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What happens to Strepsiades and Socratesâ Thinking Shop in The Clouds?
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Aristophanes
Aristophanes, portrait bust, c. 4thâ1st century bce; in the collection of the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy.
In Aristophanes's comedy Clouds, the character Strepsiades seeks out Socrates at his academy, the Phrontisterion or "Thinking Shop," hoping to learn how to evade his debts.12
The instruction provided at the academy teaches students how to make a wrong argument appear right. This education backfires on Strepsiades when his own son uses these rhetorical skills to justify beating his father. Realizing the destructive nature of the lessons he sought, Strepsiades takes action at the end of the play, and the Phrontisterion is burned to the ground.12