his son's love of the ponies (racing them, that is). Now he's got cre...

When we meet Strepsiades, our first instinct is to feel pretty sorry for him. After all, he's in a whole mountain of debt thanks to his son's bad habits, and he's trying to figure out how in the wo...

Strepsiades is in mountains of debt and wants to, well, not be. He also doesn't feel like actually paying the money back, so he decides that the best course is to learn some fancy argumentation so...

The play was written in 419 BCE. Dang, that was a long time ago. (Source.) Aristophanes' portrayal of Socrates was funny but pretty inaccurate.  (Source.)   The Clouds was considered the...

There's no actual sex in the play, but there are references to masturbation and butts (so many butts) and plenty o' cussing. This is basically the Ancient Greek equivalent of a Farrely Brothers movie

Aeschylus (1365-1366)Aphrodite (52)Apollo (371, 596)Aristophanes, Knights (554, 580)Artemis (598)Athena (988)Carcinus (1261)Chaerephon (104, 504, 830, 1465)Demeter (121)Dionysus (108, 310, 519, 606...