![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() (2) If you want to approach Greek philosophy through plays, I would suggest Sophocles' 'Oedipus Rex' ('King Oedipus') where Oedipus is shamed merely for what he does innocently and unknowingly (kill his father and marry his mother). It is a mystery why Aristophanes guyed Socrates as he did. Now that might lead you into a consideration of the historical Socrates or the Socrates presented in Plato's dialogues. Outside drama, this 'speech' (brief enough and vastly entertaining) is gentle initial reading.Īmong Aristophanes' other plays, 'The Clouds', has a famous depiction of Socrates as a sophist and windbag. The 'speech' has inspired both thought and talk about love ever since. Each then looked for its original other half. Their power and pretensions made them over-ambitious and they were duly punished by the gods who split them apart. May I make two suggestions ? (1) In Plato's 'Symposium' Aristophanes is represented as making a speech about the original nature of human beings : each person was twice what they are now : female joined to male, male joined to male, &c. On balance I recommend Stephen Halliwell's Oxford translation in the World's Classics series, 1998. I should not recommend Aristophanes as an introduction to Greek philosophy for reasons I'll explain in a minute.īut to address the immediate question, 'truest to the Greek original' might mean most literal or best conveying the sense and flavour of the original - and that might require quite a free translation. ![]()
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