Philosophical practices in the Socratic (and Pythagorean) context are caricatured in various ways by Aristophanes in his Clouds and Birds. In the former play,the philosophy of Socrates and Chaerephon is portrayed as a hidebound preoccupation with paltry facts of everyday existence, with never a glimpse at something beyond available to their consciousness. Aristophanes may be said to parody the Socratic bid for self-knowledge along with the Protagorian principle of ‘human measure’, the persona of Chaerephon demonstrating the degree of social inadequacy the students of Socrates could sink to. In the Birds, philosophy is compared to suspicious practices of psychagogy and necromancy. The disciples of Socrates appear as both objects and instruments of such a divination, which may be interpreted as a satire on dialectical conversation. Psychagogy is an analogue to Socratic ‘maieutics’ and necromancy is used to ironize the conclusions and knowledge that the souls of those engaged in philosophy arrive at. The ‘Socratic discourse’ remained quite alien to most Athenians (a fact which has only been confirmed during Socrates’ trial). And the Socratics were commonly perceived as quaint misfits at best. The character of Chaerephon, who shows up in both comedies, embodies these features of absurdity and eccentricity.