Aristophanes, Clouds

Elodie Paillard (University of Sydney)

Ed. by Laura Swift, The Open University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.1.1: Greek Writing and Culture: Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic and Imperial, -800--100.
Vol. editors: Jonathan Burgess (University of Toronto), Giacomo Fedeli (University of Exeter), Emily Kneebone (University of Nottingham), Vaios Liapis (Open University of Cyprus), Elodie Paillard (University of Sydney), Mali Skotheim (Ashoka University), Laura Swift (The Open University)

Dates

First circulation or publication -423

Places

Ancient Greece (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Comedy
Play

Resources

Introduction

Aristophanes’ Clouds was first performed in 423 BC at the Great Dionysia. The play did not win the 1^st prize and was only ranked third, which incited its author to modify it (see below on the question of the two versions of the Clouds).

Clouds is probably the first ‘comedy of ideas’: it does not deal with an entirely fantastical world and is not as full of low-key humour as other comedies from the same period. Its end, too, is not as clearly positive and comical as in other comedies of Aristophanes. This play is also very different from the majority of Aristophanes’ other works as it does not deal closely with contemporary political events and …

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2368 words

Citation: Paillard, Elodie. "Clouds". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 March 2018 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=13334, accessed 24 November 2024.]

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