Socrates and Aristophanes SOCRATES and ARISTOPHANES LEO STRAUSS The University of Chicago Press Chicago and London The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637 The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London ©1966 by Leo Strauss All rights reserved. Published 1966 Paperback edition 1980 Printed in the United States of America 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 0807 3 4 5 6 7 ISBN-13: 978-0-226-77719-1 (paper) ISBN-10: 0-226-77719-7 (paper) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Strauss, Leo. Socrates and Arisophanes. Reprint of the ed. published by Basic Books, New York. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Aristophanes—Criticism and interpretation. 2. Socrates. I. Title. PA3879.S78 1980 882(cid:2).01 79-18391 øThe paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992. Contents I Introduction 1 II The Clouds 9 III The Other Plays 55 1 The AchamianS 57 2 The Knights 80 3 The Wasps 112 4 The Peace 136 5 The Birds 160 6 The Lysistrate 195 7 The Thesmophoriazusai 214 8 The Frogs 236 9 The Assembly of Women 263 10 The Plutos 283 N Conclusion 309 Notes 315 Index 321 Socrates and Aristophanes I Introduction tl