Abstract: In Aristophanes's The Clouds, Socrates is a Promethean figure. While Prometheus steals fire from heaven in order to rescue human beings from extinction, Socrates attempts to educate Athenian citizensin rational conduct with his method so as to save their morality from the impact of the Sophistic movement. However, just like the fire that Prometheus has brought to mankind, which has both good and bad sides, the Socratic method could also be dangerous. His moral education is doomed to fail because people have desires and cannot live with their reason only. In The Clouds, Aristophanes continues to explore the theme that has appeared in Aeschylus's tragedies. The comedy thus becomes tragic, when the keen and wise poet captures the limitation of human intelligence.

Key words: Socrates, Prometheus, Aristophanes, The Clouds