*** Webinar Video Recording ***

The Greek plays are essential reading for any classical education. They are tragic and comic, political and theological, high brow and low brow all once. And among the most important Greek dramatists is Aristophones, (446-386 BC), an Athenian playwright best known for Clouds, a play which challenges the ancient Greek sophists, including Socrates, the most famous of all philosophers, whose dramatic death has captivated readers for centuries.

But this play offers a different view of Socrates than the one we find in Plato. Plato presents a version of Socrates who challenges the sophists himself, who is trying to save the Greeks from the wiles of Sophistry. Aristophanes, however, actually counts Socrates among the Sophists, as a man floating around in a basket, inventing his own gods, and corrupting the youth of Athens. In fact, the version of Socrates presented in Clouds matches the version in the accusations Plato tells of in his Apology. And despite the play being written nearly 25 years before his trial, Socrates names Aristophanes as one his of his longtime accusers.

In this webinar, Matthew Bianco will contemplate why this play matters, why the various theories about the play are interesting, and what it can mean for contemporary readers.

NOTE: A link to the video recording will be emailed to you upon purchase.