The Shadows of Socrates: The Heresy, War, and Treachery Behind the Trial of Socrates - Hardcover

Gatton, Matt

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1639365826 ISBN 13: 9781639365821

Publisher: Pegasus Books, 2024

Synopsis

<B>The Shadows of Socrates reveals for the first time how the philosopher was set up, who did it, and why.</B><BR><BR> What follows is not a dry philosophical tract but a real-life whodunit intertwined with a long running war, rivalry, sex addiction, betrayal, sedition, starvation, and epic bravery. Socrates was the most rational of men living in the most irrational of times. <BR> <BR>There is another side to this story: one of the charges against him, impiety, lack of reverence for the gods, was a religious crime. From the perspective of the religious authorities of the time, the charge of impiety was warranted, his trial just, and the penalty appropriate. The priests did not tolerate scrutiny, even in the form of philosophical critique. To understand what happened and how it happened, we have to come to terms with the motives of the priests, and as importantly, Socrates' motives in provoking them. His trial is perhaps the first, but not last, great battle between philosophy and religion.<BR> <BR>

About this title

About the Author

Matt Gatton is a scholar based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is a pioneer of the study of the ritual and aesthetic uses of physical light in prehistory and classical antiquity. Gatton’s groundbreaking work on optical distortions at Lascaux was published in the Journal of Applied Mathematics; and his work on the ritual use of optics at the influential ancient Greek temple of Eleusis was published by Oxford University Press. Gatton has presented his work at the Institute of Archaeology at Oxford, the University of Cologne, Slovak University, and Vanderbilt University. 

Edition details

• Publisher: Pegasus Books
• Publication date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1639365826
• ISBN 13: 9781639365821
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320