At the City Dionysia in the spring of 423 BC, Socrates was attacked not only by Aristophanes in his Clouds, but also by Ameipsias in a play entitled Konnos. As David Konstan plausibly concluded, Socrates "must have done something to attract attention about that time". I suggest that this was Socrates’ courage at the battle at Delium, in autumn of 424 BC. His exemplary behaviour provided his admirers with an excellent reason for public praise of Socrates, which was met with a rebuff by the comic poets unfriendly to him. However, Aristophanes came only third in the competition (Ameipsias was second). The outstanding artistic merits of the Clouds are beyond doubt, and I propose that Aristophanes’ failure was due to his excessive aggressiveness in respect to Socrates. For the Athenian audience and the judges of the competition, Socrates was not only a dramatic character, but also a fellow citizen, and the predominant feeling was that the poet’s attack was unfair.