The Daimonion of Socrates: An Interpretive Study of Plato's «Theages»

Description

Seth Benardete's probing and careful study of the 'new god' which Socrates "brings into the city", and for which he was later accused before the jury and put to death.Although this is an early work of Benardete's, it reveals his brilliance and insight into the bizarre aspects of Plato's thought that have been the hallmark of all his interpretations. In this early work Benardete seeks to uncover the natural, i.e. the esoteric, as well as the exoteric meaning of Socrates' strange spiritual companion, "his Daimonion". Benardete undertakes this task through a careful interpretation of a rarely read Platonic work. The old conventional views of Socrates and the Platonic dialogue form derived from the 19th century, which have persisted particularly in Britain, are here broken through, and a new light is shed on the enigma of the Platonic Socrates.