Essays on literary works - 2023

Strepsiad
Aristophanes

STREPSIAD - the hero of Aristophanes' comedy "Clouds" (423 BC), a wealthy landowner who settled in the city after his marriage to an Athenian aristocrat. Even in his old age he remained a rude, greedy and cunning peasant, who, however, was not without common sense. The comedy begins with the old man's complaints about his son Phidappides, who squandered a large fortune and owed a lot because of his passion for horses. S.'s peasant intelligence comes to his aid: he heard that the school of the philosopher Socrates teaches the wrong to win over the right, and therefore decides to take his son there. But the son refuses, and S. himself goes to Socrates' think room in order to master all sorts of wisdom. In the long scene with Socrates, the old man plays the traditional comic role of the simpleton, opposed to the sage. The illiterate old man returns home and tries to explain to his son how injustice can prevail. In response, the son beat S. and proved that it is absolutely fair if the son beats the father. Finally common sense characteristic of the peasant prevails, and S. takes action - he sets fire to the school of Socrates. In the comedy depicting Socrates as the bearer of false knowledge based on sophistry, Aristophanes' sympathies are entirely on the side of S. Lit .: Piotrovsky A. Comedy of Ideas // Aristophanes. Comedy. M; L., 1934. T. 1. based on sophistry, the sympathy of Aristophanes is entirely on the side of S. Lit .: Piotrovsky A. Comedy of Ideas // Aristophanes. Comedy. M; L., 1934. T. 1. based on sophistry, the sympathy of Aristophanes is entirely on the side of S.