The Hemlock Cup: Socrates, Athens, and the Search for the Good Life

by Bettany Hughes

  Grateful acknowledgement is made for permission to reproduce material from the following publications: E. Bloch in ‘Hemlock Poisoning and the Death of the Socrates. Did Plato Tell the Truth?’ (2002), in T. C. Brickhouse and N. D. Smith, The Trial and Execution of Socrates: Sources and Controversies (2002), Oxford University Press; R. Janko from ‘Socrates the Freethinker’ in Ahbel-Rappe and Kamtekar (eds.), A Companion to Socrates (2006), Blackwell Publishing; H. Kahn (2006), ‘Socrates and Hedonism’ in L. Judson and V. Karasmanis (eds.), Remembering Socrates: Philosophical Essays (2006), Clarendon Press; Meier, from Athens: A Portrait of the City in its Golden Age (1999), John Murray; L. E. Navia, from Socrates: A Life Examined (2007), Prometheus; J. Ober, from Xin Liu Gale ‘Historical Studies and Postmodernism: Rereading Aspacia of Miletus’ (2000), College English (62.3), © 2000 by the National Council of Teachers of English. Reprinted with permission; P. J. Rhodes, from A History of the Classical Greek World 478–323 BC (2005), Blackwell; A.W. Saxonhouse, from Free Speech and Democracy in Ancient Athens (2006), Cambridge University Press; R. Waterfield, from Why Socrates Died: Dispelling the Myths (2009), Faber and Faber; J. A. Zahm, from Women in Science (1913), Appleton.

  IMAGE

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  INTEGRATED IMAGES

  All maps drawn and lettered by Reginald Piggott. 1. Portrait Herm of Socrates © Corbis images; 2. Excavations of Athens’ Agora, taken from Agora Excavations 1931–2006: A Pictorial History, Craig Mauzy (The American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 2006). Courtesy of the Trustees of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens; 3. A reconstruction of the Kleroterion, taken from M. L. Lang, The Athenian Citizen: Democracy in the Athenian Agora, rev. J. McK. Camp II (Princeton, 2004), figs. 27–29. Courtesy of the Trustees of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens; 4. Women gathered at the Fountains of Athens, Image no. AN0175173001 Attic; Archaic Greek; The Antimenes Painter © The Trustees of the British Museum; 5. Boiotian Terracotta Figurine © Getty images; 6. Early fifth-century Attic cup by Foundry Painter, courtesy of Berlin Staatliche Museum; 7. Eugene Vanderpool, Professor of Archaeology of the American School 1947–1971, taken from Agora Excavations 1931–2006: A Pictorial History, Craig Mauzy (The American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 2006). Courtesy of the Trustees the American School of Classical Studies at Athens; 8. The ‘tyrant-slayers’ Harmodios and Aristogeiton, courtesy of The Naples Museo Nazionale Archeologico; 9. Sculpture of a young Athenian man, taken from Athens: The City Beneath the City: Antiquities from the Metropolitan Railway Excavations, (Kapon Editions, 2000). Courtesy the Greek Ministry of Culture; 10. A portrait herm, possibly depicting Aspasia, currently held by the Vatican, courtesy of the Vatican Museums; 11. Socrates is imagined dancing to Aspasia’s tune in this French cartoon of 1842. Photograph © 2010 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; 12. Two hoplite soldiers, named Chairedemos and Lykeas, on a funerary relief. Courtesy Archaeological Museum of Piraeus © Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Tourism/Archaeological Receipts Fund; 13. Socrates and Alcibiades, drawing by Paul Avril, engraved by T. Fillon, for a 1906 Paris edition of F. K. Forberg’s Manuel d’érotologie classique; 14. Mourning Athena, courtesy of the Acropolis Museum, Athens © Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Tourism/Archaeological Receipts Fund; 15. Athena’s Silver Owl © Money Museum, Zurich; 16. The north-east corner of the Agora, taken from Agora Excavations 1931–2006: A Pictorial History, Craig Mauzy (The American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 2006). Courtesy of the Trustees of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens; 17. Drinking-cup, courtesy National Museum of Antiquities, Leiden; 18. Socrates summons Alcibiades, courtesy Kunsthalle Bremen; 19. Kylix, Musée du Louvre, Paris; 20. Grave stele, Athens, National Archaeological Museum © Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Tourism/Archaeological Receipts Fund; 21. Socrates and Xanthippe, The Schachzabelbuch of Konrad von Ammenhausen, 1467. Stuttgart, Würt-tembergische Landesbibliothek, Inventar-Nr. Cod. Poet. 2. Fol. 285v. Photo: Marburg Archive; 22. Socrates and Xanthippe, Otto van Veen. Quinti Horatii Flacci Emblemata. Antwerp. Photo: courtesy Getty Research Institute; 23. Fantasy rendering of Socrates, Research Library, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (84-B8899); 24. Ostrakon, Agora Excavations 1931–2006: A Pictorial History, Craig Mauzy (The American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 2006). Courtesy of the Trustees of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens; 25. Stele of 405–403 BC, taken from The Peloponnesian War: 431–404 BC, Philip de Souza (Routledge, 2003); 26. Burnt Apollo head taken from Athens: The City Beneath the City: Antiquities from the Metropolitan Railway Excavations (Kapon Editions, 2000). © Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Tourism/Archaeological Receipts Fund; 27. Bronze name ticket, Agora Excavations 1931–2006: A Pictorial History, Craig Mauzy (The American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 2006). Courtesy of the Trustees of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens; 28. New excavation image taken from Athens: The City Beneath the City: Antiquities from the Metropolitan Railway Excavations (Kapon Editions, 2000). © Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Tourism/Archaeological Receipts Fund; 29. Plato teaching Socrates, MS. Ashmole 304, fol. 31, reproduced by permission the Bodleian Library, Oxford; 30. House of the Winds, Greeks Fetching Water from the Well at the Tower of the Winds in Athens, Martinus Christian, Wedseltoft Rorbye, 1839. Courtesy New Carlsberg Glyptotetek, Copenhagen; 31. and 32. The Ludovisi Throne, Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano: inv. 8570; 33. Socrates and the Stag, from G. della Porta, Della fisionomia dell’huomo (Padua, 1627). Photo © Warburg Institute.

  PLATE SECTIONS

  1. Pheidias and the frieze of the Parthenon © Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery; 2. West pediment of the Temple of Aphaia on Aegina, courtesy Staatliche Anitkensammlungen Museum, Glyptotek, Copenhagen; 3. Socrates speaks to two students, Topkapi Museum, Istanbul; 4. Nicholas-André Monsiau, Aspasia Conversing with the Most Illustrious Men of Athens, Musée du Louvre, Paris. Département des Peintures, inv. RF 185; 5. Michiel Sweerts, Plague in Athens, courtesy LA County Museum of Art; 6. A shoe-making workshop, courtesy The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; 7. Wall painting depicting a dove, Thessaloniki, Archaeological Museum, courtesy Hellenic Culture Organization; 8. Aristophanes Clouds cartoon, California State University; 9. General view of the Agora from the Hephaisteion; 10. The Card Catalogue; 11. Workmen and horse cart removing excavation fill from Agora; 12. Pot-menders at work and 13. Mycenean Chamber tomb diggers, taken from Agora Excavations 1931–2006: A Pictorial History, Craig Mauzy (The American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 2006). Courtesy of the Trustees of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. By permission www.copyright.com; 14. Athena on amphora, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Department of Coins, Medals and Antiquities, Paris, De Ridder 369 © Bibliothèque Nationale de France; 15. Krateriskos fragment, Athens, Agora Museum, P 27342 © Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Tourism/Archaeological Receipts Fund; 16. ‘Little Bear’ from the Sanctuary at Brauron, courtesy Archaeological Museum of Brauron © Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Tourism/Archaeological Receipts Fund; 17. Attic Red-Figure Chous, Athens, National Archaeological Museum, Vlastos Serpieris Collection, BS 319 © Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Tourism/Archaeological Receipts Fund; 18. Nicolai Abraham Abilgaard, Socrates in Prison, courtesy New Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen; 19. Socrates sitting on a bench © Art Resource; 20. Jacques-Louis David, The Death of Socrates © Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

  The author and the publishers have made every effort to trace the holders of copyright in illustrations and quotations. Any inadvertent omissions or errors may be corrected in future editions.

  NOTES

  PREFACE

  1 Socrates is not just a whetstone for scholars, not just an inspiration. He is a key witness to the Golden Age of Athens in the fifth century. For millennia, scholars have wanted to sharpen their wits on his portly legacy. There is a void where Socrates’ personal testimony should be, a void the waters of interpretation have rushed to fill. Around the empty, Socrates-sized space that is the philosopher, all
kinds of worlds have been constructed: ethical, legal, spiritual; but only a handful deal with the one thing we do have, the physical setting of his not-thereness.

  INTRODUCTION

  1 Trans. Brickhouse and Smith (2002).

  2 Socrates spent his lifespan in pursuit of an individual morality. See e.g. Rudebusch (1999) on Socrates’ pursuit of both pleasure and virtue as the chief good.

  3 Psyche is an Ancient Greek word meaning life-force or breath. It is also the Greek for butterfly.

  4 ‘Socrates is the first to show that life at all times and in all parts, in all that we suffer and do, always admits philosophy.’ Plutarch, An seni respublica gerenda sit, 796e.

  5 Plato, Apology, 30e.

  6 Plato, Republic, VII, 514a-20a.

  7 Although some later Christian commentators saw in this the development of a new kind of internal faith.

  8 Produced in 423 BC and then possibly rewritten in 418 BC. The lost comedy of Ameipsias, the Konnos, also lampoons Socrates.

  9 ‘Do as I tell you and keep away from the gossip of people. For Pheme [Rumour] is an evil thing, by nature, she’s a light weight to lift up, yes very easy, but heavy to carry, and hard to put down again. Pheme [Rumour] never disappears entirely once many people have bigged her up/indulged her. In fact, she really is like some sort of goddess.’ Hesiod, Works and Days, 760ff. (Greek didactic poem, eighth or seventh century BC).

  10 Plato, Apology, 18d.

  11 Socrates could have been crucified for his crimes (although this was perhaps a punishment reserved for ‘sub-citizens’, e.g., slaves) – hemlock was thought a kinder death. But excruciating death can be measured by degrees, and poison was only a few degrees kinder than crucifixion. David’s painting is romantic in many ways.

  12 Plato was a classical author vigorously studied in Baghdad’s ‘House of Wisdom’. Muslim families still call their children Aflatonion.

  13 Plato, Apology, 42a.

  14 We fondly imagine that democracy is ancient Athens’ greatest legacy, but in fact democracy has consistently been rejected throughout Western history. Plato’s ideas (he can be viewed as an anti-democrat) – and therefore perhaps Socrates’ – proved far more tenacious. Socrates’ disciples in the Ancient World included: Antisthenes, the Cynic philosophers such as Diogenes of Sinope, Plato, Xenophon, Euclides, Aristippus. The following of Plato’s Dialogues are linked in their discussion of Socrates: Theaetetus-Euthyphro-Apology-Crito-Phaedo. In territories both pagan and monotheistic, both Eastern and Western, Socrates’ ideas have informed how humans have lived. The value of his methods is having something of a revival: the Socratic method and Socratic counselling are recognised as having absolute worth. They are becoming fashionable once more in schools and colleges. See links from: www.Socraticmethod.net.

  15 Plato, Alcibiades, 1, 130e.

  16 Plato, Sophist, 227d.

  17 Plato, Phaedo, 69b–c. Trans. H. N. Fowler (1914) [LCL].

  18 We still have their titles: On the Virtue of Socrates; Socrates’ Pronouncements; Of Socrates’ Death – to name but a few.

  19 To understand Socrates’ place in Islam, works by Ilai Alon are hugely helpful, e.g., Socrates Arabus: Life and Teachings (Jerusalem, 1995).

  20 ‘Know yourself.’ ‘What counts most is not to live, but to live right.’ A summary of Socrates’ aims is provided eloquently by Louis E. Navia: ‘Self-knowledge, the key that unlocks the door to virtue, is accessible only within a person’s own soul. The path that leads to it is narrow, rugged and steep. This is why most people do not choose to strive in so uninviting a direction. Their intellectual inertia and spiritual barrenness prevent them from doing so. Here is a source of their guilt, that is, in the abandonment of what Socrates viewed as the only solution to the riddle of human existence. This abandonment becomes even more reprehensible when it involves the rejection of the opportunity furnished by the presence of someone like Socrates.’ Navia (2007), 234.

  21 Plato himself debates the conflict between legalistic and true justice.

  22 Plato, Apology, 34d.

  23 Xenophon, Memorabilia, 1.1.16.

  THE DRAMATIC STORY OF SOCRATES

  1 The fact that Socrates has, as advocates, the mischievous, assiduous trio of Plato, Aristophanes and Xenophon no doubt has resulted in an inflation of the Socratic tradition – but archaeology backs up the importance of the key moments of his life-story, and goes partway to explain Socrates’ preoccupations with particular issues of the challenging world in which he lived.

  2 Theatre gives us a version of the external world and the internal worlds of imagination, of thought, of emotion that is comprehensible. More than that, that is believable. And more than that, that moves us in some way. The challenge of a playwright is to transfer ideas, emotions to an audience and to create a make-believe experience that we also comprehend as the real world. See Chapter 31, ‘Brickbats and bouquets’.

  3 ‘Biography’ as we understand it today does not exist in this period – the works dealing with Socrates are therefore ‘ancient-style’ biographies.