90-99
Clouds 90-99 · The Thinkery90-99The Thinkery
Strepsiades points out a little house next door. Inside live the men who can teach anyone to win an argument.
· · ·
Pheidippides
λέγε1
lége
Tell
me
δή2
dḗ
then
, τί3
tí
what
κελεύεις4
keleúeis
are you ordering
? Strepsiades
καί5
kaí
And
πείσει6
peísei
will you obey
τι7
ti
at all
? Pheidippides
πείσομαι8
peísomai
I willI will obey
, νὴ9
nḕ
by
τὸν10
tòn
—
Διόνυσον11
Diónyson
Dionysus
! Strepsiades
νυν12
nyn
Now
ἀπόβλεπε13
apóblepe
look
δεῦρό14
deûró
over here
. ὁρᾷς15
horâis
Do you see
τοῦτο16
toûto
that
τὸ17
tò
—
θύριον18🎭1
thýrion
little door
καὶ19
kaì
and
τᾠκίδιον20
tōikídion
the little house
? Pheidippides
ὁρῶ21
horô
I see
. οὖν22
oûn
So
τί23
tí
what
ἐστὶν24
estìn
is
τοῦτʼ25
toût’
it
ἐτεὸν26
eteòn
really
, ὦ27
ô
—
πάτερ28
páter
father
? Strepsiades
τοῦτʼ29
toût’
That
ἐστὶ30
estì
is
φροντιστήριον31🎭2
phrontistḗrion
the Thinkerythinking-shop
σοφῶν32
sophôn
of wise
ψυχῶν33
psychôn
souls
. ἄνδρες34
ándres
Men
ἐνοικοῦσʼ35
enoikoûs’
live
ἐνταῦθʼ36
entaûth’
in there
οἳ37
hoì
who
ἀναπείθουσιν38
anapeíthousin
convince peoplepersuade
λέγοντες39
légontes
by arguing
ὡς40
hōs
that
τὸν41
tòn
the
οὐρανὸν42
ouranòn
sky
ἔστιν43
éstin
is
πνιγεύς44🎭3
pnigeús
an oven-lida smotherer
, and
οὗτος45
hoûtos
it
κἄστιν46
kástin
is
περὶ47
perì
around
ἡμᾶς48
hēmâs
us
, δʼ49
d’
and
ἡμεῖς50
hēmeîs
we
are
ἄνθρακες51🎭4
ánthrakes
the coals
. οὗτοι52
hoûtoi
These men
διδάσκουσʼ53
didáskous’
teach
, ἤν54
ḗn
if
τις55
tis
someone
διδῷ56
didôi
gives
them
ἀργύριον57🎭5
argýrion
money
, how
νικᾶν58
nikân
to win
λέγοντα59
légonta
by arguing
, καὶ60
kaì
both
δίκαια61
díkaia
right
κἄδικα62
kádika
and wrong
. Pheidippides
Tell me then, what are you ordering? Strepsiades
And will you obey at all? Pheidippides
I will, by Dionysus! Strepsiades
Now look over here. Do you see that little door and the little house? Pheidippides
I see. So what is it really, father? Strepsiades
That is the Thinkery of wise souls. Men live in there who convince people by arguing that the sky is an oven-lid, and it is around us, and we are the coals. These men teach, if someone gives them money, how to win by arguing, both right and wrong. 🎭 The jokes here
1A little door, a little house· stage gag Strepsiades uses diminutives for the school: a little door, a little house. An ancient commentator says the poet shrinks everything to do with philosophy with these little words, to show how cheap it is.Source: ancient scholion on line 92, quoted in Starkie 1911
2The Thinkery· name joke φροντιστήριον is built like the names of real Athenian institutions (a δικαστήριον is a law court) from φροντίζω, "to think, to worry". Socrates' followers, the commentators say, were nicknamed "thinkers".Source: ancient scholion on line 94, quoted in Starkie 1911
3The sky is an oven-lid· parody A πνιγεύς was the cover a baker put over charcoal to smother it. The ancient notes say the comic poet Cratinus had already used this "theory" to mock a philosopher named Hippon. Here we are all the coals under the lid.Source: ancient scholion on line 96, quoted in Starkie 1911
4Coals, not men· sound joke He says ἄνθρακες, "coals", where you expect ἄνδρες or ἄνθρωποι, "men". The words sound alike, and Aristophanes likes this kind of switch.Source: Starkie 1911, note on line 97
5For a fee· Athenian dig Paid teaching of argument was what the Sophists did. An ancient commentator protests that this is a slander on Socrates, who never took a fee. Plato makes the same point at Socrates' trial.Source: ancient scholion on line 98, quoted in Starkie 1911
Pheidippides: Tell me then, what are you ordering? Strepsiades: And will you obey at all? Pheidippides: I will, by Dionysus! Strepsiades: Now look over here. Do you see that little door and the little house? Pheidippides: I see. So what is it really, father? Strepsiades: That is the Thinkery of wise souls. Men live in there who convince people by arguing that the sky is an oven-lid, and it is around us, and we are the coals. These men teach, if someone gives them money, how to win by arguing, both right and wrong.
Interpretation
Pheidippides: Go on, then, what are you telling me to do? Strepsiades: And will you do it? Pheidippides: I will, by Dionysus. Strepsiades: Now look over here. Do you see that little door and the little house? Pheidippides: I see it. What is it really, father? Strepsiades: That is the Thinkery of wise souls. Men live in there who can prove to you that the sky is an oven-lid, all around us, and we are the coals. These men teach anyone who pays them how to win an argument, right or wrong.
Everything about the school is small: a little door, a little house. The father is pointing next door, and the audience is looking at a stage building that will turn out to be Socrates' school. Its name, phrontistērion, is a made-up word built like the names of Athenian public buildings: a "Thinkery", a thought-works.
The science Strepsiades has picked up is garbled and wonderful. The sky is a pnigeus, the lid a baker put over hot charcoal, and we are the coals underneath. Then the real reason he wants his son in there: these men teach you, for a fee, to win any argument, right or wrong. An ancient commentator already objected that Socrates never took money, and Plato has Socrates say the same at his trial.
100-109
Clouds 100-109 · Socrates and Chaerephon100-109Socrates and Chaerephon
Strepsiades does not know what the wise men are called. His son knows exactly who they are, and wants nothing to do with them.
· · ·
Pheidippides: And who are they? Strepsiades: I do not know their name exactly. Worry-thinkers, fine and good men. Pheidippides: Yuck! Scoundrels, I know them. You mean those frauds, the pale ones, the barefoot ones, among them that wretch Socrates and Chaerephon. Strepsiades: Hey, hush, be quiet! Say nothing childish. But if you care at all about your father's barley, become one of them for me, giving up the horses. Pheidippides: I would not, by Dionysus, not even if you gave me the pheasants that Leogoras raises.