Chapter 5 - On Coming after Socrates

Summary

Socrates presents particular challenges to reception studies for the obvious reason that he did not write anything and thus left no textual corpus for posterity to receive. It is instead his own body (corpus) that often becomes the focal point of reception. This chapter examines the reception of Socrates in the works of Isocrates. Unlike other Socratics who had direct access to Socrates and left careful portraits of the philosopher from a group of like-minded admirers, Isocrates offers an interesting insight into the way in which Socrates (both his physical presence and his turning into an imaginary model figure) was perceived to have shaped the cultural and philosophical landscape in Athens. Though sometimes also counted among Socrates’ admirers, this chapter argues that Isocrates’ works offer a fundamentally critical reflection on Socrates and his teacher role in Athens. This critical insight becomes a key motivation for Isocrates’ own work and there is indeed much at stake: according to Isocrates, Athens is need for a new teacher and philosopher figure (Isocrates himself) who would supplant the statuesque Socrates.