How were Alcibiades and Critias connected to Socrates?

Both Alcibiades and Critias were members of the Socratic circle, and their associations with the philosopher contributed to the public resentment that eventually led to his trial and execution.12

• Alcibiades: A brilliant but unscrupulous politician, Alcibiades was deeply impressed by Socrates’ moral strength and intellect in his youth, and the two served together in military campaigns. However, as Alcibiades pursued a self-serving political career, he abandoned the intellectual integrity Socrates demanded. His later involvement in religious scandals and his shifting loyalties during the Peloponnesian War were cited as examples of the "corrupting" influence Socrates supposedly had on Athenian youth.31

• Critias: A leader of the Thirty Tyrants—the oligarchic regime installed in Athens after its defeat by Sparta—Critias was also a member of the Socratic circle. During the reign of the Thirty, Socrates famously defied their order to arrest an innocent citizen. Despite this, Socrates’ association with figures like Critias fueled political animosity against him after democracy was restored.124