not intended to pave the way for the charge later leveled against Socrates that he was a corrupter of youth. To a degree, Strauss (1966) suggests that Aristophanes may have simply taken Socrates as a prototypical philosopher and attributed to this philosopher all of the inappropriate behaviors and beliefs that he saw clearly evident in the Sophists.
The portrait of Socrates, his ethics, and his ideal of both education and the state is generally derived from Plato, and, to a lesser degree, Xenophon (Bloom, 1991; Solomon & Higgins, 1996). In various Dialogues, Plato described the criteria for ethical behavioral that were proposed by Socrates. In the Apology, Plato (in Allen, 1985, p. 85) has Socrates say that man "should look when he acts to one thing: whether what he does is just or unjust, the work of a good man or a bad man." Justice is therefore the first characteristic of ethical behavior that was important to Socrates. Second, in Crito (Allen, 1985, p. 104) Socrates affirmed that one must "not return injustice for injustice nor do ill to any man, no matter what he may suffer at their hands." Third, in Meno Socrates (Allen, 1985, p. 131) stated that "the goodness of nonspiritual assets depends on our spiritual character, and the goodness of that on wisdom."
Determining what is ethical, therefore, depends on several important issues. First, to be ethical a person must be doing things in a spirit of justice. Even when treated unjustly, man must be just in dealing with other. Second, ethical behavior is derived in part from spirituality and in part from knowledge and wisdom. Third, ethical behavior can be taught or learned. It was, therefore, as a teacher that Socrates presented himself to the youth of Athens and, significantly for Aristophanes, in this role that he became worthy of caricature and even attack; indeed, as Strauss (1966) demonstrates, Aristophanes did not view Socrates as a viable educator of youth o...