''De genio Socratis'' (
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
: Περί του Σωκράτους δαιμονίου ''Perí tou Sōkrátous daimoníou'') is a work by
Plutarch
Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...
, part of his collection of works entitled ''
Moralia
The ''Moralia'' (Latin for "Morals", "Customs" or "Mores"; , ''Ethiká'') is a set of essays ascribed to the 1st-century scholar Plutarch of Chaeronea. The eclectic collection contains 78 essays and transcribed speeches. They provide insigh ...
''.
Title
The title refers to the
daimon
The daimon (), also spelled daemon (meaning "god", "godlike", "power", "fate"), denotes an "unknown superfactor", which can be either good or hostile.
In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology a daimon was imagined to be a lesser ...
of
Socrates
Socrates (; ; – 399 BC) was a Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and as among the first moral philosophers of the Ethics, ethical tradition ...
; as the Latin equivalent of this term is ''genius'', it is often rendered as ''On the Genius of Socrates''. The word ''genius'' in this usage pertains to a ''vital energy'' (c.f. -
élan vital) or spirit (''spiritus'') or nature of something.
Contents
The progress of discussion specifically on the subject of Socrates-daimon is instigated by the description of an occurrence pertaining subjectively to this (i.e. the daimon vis-a-vis Socrates). The text begins with the words ''an Italian Pythagorean is waiting at a grave for'' ''a divine sign'', by which the reader understands this to have the meaning; an individual waiting at a grave for a daimonion.
According to Plutarch,
Sophroniscus was cautioned by someone, and thus perhaps imbued to stem his influence on Socrates as to his work (''
ergon''), because he had been told of his son (Socrates) having a ''guardian spirit'' who would lead him in the best way (''the right way'').
Responses
The ''myth of Timarchus of Chaeronea'' within the piece is thought to be an imitation of Plato's ''Myth of Er'' (a part of the larger work, known as ''
the Republic'').
It is noted that ''De genio Socratis'' is similar to ''
Phaedo
''Phaedo'' (; , ''Phaidōn'') is a dialogue written by Plato, in which Socrates discusses the immortality of the soul and the nature of the afterlife with his friends in the hours leading up to his death. Socrates explores various arguments fo ...
'' by Plato, in at least due to the fact that both works are concerned especially with the divine sign, that is
the daimon, of Socrates.
Plutarch identified the daimon with the conscience.
[Henry Chadwick ]
Studies on Ancient Christianity (p.15)
Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2006 etrieved 2015-04-24/ref>
References
{{Authority control
Works by Plutarch
Cultural depictions of Socrates
Daimons