In Aristophanes’s comedic but wise treatment of Socrates in the Clouds, we see a rather old farmer who comes up with a scheme to rid himself of the crushing debts racked up by his horse-obsessed son: to send his wayward son to learn from Socrates, who apparently can teach you to speak so as to make any cause, just or unjust, triumph. The father and then the son both visit Socrates’s secretive school, but only the latter succeeds there, for he abandons his interest in horsemanship altogether and becomes an admirer of Socrates. The father’s initial joy at the prospect of eluding his creditors soon yields to despair at what his son has become, and he exacts his revenge by burning down Socrates’s school. The Clouds levels two fundamental criticisms at Socrates: One, because the philosopher has failed to think through how dangerous, both to the family and to the political community, his study of nature is, he has failed also to be as cautious or prudent as he should be; and two, Socrates cl