Clouds
110. Aristophanes, Clouds (trans. Paul Roche)
In this ancient Greek comedy, Strepsiades is an old man whose greatest desire is to avoid paying his debts. As he observes the philosophers at the “Thinkpot” near his home, he is struck by their ability to make right seem wrong and wrong seem right. He knows that, if he can learn to argue like Socrates, he’ll be able to “prove” that he doesn’t owe any money. His resulting adventures with Socrates and the pupils at the Thinkpot comprise the bulk of the play; but as one might suspect, things don’t turn out quite the way Strepsiades hopes.
The trouble with comedies is that they often poke fun at specific people and trends that were relevant at the time they were written; as a result, they become dated really quickly, and contemporary readers will miss half the jokes. I’m pretty sure that’s why I didn’t find this play terribly funny; some parts were mildly amusing, but I think most of it went over my head. I also wasn’t a huge fan of the translation, which might not be a fair criticism since I don’t know any ancient Greek, but I thought it was oddly informal and colloquial. This play might be worth reading if you’re interested in classical Greece or you know something about ancient philosophy, but for me it was just so-so.