¶ … repeatedly, and indeed many of us believe to be true, that there is nothing new under the sun, it is nevertheless always a little startling to find that issues that we consider to be thoroughly modern have in fact been being discussed for thousands of years. This is the case when one reads Aristophanes's The Clouds, which is a very witty indictment of new educational ideas in vogue during his lifetime in Athens.
What makes this work so entertaining - other than the language itself, which we can appreciate even in translation - is the fact Aristophanes has a gift for allowing us to see the real silliness of the ways in which education and pedagogy are politicized. This play is not simply a debate about the best way in which to teach the youth of Athens. Rather, it is about how different groups holding power in Athenian society can gain power and status for themselves (and the other aspects of their political agenda) by promoting various educational programs that will favor them.
This is, of course, exactly what happens today. People who want schools to teach only about abstinence and not about birth control are interested not only in this particular aspect of school curricula but also about pressing a socially and politically conservative agenda in general - and are using the cover of pedagogical reform to do so. Likewise, those who wish to see conflict-resolution taught in schools are not simply interested in helping students learn how to minimize conflicts and arguments in the hallways but are interested in promoting a range of politically progressive...
Lysistrata Of Aristophanes' 11 plays that are still extant, Lysistrata is perhaps his most famous. Certainly the play's contemporary popularity stems not a little from the fact that it resonates sympathetically with many of the scholarly concerns that have increased in importance since the rise of the feminist and post-feminist critical movements. The basic dramatic action of the play is quite simple. In response to the ongoing Peloponnesian war between Athens
Socrates Both comedy and tragedy are "related to emotional needs and religious longings that became crystallized and structured in ritualistic celebrations and festivals," (34). Both can be framed as "catalysts" that force "some sort of conversion" in the individual (34). Moreover, both comedy and tragedy reflect the "eternal spectacle of human nature and its weaknesses," (35). Both art forms use imitation or mimicry of a political figure or idea. However, there are
Isocrates: No Sophist A strict definition of sophistry has evolved throughout the centuries, yet sophists are identifiable in every age, whether in Plato's Dialogues, Shakespeare's dramas, or today's politicians and scholars. What then is a sophist? A sophist was, in ancient Greece, an itinerant teacher, who provided an education in rhetoric for a fee. Sophists were criticized by others, like Plato and Aristophanes (notably in "The Clouds"), for basing their doctrine
Aristophanes Acharnians, Knights, and Clouds are three of the most revered works by Aristophanes. These works are of particular interest to this discourse because they have clear political and social nuances which affected the manner in which they were received in Ancient Athens. The discussion posits that Aristophanes had concrete political concerns and he utilized his craft as a dramatist to expose these matters with the purpose of affecting change in
Ancient European History The image of the Greek philosopher, a man who addressed issues both of cosmic significance and of political moment, is embodied in Socrates, a man known largely by the writings about him from his students, such as Plato, and from the satire of him written by Aristophanes. The images of Socrates as presented by these two writers are quite different, with the student Plato reflecting admiration for Socrates,
Socrates As Navia puts it, "there are not many things that are known about Socrates with certainty," (15). Historians do know the philosophers years of birth and death (469 BCE and 399 BCE, respectively), and the fact that he was poisoned by an Athenian jury much as Plato described the matter in his Apology. As with Jesus, Socrates life is pieced together by the writings of other people, many of whom
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