Who Is Aristophanes's Argument In The Clouds

I do not find the argument in The Clouds persuasive for a number of reasons. One thing that has to be understood in regards to The Clouds is the person who wrote the play. Who actually was Aristophanes and how did he feel about Socrates and his opinions as a whole. From reading the play this is not something that we actually learn about, therefore it leaves the reader to wonder whether any biased opinions were involved when writing the play.
Even though Socrates himself did not write the Apology we know for a fact that Plato was a student of Socrates who believed in doing the just and unjust thing, much of the point for the play Apology anyhow. As this is the case it is only logical to assume that he is doing the just thing and reporting the judgement as Socrates as it happened. This means that even if Plato did originally have a biased opinion when it came to Socrates, that through doing the just thing, he would set his opinions aside. …show more content…
This is entirely different from what is normally thought of by Socrates. In the Apology, part of his argument against his sentence would be that he is not a teacher at all (19e). Instead he claims that he speaks to anyone willing to listen to him. This is quite a different point of view from that that Aristophanes is portraying of him in The Clouds. If Plato is making the just argument, then it would make sense that Socrates did not actually see himself as a teacher. Socrates was much about rhetoric, convincing others to understand his points of view while at the same time never asking anything in return. The Clouds was a play in which to gain attention and to introduce new scientific concepts, even so, even if the play could be seen as a form of flattery, it ended up being less truthful