In Clouds and Electra, Aristophanes and Euripides distinguish the evolution of maturity in Strepsiades, Orestes and Electra through each character's response to pre-existing misfortunes and the methods by which they acquire their education. While each of these characters develops through the interweaving of suffering and maturity, not all characters receive their education through suffering. Strepsiades receives his education by repeatedly failing to escape debt, Orestes receives his education by killing his father's murderer, and Electra acquires his education through constant suffering. Strepsiades embodies the distinction between receiving an education and learning from an education. In an attempt to eliminate his debt to others, Strepsiades approaches Socrates with an oratory on “the desire to learn” (Clouds i.183). But, as Socrates proceeds to teach Strepsiades the fundamentals of sophistication, Strepsiades makes it clear that he has “two kinds [of memory]: if someone owes me money, he is very good; but if it is I who must, it is a great evil” (Clouds iv.484-486). In clarifying that his memory is selective, Strepsiades alludes to his inability to distinguish between what is morally correct and ethically inappropriate. Similar to his selective memory, Strepsiades chooses to accept the concept of “god” as Socrates suggests and later, in a discussion with his son, exclaims: “damn it, I must have been crazy, to abandon the gods because of Socrates” ( Clouds xiii.1476-1478). Strepsiades also applies this practice in the choice of topics. For example, when Socrates asks Strepsiades if he would like to learn “measures, or diction, or rhythm,” Strepsiades replies, “I don't want to learn that stuff” (Clouds v. 636-638, 656). He rather wants to leave...... half of the paper ......on the contrary, he matures by avenging his father and educates himself by renewing his confidence in himself and his actions. Strepsiades is educated through his inability to recognize the difference between what is morally correct and ethically incorrect. While Electra and Orestes acknowledge their imperfections and mistakes, Strepsiades refuses to acknowledge that her son's unconventional behavior is the result of her failure to teach him to pursue the truth rather than allow greed and ego to cloud the judgment. For these reasons, Strepsiades fails to mature and is limited by his inability to absorb the education that Socrates and his son offer him. Works Cited Aristophanes and Jeff Henderson. The Clouds of Aristophanes. Newburyport, MA: Focus Information Group, 1992. Print.Euripides, Janet Lembke, and Kenneth J. Reckford. Electra. New York: Oxford UP, 1994. Print.