Socrates is one of the most important yet enigmatic philosophers of all time; his fame has endured for centuries despite the fact that he never actually wrote anything. In 399 B.C.E., he was tried on the charge of impiety by the citizens of Athens, convicted by a jury, and sentenced to death
(ordered to drink poison derived from hemlock). About these facts there is no disagreement. However, as the sources collected in this book and the scholarly essays that follow them show, several of even the most basic facts about these events were controversial in antiquity, and the questions
persist today: How and why was Socrates brought to trial? Why did the jurors, members of the world's first democracy, find him guilty? When he was given an opportunity to escape execution, why did he refuse to do so and instead accept the punishment that he and his friends agreed was unjustly
assigned to him? How exactly did Socrates die? Differences of opinion on these and other issues continue to arouse our curiosity and to challenge new generations of students and scholars.
The Trial and Execution of Socrates: Sources and Controversies is the first work to collect in one place all of the major ancient sources on Socrates' death--those of both his critics and his defenders--as well as recent scholarly views. Part I includes new translations of Plato's Euthyphro,
Apology, Crito, and the death scene from Phaedo, as well as other ancient sources that shed light on Socrates' trial and execution. Part II features some of the most influential recent scholarship on this historically momentous event with work by M. F. Burnyeat, Robert Parker, Mark L.McPherran,
Thomas C. Brickhouse and Nicholas D. Smith, Richard Kraut, Christopher Gill, and Enid Bloch (whose essay is published here for the first time). Ideal for undergraduate surveys of ancient Greek philosophy and upper-level courses on Socrates and Socratic philosophy, this unique collection provides an
unprecedented look into the many perplexing questions surrounding the trial and execution of this remarkable man.
Socrates is one of the most important yet enigmatic philosophers of all time; his fame has endured for centuries despite the fact that he never actually wrote anything. In 399 B.C.E., he was tried on the charge of impiety by the citizens of Athens, convicted by a jury, and sentenced to death
(ordered to drink poison derived from hemlock). About these facts there is no disagreement. However, as the sources collected in this book and the scholarly essays that follow them show, several of even the most basic facts about these events were controversial in antiquity, and the questions
persist today: How and why was Socrates brought to trial? Why did the jurors, members of the world's first democracy, find him guilty? When he was given an opportunity to escape execution, why did he refuse to do so and instead accept the punishment that he and his friends agreed was unjustly
assigned to him? How exactly did Socrates die? Differences of opinion on these and other issues continue to arouse our curiosity and to challenge new generations of students and scholars.
The Trial and Execution of Socrates: Sources and Controversies is the first work to collect in one place all of the major ancient sources on Socrates' death--those of both his critics and his defenders--as well as recent scholarly views. Part I includes new translations of Plato's Euthyphro,
Apology, Crito, and the death scene from Phaedo, as well as other ancient sources that shed light on Socrates' trial and execution. Part II features some of the most influential recent scholarship on this historically momentous event with work by M. F. Burnyeat, Robert Parker, Mark L.McPherran,
Thomas C. Brickhouse and Nicholas D. Smith, Richard Kraut, Christopher Gill, and Enid Bloch (whose essay is published here for the first time). Ideal for undergraduate surveys of ancient Greek philosophy and upper-level courses on Socrates and Socratic philosophy, this unique collection provides an
unprecedented look into the many perplexing questions surrounding the trial and execution of this remarkable man.
Preface
Introduction
PART I: ORIGINAL SOURCES
1. ARISTOPHANES
Clouds ll. 358-407, 476-492, 627-680, 723-756, 825-830:
2. PLATO
Euthyphro (complete):
Apology of Socrates (complete):
Crito (complete):
Phaedo (death scene: 116a-118a):
3. XENOPHON
Apology of Socrates (complete):
Memorabilia 1.1.1-1.2.39, 1.2.47-1.3.15, 4.7.1-4.8.11:
4. DIOGENES LAERTIUS
On the Lives and Opinions of Eminent Persons in Philosophy. 2.18,
24, 29, 37-43:
5. MINOR SOURCES
Aeschines of Sphettus (fragment 1K from Publius Aelius
Aristides)
Isocrates, Busiris 11.4-6
Aeschines (Rhetor), Oratio 1.173
Aristotle, The Art of Rhetoric 2.10.1393b4-8; Metaphysics
A.1.6.987b1-4
Diodorus Siculus, Book IV, 37.7
Dio Chrysostum, 43.8-10
Maximus of Tyre, Oration 3.1-8
6. LIBANIUS
Apology of Socrates 1, 13, 15-16, 22, 33, 48, 53, 59, 103-106,
110-112, 136, 142, 153-154, 168, 170, 172, 174-175:
PART II: RECENT SCHOLARSHIP
7. WHY WAS SOCRATES PROSECUTED?
. M.F. Burnyeat, "The Impiety of Socrates"
Robert Parker, "The Trial of Socrates: And a Religious Crisis?"
Mark L. McPherran, "Does Piety Pay? Socrates on Prayer and
Sacrifice"
Thomas C. Brickhouse and Nicholas D. Smith, from Plato's
Socrates
8. SOCRATES AND OBEDIENCE TO THE LAW
Richard Kraut, from Socrates and the State
Thomas C. Brickhouse and Nicholas D. Smith, from Plato's
Socrates
9. DID PLATO TELL THE TRUTH ABOUT THE DEATH OF SOCRATES?
Christopher Gill, "The Death of Socrates"
Enid Bloch, "Hemlock Poisoning and the Death of Socrates: Did Plato
Tell the Truth?
Works Cited
This is a useful addition to the books on Socrates' trial and death, including new translations of the major sources which students will find helpful ... This is a worthwhile addition to the library, providing access to some less well-known material in a convenient form, and with suitable guidance can be used effectively by able students. The Journal of Classics Teaching The book is aimed squarely at undergraduates studying Socrates, whether from a historical or philosophical perspective, though it will be of use to anyone looking at the issues surrounding the trial of Socrates, and can be recommended to support A-level study, particularly for the helpful gathering of a variety of sources more often referred to dismissively in footnotes than given in full. The Journal of Classics Teaching
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