The comic drama Clouds (423 BC) is one of the most famous and popular satires ever written. In it Aristophanes, the greatest comic dramatist of ancient times, takes issue with the intellectual and moral depravity of his fellow Athenians, particularly with their thirst for radical innovations in traditional ways of thinking and for their unscrupulous self-interest. The play is particularly famous for its portrayal of Socrates, the target of much of the very robust satire. Here, he is pictured as a caricature of the arch sophist, eager to earn money by training young Athenians so that they can successfully use corrupt notions of language, law, and just dealing to their own advantage. The portrait is clearly at considerable odds with what we know about Socrates from other sources; nonetheless his character here is very famous as an unforgettable picture of a sly intellectual rogue. The Athenians come in for their share of humorous satiric criticism as well, given how greedy they are to use people like Socrates to escape unwelcome obligations. Aristophanes obviously exaggerates considerably for comic effect, but the ominous tone in the play's ending reminds us that some years later these citizens turned against the historical Socrates and condemned him to death.Ian Johnston's new verse translation of Aristophanes' Clouds stays close to the original text yet offers an accessible and fluent English version, which conveys the full range of Aristophanes' style - ribald humor, lyric expressiveness, and underlying ironic seriousness - in a text full of dramatic energy. The translation also offers explanatory footnotes to assist the reader with any potentially confusing references

Greed, for a better word, is good. Thats what Michael Douglas character, Gordon Gekko said in Oliver Stones immortal 1987 movie, Wall Street.

This new translation attempts to inform the general as well as the more specialized reader of what Aristophanes put on stage in 423 B.C. It remains more or less faithful to the original Greek, avoiding radical changes that would make the Clouds conform to linguistic "fads" at the very end of the twentieth century.

This translation of one of Aristophanes' most famous plays includes a synopsis of the play, a time line to set the play in its historical context, and running commentary alongside the translation.

This anthology offers English translations of three of Aristophanes' greatest comedies, Acharnians, Clouds, and Lysistrata, by Jeffrey Henderson, one of the most important scholars and translators of Greek comedy. Each comedy is also available in a single-play edition from Hackett Publishing's Focus imprint.