CLAS 3080 Inventing Socrates

CLAS 3080 Inventing Socrates
Inventing Socrates
Socrates has for centuries been considered emblematic of the intellectual accomplishments of ancient Greek civilization. His name and his eponymous method of inquiry are familiar to every student of the western tradition and yet he left behind no record of his teachings . Instead, his image and indeed his legacy has been shaped by the accounts of other-former students, bemused comedians, admirers and even a few detractors. Plato is of course foremost among these, employing his great teacher as the central figure in most of his philosophical works. In this course, we will examine the many faces of Socrates bequeathed to us by his contemporaries, investigate the world of 5th century Athens in which he lived, and survey important moments in his posthumous reception from antiquity to the present.
credit hours: 3