Aristophanes' Clouds: An Ethical Consideration of Rhetoric

• In Event: Scholar to Scholar V

Abstract

Aristophanes' Clouds presents competing ideas of communication and education in 5th c. Athens, interweaving elements of rhetoric, ethics, and citizenship. The debate between the Greater and Lesser Discourse starkly contrasts values of traditional Athenian education with sophistic logic. In this scene, Aristophanes presents arguments about the value of ethics in public communication and which type of education is more beneficial, allowing the audience to determine the importance of ethical rhetoric in a democratic society.

Author

• Sean Larson, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities