Chaerephon: Rethinking Platonic Characters in the Light of the Derveni Papyrus

By Harold Tarrant.

The philosopher Socrates was condemned to death in 399 BC for introducing alien religious beliefs and for corrupting younger men. But how much of what the Athenians complained about was really his fault, and how much that of friends? The signs are that the alien ideas were promoted more enthusiastically by his associates, including his early friend Chaerephon. Comedy concurs with Plato in this, but knows no ‘Euthyphro’ who would correspond to Plato’s most obvious promoter of strange beliefs, including highly unusual ideas about obligations to the family. Could the figure of ‘Euthyphro’ have been modelled largely on the Chaerephon of the mid 420s? And can the Derveni Papyrus help us to understand the new religious ideas that thrived in circles frequented by Socrates? This book attempts to arrive at an original understanding of  the religious turmoil out of which Platonism was born.

176 pages. Hardcover.