Volume 34, Number 21 & 22 · January 21, 1988
Was There a Witch Hunt in Ancient Athens?
By I.F. Stone
Socrates' martyrdom and the genius of Plato made him a secular saint, the superior man confronting the ignorant mob with serenity and humor. This was Socrates' triumph and Plato's masterpiece. Socrates needed the hemlock, as Jesus needed the Crucifixion, to fulfill a mission. The mission left a stain forever on democracy. That remains Athens' tragic crime.
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