Essay Questions

About what war is Strepsiades talking about and why does he claim he is no longer able to punish his own slaves because of it?

The war that most likely took place during the time when the action takes place is the Peloponnesian war that took place around 424 B.C. the war was against Athens and Sparta in which Sparta won. The action takes place towards the end of the war, when the country is being closed in from all directions by the Spartans. Because of this, the people in Athens had to remain in the city, mainly for their own safety. They also stopped sending their slaves away, fearing that the slaves will join the Spartans or will be killed. The reason why Strepsiades claims he can’t punish his servant is because he is no longer able or willing to send the slave into the countryside, to work on the fields. The work a slave was doing in the fields was among the harshest ones while a slave kept as a domestic servant had a much better and easier life. Thus, working in the fields was seen during those times by many slaves as a cruel punishment.

What is the "victim’’ unhooked by Socrates from the palaestra?

When Strepsiades goes to the school where Socrates was teaching, he meet a Disciple which started to tell him about all the wonderful things thought by Socrates and how he always took care of his disciples. He then recalls an event, which took place just a few days before the conversation between Strepsiades and the Disciple took place, when Socrates, realizing there was no more food for himself and his followers, took a victim to feed everyone. To understand what the ‘’victim’’ is, we first need to understand what the place from where the victim was taken represents. A plaestra was a building where men gathered to exercise. It was common practice for those men to bring something to sacrifice in the name of the Gods and hang their offerings. The offerings brought for this occasion were generally small and thus, as Socrates proved, easy to take without anyone noticing. The term victim in this context is thus used to refer to the small offerings which were present in the building.

Why does Strepsiades claim he will be noting but wheat-flour at the end of the initiation rite?

When Strepsiades talks with Socrates, he first brings Strepsiades a cup and then tells him they will begin the initiation process. Upon hearing this, Strepsiades expresses his fear of becoming nothing but flour towards the end of the initiation rite. This is an allusion made to the way sacrifices were usually made during the time when the play was written. Then, before an animal was sacrificed, a little bit of flour was sprinkled on the animal’s head, the act having a spiritual component. After the animal was sacrificed, the meat was cooked with salt and flour. Thus, when Strepsiades mentions flour on his head he may have referred to the way animals were sacrificed in his times.