The Epicurean Criticism of Socrates
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3937105 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mark T Riley (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1980 |
| Volume | 34 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 55 |
| Publication date | 1980-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Phoenix (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0031-8299 • E-ISSN: 1929-4883 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/1087758 |
| OpenAlex | W2329143174 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
HREE SOURCES of anti-Socratic invective appear in our ancient texts: (1) The original accusation of Meletus and the public feeling which lead to the accusation.' The basis of this charge seems to be that Socrates, anti-democratic himself, was responsible for the education and thus the excesses of Critias and Alcibiades.2 Polycrates the Sophist composed a KaTnyopia aZWKpaTroV in the late 390s which concentrated on this political charge. Such charges or a defence against them appear only in fourthcentury literature, e.g., Xenophon's Apology and Memorabilia, Plato's Apology, or in such oddities as Libanius' Apology of Socrates from the fourth century A.D.3 Charges of anti-democratic behavior had become irrelevant after the time of the great democracy. (2) The biographical tradition beginning with Aristoxenus' Life of Socrates.4 Seething with hatred and malignity, he collected or invented a mass of derogatory information: Socrates was extremely lustful but did no harm because he confined himself to married women and prostitutes (fr. 54a and b); he was quick to anger (fr. 56), and so on. This tradition seems to have little in common with the original accusations against Socrates in 399, but rather owes its liveliness to the widespread polemic between philosophical schools in addition to strains of fanaticism, personal aversion, conceit, and a delight in racy stories on the part of Aristoxenus himself. (3) The polemic of the Epicureans, on which I wish to concentrate. The Epicureans are often said to be characterized by /3Xao-qrtLla and KaKIryopla, abusive and defamatory language, as Plutarch puts it (Non posse 1086 f).5 The evidence for this abusive language is two-fold: first, the
Art · Criticism · Epicureanism · Epistemology · Literature · SOCRATES · Classical Philosophy and Thought · Philosophy
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,14 |
| Citation span | 1990 - 2019 (30) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |