Old Accusers

Socrates contends that the old accusers are more dangerous than the new accusers. The only old accuser who is explicitly mentioned is Aristophanes, but Socrates may well be refering to the jurors and their biases against him. That would explain why he "cannot cross examine them"  (18d) and that dealing with them is like "fighting with shadows" (18d).

The old accusers claimed that Socrates was a nature philosopher and a sophist.