Universe of Platonic Thought 2022

30th International Conference “The Universe of Platonic Thought: Plato and European Philosophy”

Alexander Sinitsyn, CSc in History, Associate Professor; Russian Christian Academy for the Humanities (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Researcher

Image of the Ancient Greek philosopher in the world film art of the 20th century

We must note that cinematographers have hardly ever been interested in ancient philosophers. Plato would occasionally occur, and only due to his mentor, Socrates, Aristotle would appear in the cinema only because of his illustrious disciple, Alexander of Macedon, and Cicero would emerge only in the films about statesmen and generals of the Late Roman Republic. Sure enough, images of illustrious ancient men of science, religious thinkers and philosophers sporadically intersperse feature films. Only the image of Socrates persisted in the cinema, both in the 20th and the 21st centuries. The Athenian thinker pursuing the truth, good-humoured ironic polemicist, constantly asking his strange questions, wise mentor and steadfast fighter for justice – it is a paragon of a hero philosopher hereafter. The cinema has greatly contributed to it. Throughout a century-old history of this new art, cinematographers of different countries created about three dozen of films featuring the image of a “barefoot sage”. Cinematographic readings serve as markers of their time in biographic dramas and comedies. Yet, the trial of Socrates and the death of the Athenian philosopher constitute the main topic of the films. Most of them show Socrates at the “moment of truth”. It is the behavior of the hero during the trial and the death sentence passed on him that are shown as Socrates’ experience of come-to-pass.

Keywords: Socrates, Plato, ancient philosophers, cinema, reception, Greek culture, the trial of Socrates and the death, “a barefoot Athenian sage”

A study of aspects of visual anthropology of the philosopher in the Ancient Greek and Roman representational art is of great importance for understanding the ancient culture (see, for example, the recent monograph on the topic: Dorofeev D.Yu., Savchuk V.V., Svetlov R.V. The Iconography of Ancient Philosophers: History and Anthropology of Images. St. Petersburg, 2017). Of no less importance is the study of the reception of these images in modern culture: literature, painting, theatre, cinema and other arts. But if we turn to live-action films, we must note that cinematographers have hardly ever been interested in ancient philosophers.

Plato would occasionally occur, and only due to his mentor, Socrates (the films about “a barefoot Athenian sage” stem from Plato’s dialogues and “The apology of Socrates”), same goes for Crito, Glaucon, Antisthenes and other figures from the “Socrates’ circle”. Aristotle would appear in the cinema only because of his illustrious disciple, Alexander of Macedon, and Cicero would emerge only in the films about Julius Caesar, Marcus Antonius and other statesmen and generals of the Late Roman Republic. I am unaware of films about Pythagoras or Democritus, though the stories in which ancient biographers wrote about their peregrinations, trials and tribulations, etc., incredible as they may be, seem to ask to be screened. The same can be said about Heraclitus, Anaxagoras, Thales, Zeno, Parmenides, Purrho or Plotinus – they have never been featured. One can easily present a biopic about Plato as a life drama of a successor of Socrates, the head of the Athenian Academy, the creator of a new world – the world of ideas, the theoretician of the ideal state governed by aristocratic philosophers; his life journey can be embodied into a ‘historiographic’ film against the background of the history of Athens and other polei of Hellas of the Classic age. As if there were few outstanding subjects related to ancient thinkers proper. Suffice it to read the collection by Diogenes Laertius, where most sketches on ancient Greek philosophers are accounts of most interesting stories, legendary as they are, about outstanding people of the past, which makes them even more enticing for film makers.

Sure enough, images of Empedocles, Cicero, Marcus Aurelius, Saint Augustine, Hypatia and several other illustrious ancient men of science, religious thinkers and philosophers sporadically intersperse feature films; there are also films occasionally introducing philosophers, as was mentioned above, film devoted to statesmen, generals and other historical figures of their time (see the collection of films in the catalogue compiled by Hervé Dumont: Dumont H. L’Antiquité au cinéma: Vérités, légendes et manipulations. Paris; Lausanne, 2009).

Only the image of Socrates persisted in the cinema, both in the 20th and the 21st centuries. The Athenian thinker pursuing the truth, good-humoured ironic polemicist, constantly asking his strange questions, wise mentor and steadfast fighter for justice – it is a paragon of a hero philosopher hereafter. The cinema has greatly contributed to it. Throughout a century-old history of this new art, cinematographers of different countries created about three dozen of films featuring the image of a “barefoot sage”: from the beginning of the century, when the film “La morte de Socrate” (1909) was made to films of the 1990s: “Socrates”, directed by V. Sokolov (USSR, 1991), “The Apple” (directed by K. Sorbo (USA, 1996), “Sofies verden”, directed by E. Gustavsson (Norway, 1999) and other theatrical and non-fiction films with dramatic elements.

Cinematographic readings serve as markers of their time in biographic dramas and comedies. The following films are good illustrations of this: “Processo e morte di Socrate” made by C. D’Errico in the fascist Italy (1939), “Der Tod des Sokrates” (FRG, 1967, directed by W. Rilla), the satirical comedy by the Soviet director G. Shchukin “Paradise apples’ (USSR, 1973), “Socrates” by R. Rossellini (Italy, 1970) and “Socrates” by V. Sokolov, “The trial of Socrates” (“Beszelgetesek Szokratesszel”, Hungary, 1977, directed by Imre Mihályfi ) and others. (For brief descriptions of the films, see: Dumont 2009, 224–226; also, the abstracts of my reports on Socrates in the cinematography, made at the past sessions of “The Universe of the Platonic Thought” in 2017 and 2018).

As early as the Late-Antique age, Socrates was recognized as “a Christian before Christ”, and he is often referred to as a “proto-Christian”, a “prophet of Christ”, a “link between pagan virtues and Christian truths”. During the Age of the Cinema, the topic of “a Christian before Christ” appears in the films about Socrates. The second topic related to the philosopher is Socrates and Eros, where the feminine theme is largely treated comically.

Yet, the trial of Socrates and the death of the Athenian philosopher constitute the main topic of the films. Most of them show Socrates at the “moment of truth”. It is the behavior of the hero during the trial and the death sentence passed on him that are shown as Socrates’ experience of come-to-pass. Socrates’ death became an experience confirming and establishing the moral principles that the renowned barefoot sage had prophesized. The demise of Socrates – his conscious choice, his practical philosophical act – allows us to speak of the birth of a new age in the history of European thought and the world culture in general. It cannot be fortuitous that it is Socrates’ speech at the trial (condemning rather than defensive), immortalized in the famous “Anthology”, that starts the story of Socrates and the story of Plato, the history of Platonism and academism in the European culture. The image of the sage and fighter created by his disciples, Plato and Xenophon, that the ancient tradition later adopted, has become the proverbial image of “an elder of divine prudence” (divinae prudentiae senex), the name given to him by an ancient Greek writer, Apuleius (Metam. 10. 33). The case of Socrates, his conversations with compatriots and visiting foreigners in the streets of Athens, his life and death constitute a philosophy and ethics. Socrates’ speech at that trial that had been cobbled against him by the Athenians is a kind of a “Revelation of Socrates”, and his execution looks like a self-sacrificing deed to save people.