CLGR 406
Aristophanes and Plato Fall 2023
Division I
This is not the current course catalog

This course explores Aristophanes’ comedy Clouds and Plato’s dramatic dialogue Apology of Socrates through close reading, commentary, translation, and analysis. Together, these texts provide a point of entry for grasping the political and social processes that culminated in the trial, conviction, and execution of Socrates in 399 BCE because “he corrupts the youth and does not recognize the gods the city recognizes (Apology 28b-c).” More broadly, these texts open up perspectives on how scientific inquiry, Socratic conversation, and rhetorical education were viewed in fifth-century Athens and prime us to reconsider core questions ranging from the proper methods, purpose, and stakes of scientific and rhetorical education to the proper role of tradition in familial and civic life and the costs of nonconformity.