Why Socrates Died

Socrates' trial and death together form an iconic moment in Western civilization. The picture we have of it - created by his immediate followers and perpetuated in countless works of literature and art - is that a noble man was put to death in a fit of folly by the ancient Athenian democracy. But is this the reality? Waterfield explores the accusations – corrupting the youth, forming an atheistic and potentially dangerous sect, and associating with political pariahs – and the trial, showing how, from an Athenian perspective, such charges rang all too true. Waterfield, a premier Classics scholar, strives to strip away some of the veneer that has for so long denied us glimpses of the real Socrates. This is an accessible, authoritative account of one of the defining periods of Western civilization.