Why Socrates Died: Dispelling the Myths (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Socrates and Alcibiades were an unlikely couple: an ugly old philosopher and a charming, intelligent, ambitious and arrogant aristocrat. The fallout from this relationship and an unpopular war toppled the world's most significant philosophical figure. By placing the execution of Socrates against the context of the Peloponnesian War, classicist Waterfield (Xenophon's Retreat) argues that a guilty verdict against the philosopher, charged with impiety and corrupting Athens's youth, was a rational outcome. Athens of the last third of the fifth century B.C. was affected by a striking list of stress factors. Old certainties were being undermined by prolonged warfare, morally subversive ideas, population displacement and other forms of social upheaval. Sitting atop a solid foundation of scholarship, this valuable survey of an important period of ancient history is especially useful as a prelude to texts by Plato, Xenophon and Thucydides. Of the many introductory studies on the Athenian judicial system, the trial of Socrates, the conflict between Athens and Sparta and the reasons that democracy gave way to oligarchy in Athens, this is among the clearest, most well-organized and most concise. 4 pages of illus., maps. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* In The Death of Socrates (2007), Emily Wilson illuminated the mythmaking process that converted the execution of a famous ancient philosopher into a symbolic tableau incorporated into a wide range of religious and political ideologies. In this much-needed complementary study, Waterfield deflates that mythmaking by probing the historical dynamics surrounding the trial itself. The analysis will surprise readers accustomed to viewing Socrates’ accusers as paranoid defenders of religious superstitions. For a careful parsing of the evidence reveals that when Athenian judges condemned Socrates, they were defending principles still cherished by most twenty-first-century readers: namely, the principles of democracy. Waterfield convincingly establishes that Socrates fell under hostile suspicion largely because of his close ties to young students of deeply anti-democratic sympathies. One of these arrogant young men joined other oligarchs in conspiring against Athens during its bitter war against Sparta; another scripted the atrocities committed by the Thirty Tyrants when they temporarily overthrew Athens’ democratic government. Waterfield shows that even Socrates’ own belief in an ideal government by experts legitimated, elitist, not democratic governance. Such a belief, readers soon realize, would have appeared particularly menacing to Athenian democrats traumatized by the twin shocks of external assault and internal discord. Impressive scholarship redefining an iconic event. --Bryce Christensen

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co. (June 8, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393065278
• ISBN-13: 978-0393065275
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #38,137 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #18 in	Books > Nonfiction > Philosophy > Greek & Roman
  #23 in	Books > History > Ancient > Greece
  #35 in	Books > History > Europe > Greece

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Context for the Trial of Socrates, July 13, 2009

By	David B. Johnson (Minneapolis, MN United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Robin Waterfield has written a solid, short book of history about the trial of Socrates. And the key point about this book is that it is meant mainly as a historical description of Athenian society and culture during Socrates' time in order to better understand the trial itself. Readers should understand that the protagonist is off stage for major sections of this book.

I'd recommend this book especially for students beginning their studies of Socrates before they dive into the source materials. In addition, for a book of this size and scope, it has an excellent bibliography.

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, Enjoyable History, July 24, 2009

By	Janeite (USA) - See all my reviews

I've always enjoyed reading about the ancient Greek world, and when I picked up this book I couldn't put it down. I have an interest in the subject but am no expert on it, yet I found this book so skillfully worded and explained that I had no trouble following it. Waterfield seemlessly presents a complex story brimful of fascinating characters and events and ties it all together to paint a vivid portrait of the political environmnet in which Socrates' execution took place. For the modern reader without much background knowledge of this world, Socrates' death has always been so puzzling. How can this greatest of philosophers and much-admired man have been found guilty of corrupting youth and then executed? Waterfield's book seeks to answer that question. Chapter by chapter he depicts the characters and events which are pertinent to the story, building his case beautifully. This book would probably appeal to people who don't know much about Socrates already, but it would also appeal to people like me who have read a lot about Socrates but still need an expert to help us put the whole story in context.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars He died for us?, October 7, 2009

By	Steve Reina (Troy Michigan) - See all my reviews

He was good and righteous. He was unjustly charged. He resisted opportunities to easily flee. He was wrongfully convicted.

He accepted his sentence and died for us.

The trial and execution of Jesus, circa 30 CE.

The trial and execution of Socrates, circa 399 BCE, according to Robin Waterfield.

In Why Socrates Died, Waterfield gives us a masterful summary of the events and causes leading to the execution of Socrates in 399 BCE. In terms of its pure historical treatment and connecting that historical treatment with the philosophical disputes at issue I easily rank this book on par with I.F. Stone's similar work on the execution of Socrates called The Trial of Socrates.

But this book rises above the pack in illuminating the deeper mysteries of the Socrates story.

As alluded at the beginning of this review, the similarities between Socrates' death and that of Jesus are numerous and compelling. Because the philosopher died and the New Testament, written in Greek, arose in a Greek sensitivie millieu, one can even wonder the extent to which the Socrates story served as template for the later gospel account.

Aware of these issues, Waterfield plunges to the heart of the matter when he tells the story of the Thargelion sacrifice (still practiced at the time of the trial) when two prisoners were recruited as stand ins for the sins of Athens and either flogged or executed before the city gates.

Born according to tradition on the 6th of Thargelia (the month of the Thargelion sacrifice), Socrates may have considered himself a candidate for such sacrifice.

Such notions would not have been disputed by a populace that found Socrates' politics at odds with then current Athenian values. Signficantly, Socrates had opened supported a dictatorship that had just been overthrown four years prior to his trial.

Such notions also would have been consistent with Judean practice which substituted a goat (or scapegoat) for the prisoners as the totem sacrifice (in testament to the ostensible similarity of then existing religous practices).

Whether you find the Thargelion/New Testament connections persuasive, this book remains a first rate treatment of the trial and execution of Socrates and excellent food for thought.