The Clouds by Aristophanes | Agon 2

Course Hero Literature Instructor Russell Jaffe provides an in-depth summary and analysis of Agon 2 from Aristophanes's play The Clouds.


In Aristophanes's theatrical comedy The Clouds, debt-ridden Athenian farmer Strepsiades needs help. Luckily, a school run by Socrates called the Thinkery offers a solution: learn to argue his way out of debt.

Before he can change his life, Strepsiades has to pass Socrates’s bizarre initiation tests and please the school’s goddesses—the Clouds, who have replaced the traditional chorus.

When he fails, he sends his son instead. His son's arguments against his debt are ultimately unsuccessful and Strepsiades burns down the school.

The proceedings are overseen by the Clouds, who as the chorus, comment on the foolishness of both Socrates and his pupils.

Famous Greek playwright Aristophanes's play The Clouds was first performed in 423 BCE. His plays combine boisterous, lewd humor, parody, and choral poetry with sharp social satire. He frequently ridiculed Athenian political figures, as in The Clouds, which mocks Socrates and the Sophists—philosophers trendy in ancient Athens.

The theatrical comedy The Clouds contains many important symbols, including clouds, representing flexible, shape-shifting, sneaky persuasion techniques; money, symbolizing need, greed, desire, and manipulation; and insects, symbolizing insignificant details Sophists use to win arguments.


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