ABSTRACT
Introduction In Clouds, Aristophanes’ Socrates is a free-thinking, hubristic intellectual whose buffoonery reveals that by refusing to allow custom to rule their thinking, liberals are especially dangerous. Although people generally are short-sighted, selfish, venal, and stupid, at least conservatives (sometimes) have the good sense to recognize the importance of allowing our lives to be structured by the nomoi we have inherited as the foundation of our patrimony. What makes Socrates especially worrisome from this perspective is that he appears to adopt some of the behavior associated with hierophants and mystagogues, co-opting these time-honored roles, thereby luring gullible youths into impiety. Obviously Aristophanes is having a bit of fun at Socrates’ expense and doesn’t mean any of it literally, but the structure of the play, the plot, and many of the particular jokes reveal a specific conservative perspective that gives the jokes extra punch.
