Faculty of Classics - University of Cambridge

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Socrates guilty as charged!

Ancient Greek Political Thought In Practice

Professor Paul Cartledge's new book examines Greek political thought in action from Homer to the time of Plutarch.

According to Professor Cartledge, Socrates was not just the unfortunate victim of a vicious political vendetta, but a scapegoat used for an altogether more spiritual bout of self-purging within a culture very different in kind from our own.

"Everyone knows that the Greeks invented democracy, but it was not democracy as we know it, and we have misread history as a result," Professor Cartledge says. "The charges Socrates faced seem ridiculous to us, but in Ancient Athens they were genuinely felt to serve the communal good."

"There is no denying his bravery, and he could even be seen as an intellectual hero, but the idea that Socrates himself was not guilty but executed by mob rule is wrong. By removing him, society had, in Athenians' eyes, been cleansed and reaffirmed."

Ancient Greek Political Thought In Practice is published by Cambridge University Press.