I grew up with an image of Socrates as a sort of secular saint, an early martyr for logic and philosophy against the superstition and ignorance of the ancient world. I can't say anymore where exactly I picked it up, but it must have been from multiple sources. When I first read the three dialogues of Plato that present his trial, final days and death I was somewhat surprised by the fact that they were suffused with as much spirituality as logic.
Since these dialogues were on this year's list of reading goals, I revisited them in a different translation to see how much of my first impression might have been the result of the choices of a translator. The first translation I had used was by W.H.D. Rouse. On a series of flights last month I reread the dialogues in Benjamin Jowett's translation. I emerged with same impression of Socrates' spiritual qualities.
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