In Plato’s early dialogue Euthyphro, we find Socrates on the eve of the trial in 399 BCE that will end with his conviction and, eventually, execution. According to the story, the official charges brought against him by some leading citizens of Athens are “failing to recognize the city’s gods, introducing other new divinities, and breaking the law because he corrupts the youth of the city.” However, Socrates knows – and we know – that the real reason for his indictment is political. Besides cavorting with individuals suspected of being enemies of the democracy, he has earned the resentment and suspicion of powerful citizens after years of harassing Athenians about the lives they were leading. Socrates has a bad reputation, in part because of those he refers to as the “old accusers” – people such as Aristophanes, whose unflattering portrayal of Socrates among the youth in plays like The Clouds (produced in 423 BCE) only reinforced the animus against him.