Aristophanes presents Socrates as a sophist of sorts, a glib, unworldly weirdo, and it’s fair to say that a bunch of the comedy comes from tearing down a public figure, along the lines of every comedian doing Bill Clinton jokes and impersonation in the 1990s. Aristophanes’ caricature of Socrates is from when Socrates was still alive, and the humour in the play often fairly clearly derives from its ability to parody the kind of crap Socrates would say, as far as the average Athenian would understand. Perhaps most convincing about Socrates’ existence, in a funny way, is the very different Socrates characters that appear in Plato, Xenophon, and Aristophanes. These all basically portray Socrates as a real historical figure who was in the habit of talking to other real historical figures in Athens (though there is traditionally thought to be a divide in Plato’s writing between the earlier dialogues that are more faithful to Plato’s understanding of what Socrates argues, and the later dialogues that are more clearly Plato putting words in Socrates’ mouth). He is caricatured in Aristophanes’ play The Clouds, he is the central character in a large amount of dialogues written by the philosopher Plato and several dialogues written by the historian/soldier Xenophon. That said, for Socrates himself, while we should be careful making claims about what we definitely know for certain, it is extremely likely that he was a real historical figure. A lot of the time, our knowledge of figures like Diogenes or Thales or Anaximander is either based on a) scraps mentioned in passing by other philosophers, or b) is based on a 3rd century AD book by Diogenes Laertius which is frequently gossipy, quite credulous, and frustratingly shallow in its understanding of the philosophy. Many modern books have been written about the tiny, disjointed scraps of philosophy left behind by the pre-Socratic philosophers, most of which make a mountain out of a molehill. There are many things about Ancient Greek philosophers that we simply do not know, simply because we have a very imperfect and incomplete record of their philosophising. Socrates himself would counsel us (via Plato’s Apology) that “what I do not know I do not think I know either”: the point of the quote being a humility around knowledge. Previous AMAs | Previous Roundtables Featuresįeature posts are posted weekly. May 25th | Panel AMA with /r/AskBibleScholars Please Subscribe to our Google Calendar for Upcoming AMAs and Events To nominate someone else as a Quality Contributor, message the mods. Our flaired users have detailed knowledge of their historical specialty and a proven record of excellent contributions to /r/AskHistorians. Please Read and Understand the Rules Before Contributing. Report Comments That Break Reddiquette or the Subreddit Rules. Serious On-Topic Comments Only: No Jokes, Anecdotes, Clutter, or other Digressions. Provide Primary and Secondary Sources If Asked. Write Original, In-Depth and Comprehensive Answers, Using Good Historical Practices. Questions should be clear and specific in what they ask, and should be able to get detailed answers from historians whose expertise is likely to be in particular times and places. Nothing Less Than 20 Years Old, and Don't Soapbox. Be Nice: No Racism, Bigotry, or Offensive Behavior. Downvote and Report comments that are unhelpful or grossly off-topic.Upvote informative, well sourced answers. New to /r/AskHistorians? Please read our subreddit rules and FAQ before posting! Apply for Flair
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