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Aristophanes: Clouds | |||
1993 • 0-941051-24-2 • paper • 97 pages • 5 ½ x 8 ½ • $9.95 One of Aristophanes' greatest comedies available with notes and introduction by Jeffrey Henderson, one of the most important scholars and translators of Greek comedy. | About the Author | Table of Contents | Preface | | |||
Description A delightful English translation of a play long noted for its critique of philosophy, society and education. Includes essays on Old Comedy and the Theater of Dionysus, suggestions for further reading, notes on production, and map. By a foremost authority on Aristophanes.
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Dr. Jeffrey Henderson is Chair and Professor of Classical Studies at Boston University. He earned his PhD at Harvard University. He is the author of groundbreaking translations and articles on Greek comic dramatists. His other translations for Focus Classical Library include Aristophanes’ Lysistrata (1988), Aristophanes’ Clouds (1993), Aristophanes’ Three Comedies: Acharnians, Lysistrata, Clouds (1997), and Aristophanes' Birds (1999).
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Introduction Aristophanes and Old Comedy Clouds, Aristophanes and the Athenian Enlightenment Production Theater of Dionysus Suggestions for Further Reading Aristophanes' Clouds
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Clouds, first performed in 423 BC, is a comedy about the revolutionary social, intellectual and educational changes that characterized the Athenian enlightenment of the late fifth century and that would profoundly shape the subsequent course of Western history. At its center is the philosopher, Socrates, who is portrayed as the arch-sophist, running an educational cult (the ‘Thinkery’) in which young men could pay to learn the latest scientific lore and rhetorical skills in order to achieve fame, power and wealth. In the Thinkery are two Arguments: the Better, an old gentleman who represents traditional customs, beliefs and virtues, and the Worse, a young dandy who advocates the techniques of unscrupulous self-promotion and the desirability of selfish hedonism. Drawn to the Thinkery is the forgetful old rustic Strepsiades, who has run up huge debts as a result of his son Pheidippides’ passion for horses and who wants to learn how to evade them. Unable to learn the new techniques himself, Strepsiades forces Pheidippides to enroll in the Thinkery. Strepsiades’ wish comes true in that Pheidippides emerges from the Thinkery as a skilled sophist, easily able to evade debts by dishonest arguments. At the same time, however, he has become so arrogant and amoral that he beats up Strepsiades and convinces him that it is just to do so. But when he proposes to beat up his mother as well, Strepsiades realizes what a terrible mistake he has made and takes vengeance on Socrates by burning the Thinkery to the ground. Above the action float the Chorus of Clouds: in their protean whimsicality they seem appropriate goddesses for Socrates, but they gradually reveal themselves to be a wishing-mirror for people in love with evil, luring them to a well-deserved punishment. Clouds is both a hilarious comedy of generational conflict and a profound exploration of some of the most fundamental conflicts in Western culture: belief versus reason, nature versus culture, religion versus science, the community versus the individual. It also contains a priceless portrait of one of the most gifted and influential men in history, a man otherwise known only from the adulatory writings of such pupils as Plato and Xenophon. Aristophanes’ portrait, written from the perspective of a popular humorist of traditional bent, is often in fascinating disagreement with that of the philosophers, and it proved trenchant enough that Plato called it a significant factor in Socrates’ condemnation twenty-four years later. Today Clouds is just as entertaining as theater, and just as relevant as a view of the best and worst of Western civilization, as it was over two millennia ago. In its mirror modern people can catch a glimpse of where we came from, where our best ideals have aimed us, and how far we have come (or not come) thus far. This is a translation of Clouds into contemporary American verse, designed for both readers and performers, and presupposing no knowledge of classical Greece or classical Greek theater. I render the Greek text line by line so as to give a sense of its original scope and pace, using for the dialogue and songs verse-forms that are familiar to modern audiences. Where the original text refers to people, places things and events whose significance modern audiences cannot reasonably be expected to know or to infer from the text, and which are inessential to its main themes, I have tried to find easily comprehensible alternatives that preserve the import of the original. What may be unfamiliar in the text is discussed in footnotes. The conventions of Aristophanic comedy included the frank portrayal and discussion of religion, politics and sex (including nudity and obscenity). I have reproduced this feature as accurately as possible within my general guideline of easy intelligibility. To do otherwise would be to falsify the play. These three areas are of fundamental importance to any society; one of Aristophanes’ chief aims was to make humor of them while at the same time encouraging his audience to think about them in ways discouraged, or even forbidden, outside the comic theater. The issue of freedom of speech and thought (especially religious and moral thought) is especially relevant to Clouds. For those made uncomfortable by such provocative theater, Clouds provides an opportunity to ask themselves why. The Introduction contains sections on Aristophanes and the genre of Attic Old Comedy which his plays represent; on Clouds and the Athenian enlightenment; on conventions of ancient production, with suggestions for modern performers; and suggestions for further reading. Like the translation and notes, the Introduction requires no previous expertise, and so is suitable for readers and students making their first acquaintance with Aristophanes. The translation is based on the Greek text by Sir Kenneth Dover (Oxford 1968).
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Aristophanes: Clouds
