Take this The Clouds Quiz to find out how well you remember the book. Answer these quick questions to find out. Play it now!
The spendthrift Pheidippides’ father, Strepsiades, can’t sleep because he’s anxious about the debts he’s racked up as a result of Pheidippides’ costly obsession with racehorses. For the purpose of tallying his debts, Strepsiades summons a Slave to bring him his accounts. He grows furious as he considers his debts, and the sound of his words awakens Pheidippides. Pheidippides is urged by Strepsiades to abandon his extravagant lifestyle and enroll in the hip new school next door so that he can learn sophistry and obscure natural sciences that would help him outsmart their creditors in court. Strepsiades enrolls himself after Pheidippides’ obstinate refusal.
When Strepsiades arrives at the school, he is greeted by a student who informs him of Socrates’ recent studies with astronomy and insects. The student demonstrates to Strepsiades how the other students at the school are hunched over in their work, studying astronomy with their behinds and geology with their faces. The Student is displaying their maps to Strepsiades when Socrates enters the scene in a balloon basket suspended in the air. According to Socrates, the device enables him to “suspend” (I.i.230) his judgment and be more receptive to fresh ideas. Strepsiades describes his predicament and seeks advice. Strepsiades is educated by Socrates, who shows him that the weather is created by a Chorus of Clouds rather than by any gods. Strepsiades is hustled inside by Socrates after being robbed of his coat.
The Clouds quiz
The Chorus of Clouds performs a song in Strepsiades’ absence defending the play and criticizing the audience for not appreciating it when it was first performed. The Chorus applauds the playwright’s moral intentions and the crucial lessons his satire provides in these trying times. The Clouds quiz will help you remember certain details.
Strepsiades and Socrates reappear and talk about the gender of nouns. Strepsiades is placed on a bed full with lice by Socrates for contemplation. Strepsiades offers his absurd notions for how to win his court case after much suffering. Socrates is dejected and refers to him as a useless student. Strepsiades is persuaded to enroll his son by the Chorus of Clouds. Also, you must try to play The Clouds quiz.
Characters:
Strepsiades
a stressed-out parent and citizen of Athens who is weighed down by the debts his son Pheidippides has racked up. Although Strepsiades is the play’s “hero,” he is not particularly valiant. Instead, he is focused on achieving his dishonest goal of avoiding accountability for his debts. Strepsiades is therefore more of a “anti-hero.” He lacks the delicate, esoteric intellect necessary to flourish at the school, and instead irritates Socrates and the other students with his intransigence, his aggression, and his constrained, literal thinking. Because he is a pragmatic and not a philosopher, he is grounded in the material world and is happiest while giving a good beating or masturbating. He provides a suitable counterpoint to Socrates’ purely intellectualism because of his fumbling, boorish body.
Pheidippides
the stingy and conceited son of Strepsiades. He has a liking for horses as well as a passion for esoteric knowledge, and he has taken on his mother’s and Uncle Megacles’ aristocratic posture. He exhibits arrogance and smugness and demonstrates a willingness to learn Socrates’ nuanced rhetorical techniques. His egotism renders him vicious and ruthless, and he is intrigued with himself—first, his own monetary wants, and then his own whirling whirlwind of an intellect.
Socrates
The head sophist of the notorious school. Socrates is a representative of the “new education” of sophistry, rhetoric, atheism, and science. He is the pinnacle of esoteric knowledge and appears to be floating since he is so divorced from Athens’ normal reality. Socrates stands for pure, elevated intelligence at its most idealistic and unrealistic, in contrast to the brutal physicality of Strepsiades. Socrates is not “above” human emotions like rage and frustration, though, especially when dealing with a silly pupil like Strepsiades.
About The Clouds quiz
15 multiple-choice questions in the free The Clouds quiz below will help you gauge your knowledge of the book. Determine which chapters, ideas, and writing techniques you already understand, as well as what you still need to learn in preparation for your forthcoming essay, midterm, or final test. Now take the free test!
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