How does The Clouds criticize Sophist education and moral arguments?

In his play Clouds, Aristophanes utilizes satire to criticize the "modern" education and moral relativism associated with the Sophists. By unfairly attributing Sophistic characteristics to the philosopher Socrates, the play portrays his academy, the Phrontisterion or "Thinking Shop," as a place where traditional values are subverted.123

The core of this critique lies in the Sophistic practice of "making a wrong argument sound right." Aristophanes illustrates the dangerous consequences of this intellectual training through the character of Strepsiades, an old man who seeks instruction to evade his debts. The education he and his son receive ultimately enables the son to justify the immoral act of beating his own father, demonstrating the playwright's view that such rhetorical manipulation undermines the moral fabric of society. The play concludes with the burning of the Phrontisterion, symbolizing a rejection of these radical intellectual trends.12