Learning Outcome 3: “Use appropriate disciplinary terminology and methods of criticism to analyze texts”
This essay, completed in ERH 323W, MAJ Knepper’s “Philosophy & Literature” class, is an analysis of one of the few full length Greek Comedies we know of, The Clouds by Aristophanes. The comedy centers itself around the great Socrates, making the great philosopher a laughingstock for the audience. Socrates, one of Greece’s most esteemed thinkers, still retains his well-earned respect by the audience members, however the comedy is an eye-opener of sorts for the viewers, reminding them that Socrates is human like the rest of us and has qualities that are also imperfect. In the essay I analyze both sides of controversy over the comedy, those being that Aristophanes was overly condemning of Socrates, and the other side in support of the comedy, seeing the humor as a form of “obscure observation” rather than having malicious intent. This work is important to me because in previous classes, like Rhetorical Traditions I for instance, I tended to struggle with Greek Play analysis. However, by my second class year when this essay was written, I was much more comfortable with reading Greek works and understanding them to the point of being able to conduct a thorough analysis.
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