Universe of Platonic Thought 2022
Plato Philosophical Society
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МОО «Платоновское философское общество»
The Universe of Platonic Thought
Универсум платоновской мысли

30th International Conference  ·  XXX Международная конференция
23–24 June 2022   St Petersburg, Russia  ·  23–24 июня 2022   Санкт-Петербург, Россия

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About Conference Conference Program Proceedings
A

Afonasin Eugene, DSc in Philosophy, Professor; Institute of Philosophy and Law of Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences (Novosibirsk, Russia), Head of Department; Novosibirsk State University (Novosibirsk, Russia), Professor

Damascius on Platonic Mysticism

Afonasin Eugene, DSc in Philosophy, Professor; Institute of Philosophy and Law of Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences (Novosibirsk, Russia), Head of Department; Novosibirsk State University (Novosibirsk, Russia), Professor

Philosophy and Religious Politics in Damascius’ “Philosophical History”

Afonasina Anna, CSc in Philosophy; Novosibirsk State University (Novosibirsk, Russia), Senior Lecturer

How Dionysos got into Plato's dialogues and occupied such an important place in them? 

Alieva Olga V., CSc in Philology; National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow, Russia), Associate Professor

False Pleasures in the Philebus: Standard Interpretation and Its Critics

Alymova Elena, CSc in Philosophy, Associate Professor; Saint Petersburg State University (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Associate Professor

"The True Representation", or Plato and Aristotle on Mimesis

Anderson Olga; Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University (Kaliningrad, Russia), Research Fellow

Personal archive of Alexander Egunov, the translator of Plato's dialogues

Anufriev Timofei; Saint Petersburg State University (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Student

Plato’s Interpretation of the Early K.I. Sotonin

B

Begichev Aleksandr; Saint Petersburg State University (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Postgraduate

The Place of Mythology in Platonic Discourse

Berezovskaya Irina Petrovna, CSc in Philosophy, Associate Professor; Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Assistant Professor; Emperor Alexander I St. Petersburg state transport university (Санкт-Петербург, Russia), Assistant Professor

Ancient origins of critical thinking

Biriukov Dmitry, DSc in Philosophy; National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow, Russia), Research Fellow

Structure and features of the "formulas of Onomatodoxy" by Pavel Florensky and Alexei Losev

Biriukov Dmitry, DSc in Philosophy; National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow, Russia), Research Fellow

The simile of mirror in the context of the topic of passivity of human cognitive abilities in Clement of Alexandria and Gregory of Nyssa

Bogomolov Alexey Vladimirovich, CSc in Philosophy; Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University (Kaliningrad, Russia), Associate Professor

Parmenides and "Parmenides": non-being vs the one

Botka Georgii Nikolaevich; Saint Petersburg State University (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Student

Two wise men: Plato's Socrates and Philostratus' Apollonius

C

Chernoglazov Dmitri, DSc in Philology; Saint Petersburg State University (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Associate Professor

“Are two Gregories homonyms or synonyms?” The concepts of “homonymy”, “synonymy”, and “paronymy” in Byzantine logical tradition

D

Danilkina Natalia, CSc in Philosophy; Pskov State University (Pskov, Russia), Postgraduate

"Integrated dualism" in Plato's cosmology and Earth sciences

Didikin Anton, DSc in Philosophy, Associate Professor; National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow, Russia), Professor

Platonism in Historical and Philosophical Interpretation of Normativism

Dmitrov Igor Igorevich; Russian Christian Academy for the Humanities (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Student

Plato's dialogues as an introduction to the problem of the relationship between the subject and the method of philosophical knowledge

Dorofeev Daniil, DSc in Philosophy, Professor; St Petersburg Mining University (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Head of the Department of Philosophy, Professor

The image of the philosopher in Diogenes Laertes and the visualization of philosophy in Christianity.

Dudin Artem Olegovich; Khlopin Radium Institute (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Head of the Scientific and Technical Library

A theoretical seminar on natural science in Khlopin Radium Institute and Plato

Dyomin Rostislav; Russian Christian Academy for the Humanities (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Lecturer

Lycanthropy and Plato. Based on the pages of Olga Tokarczuk’s novel "House of Day, House of night"

Dzhabrailov Ruslan Ilgarovich; National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow, Russia), Postgraduate

Plato as an interlocutor of Leo Tolstoy and N.N. Strakhov: an ancient trace in Russian correspondence

E

Ekrogulskaya Alexandra; Saint Petersburg State University (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Postgraduate

Repetition of Søren Kierkegaard as a Reference to Plato's Anamnesis

Evlampiev Igor, DSc in Philosophy, Professor; Saint Petersburg State University (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Professor

Plato and Neoplatonism in Russian religious philosophy

Evlampiev Fedor Igorevich; Saint Petersburg State University (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Student

Two models of corrrelation between singularity and multitude: Plato and Leibniz

Evlampiev Igor, DSc in Philosophy, Professor; Saint Petersburg State University (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Professor

The Idea of Absolute Religion in Russian Philosophy: from Chaadaev to Karsavin

F

Fedorov Denis, CSc in Social science; Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University (Kaliningrad, Russia), Associate Professor

Alexander Egunov's heritage in the history of Russian science

G

Galanin Rustam, CSc in Philosophy; Russian Christian Academy for the Humanities (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Independent scholar, Research Fellow

The conception of Eros in the philosophy of Socrates

Garadja Alexei; Russian State University for Humanities (Moscow, Russia), Major Research Fellow

On the authorship of the “Chrestomathy” of Proclus

Golovin Alexey Alexseevich ; Institute of the philosophy of a human, Herzen University (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Postgraduate

The influence of 'Plato der göttliche' on A. Schopenhauers philosophy. Following the footsteps of manuscript heritage. 

Gravin Artyom Andreevich, CSc in Technics; Sociological Institute, Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology, Russian Academy of Sciences (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Researcher; A.M.Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow, Russia), Senior Researcher

Сommunion with God and communicative symbolism in L. A. Gogotishvili's linguo-philosophy

Grebenkin Oleg; Voronezh Theological Seminary (Voronezh, Russia), Senior Lecturer

Platonism and Christianity about love in the context of personal relationships.

Gulakov Ilya Aleksandrovich, Master's student of Herzen University

Analysis of the usage of terms denoting Hell/Sheol in the Old and New Testaments

Guryanov Ilya, CSc in Philosophy; Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (Moscow, Russia), Associate Professor

Medicine, Natural Philosophy, and Theology in Gregoras’ Roman History (IX.14)

I

Ishchenko Nina Sergeevna, CSc in Philosophy; Lugansk State Pedagogical University (Lugansk, LPR, Russia), Assistant Professor

Literature as an Erotic Space of Spiritual Exchange

Ismiyeva Valeriya, CSc in Philosophy, Associate Professor; Institute of World Civilizations (Moscow, Russia), Associate Professor

Dialectics of the ascent from the sensuous to the timeless: Platonic motifs in the cycle "Six-Line poems" by Andrey Tavrov

K

Karavaeva Svetlana, CSc in Philosophy; North-Western State Medical University named after I. I. Mechnikov (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Assistant Professor

The Way of Logical Reasoning in Aristotle's Ethical Writings

Katrechko Sergey Leonidovich, CSc in Philosophy, Associate Professor; State Academic University for the Humanities (Moscow, Russia), Associate Professor; Foundation for Humanities (Moscow, Russia), Head of Chair "Studies in Transcendental Philosophy"

Plato's transcendental metaphysics (Plato and Kant)

Khmara Igor; Russian Christian Academy for the Humanities (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Assistant Professor

The human body: philosophical and liturgical context of the late antiquity Alexandria

Khmelevskoi Daniil; Southern Federal University (Rostov-on-Don, Russia), Research Assistant

Plato's one-world idealism as interpreted by I. H. Grant

Kupriyanov Gleb; National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow, Russia), Student

Measure and eidos in “Statesman” Plato: V. V. Bibikhin's Interpretation

Kurbanov Andrey, CSc in History; Russian Christian Academy for the Humanities (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Research Assistant

Spyridonova Lydia, CSc in History; Russian Christian Academy for the Humanities (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Research Assistant

An unpublished manual of Greek Poetics by the Leichoudes brothers

Kurdybaylo Dmitry, CSc in Philosophy; Russian Christian Academy for the Humanities (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Researcher; Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia ( Saint Petersburg, Russia), Major Research Fellow

History vs symbol in the writings of Maximus the Confessor

Kursenko Ilya Vadimovich; Saint Petersburg State University (Saint Petersburg, Russia), MA or MSc

Plato's Socrates in XVIII century France

L

Likhter Pavel, CSc in Law; Penza State University (Penza, Russia), Associate Professor

Popper anti-Platonian riticism: irrationalism, holism, essentialism in the focus of the theory of constitutional law

Lugovoy Sergey V., CSc in Philosophy, Associate Professor; Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University (Kaliningrad, Russia), Associate Professor

The image of Plato in Kant's Critique of Pure Reason

M

Makhnov Arsenij, Independent scholar

About Socrate's daimon.

Makovetsky Eugene Anatolievich, DSc in Philosophy; Saint Petersburg State University (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Professor; Sociological Institute, Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology, Russian Academy of Sciences (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Associate Research Fellow

Portraits for identification and portraits for unification: how to depict a person correctly? (Based on Greek and Russian ekphrasis).

Malyshkin Eugene, DSc in Philosophy, Associate Professor; Saint Petersburg State University (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Professor

On the noteworthy omission in the speech of Aristophanes, interlocutor of Socrates

Mettini Emiliano, CSc in Pedagogy; Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University (Moscow, Russia), Head of Department

Plato's epistemic approach to truth: doctrine of knowledge in "Menon", "Phaedrus", "Phaedo" and "Theaetetus".  

Mochalova Irina, CSc in Philosophy, Associate Professor; Saint Petersburg State University (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Associate Professor

Institutional approach in Platonic Studies: the history of formation and conceptual apparatus

N

Narovetskii Maksim; Department of Philosophy, FEB RAS (Vladivostok, Russia), Researcher

The Moral Realism of Plato and C.S. Lewis

Neapolitanskiy Maximilian; Saint Petersburg State University (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Student

Philosophy of Plato in the context of the Deleuzian and post-Deleuzian tradition: from simulation to virtual

Nikonenko Sergey, DSc in Philosophy, Professor; Saint Petersburg State University (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Professor

Why We Cannot Think That Cratilus Is the Origin of the Ideal Language Theory?

Nikulin Maksim Sergeevich; Institute of the philosophy of a human, Herzen University (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Postgraduate; Saint Petersburg Theological Academy (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Senior Lecturer; Russian Christian Academy for the Humanities (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Senior Lecturer

Understanding Plato's concept of mathematics

Nogovitsin Oleg Nikolaevich, CSc in Philosophy, Associate Professor; Sociological Institute, Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology, Russian Academy of Sciences (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Senior Researcher

The argument of Severus of Antioch on the absurdity of confessing two common natures in Christ and the concept of “particular nature” in the “Arbiter” by John Philoponus

O

Ovsyannikov Maxim; Russian State University for Humanities (Moscow, Russia), Postgraduate

The Atlantis Myth in Plato's dialogues "Timeus" and "Critius"as a source of a data on Sicilian Expedition

P

Panteleev Aleksey D., CSc in History, Associate Professor; Saint Petersburg State University (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Associate Professor

Plato and his heirs on wealth, poverty and virtue

Pogoniailo Alexander, DSc in Philosophy, Professor; Saint Petersburg State University (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Professor

Theological discourse in the early Middle Ages. Visigoth Kingdom

Poliakov Alexander Valerievich; Yuri Gagarin State Technical University of Saratov (Saratov, Russia), Lecturer

The Place of the Idea of ​​the Good in Merab Mamardashvili's Philosophy of Consciousness

Popova Varvara, DSc in Philosophy; Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University (Kaliningrad, Russia), Professor

The image of Plato's philosophy in a course on Ancient philosophy by A.I. Vvedensky

Prikhodko Maxim, CSc in Philosophy; The Parish of St. Nicolas Russian Orthodox Church (Seville, Spain), priest; Russian Christian Academy for the Humanities (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Associate Research Fellow

The philosophy of history in "Life of Constantine" by Eusebius of Caesarea and its Early-Christian background.

Prikhodko Maxim, CSc in Philosophy; The Parish of St. Nicolas Russian Orthodox Church (Seville, Spain), priest; Russian Christian Academy for the Humanities (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Associate Research Fellow

Four ways of the “flight from the world,” according to Philo of Alexandria’s treatise De fuga et inventione

Protopopov Ivan, CSc in Philosophy, Associate Professor; Saint-Petersburg State University of Aerospace Instrumentation (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Associate Professor

On the question of the Identity of Thinking and Being in the Doctrine of Plato's Ideas

Protopopova Irina Aleksandrovna , CSc in Culturology, Associate Professor; Platonic Research Center (Moscow, Russia), Head; Russian State University for Humanities (Moscow, Russia), Major Research Fellow

Plato’s Parmenides: riddles and interpretations

R

Rassadin Sergey Valentinovich, CSc in Philosophy, Associate Professor; RAS Institute of Philosophy (Moscow, Russia), Postgraduate, Associate Professor

Plato's Social Orthodoxy: Rational Elimination of Differences

S

Safiullina Galina Karimovna; Russian Christian Academy for the Humanities (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Student

Delphic maxim "know thyself" in the interpretation of Heraclitus and Plato

Savinov Rodion, CSc in Philosophy; St Petersburg State Academy of Veterinary Medicine (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Associate Professor

Was Plotinus an Apologist of Paganism (Enn. IV.4.30-45)?

Savintsev Vyacheslav Igorevich, CSc in Philosophy; Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University (Kaliningrad, Russia), Associate Professor

Platonic receptions of space and time in B. Chicherin's Metaphysics

Segalerba Gianluigi, PhD, Independent scholar

Being, knowledge, soul

Serkova Vera , DSc in Philosophy, Professor; Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Professor

Plato's practical philosophy

Sevastianova Alina Dmitrievna; St. Petersburg State University of Veterinary Medicine (Санкт-Петербург, Russia), Lecturer

The Moral Status of Animals in the Сontext of Ancient Philosophical and Ethical Thought

Shcherbakov Fedor Borisovitch, CSc in Philosophy; St Petersburg Mining University (Saint Petersburg, Russia), assistent

SECOND TURN OF LYNCEUS' EYE: Prolegomena to Transcendental-Phenomenological Study of Ancient Philosophical Allegoresis

Shchukin Timur; Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia ( Saint Petersburg, Russia), Postgraduate; Sociological Institute, Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology, Russian Academy of Sciences (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Associate Research Fellow

The System of Sciences according to Ammonius of Alexandria and its Transformation in Byzantine Theological Discourse (Maximus the Confessor, John of Damascus, Anastasius of Sinai)

Shishkalov Vladimir Nikolaevich, нет

Language as an information resource

Sinitsyn Alexander, 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

Sobolnikova Elena, CSc in Philosophy, Associate Professor; North-Western State Medical University named after I. I. Mechnikov (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Associate Professor

The ideas of Platonic philosophy in English Mysticism of the XIV century

Sorokina Marina; Institute of the philosophy of a human, Herzen University (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Postgraduate; Yaroslav-the-Wise Novgorod State University (Veliky Novgorod, Russia), Teacher

Paideia as an educational counter-strategy of the elites.

Spyridonova Lydia, CSc in History; Russian Christian Academy for the Humanities (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Research Assistant

Kurbanov Andrey, CSc in History; Russian Christian Academy for the Humanities (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Research Assistant

Plato in the Сommentary on the poems of Gregory of Nazianzus by Cosmas of Maiuma

Stavtseva Olga, CSc in Philosophy, Associate Professor; Leningrad State University named after A. S. Pushkin (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Associate Professor

Plato and the formation of non-classical thinking by S. Kierkegaard

Stepanova Anna, DSc in Philosophy, Associate Professor; Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia ( Saint Petersburg, Russia), Professor

Plato in the rationalism of the XVII century (designed by W. Dilthey)

Svetlov Roman, DSc in Philosophy, Professor; Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University (Kaliningrad, Russia), Director of the Higher School of Philosophy, History, and Social science

‘Iamblicus’ in Dmitry Merezhkovsky’s novel The Death of the Gods. Julian the Apostate

Svetlov Roman, DSc in Philosophy, Professor; Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University (Kaliningrad, Russia), Director of the Higher School of Philosophy, History, and Social science

The Idea of the Good in the dialogue Philebus 

T

Tantlevskij Igor, DSc in Philosophy, Professor; Saint Petersburg State University (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Head of Department

Antique Parallels from the 5th Century B.C.E. to Qoh. 12:7

Tantlevskij Igor, DSc in Philosophy, Professor; Saint Petersburg State University (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Head of Department

On the Meaning of the Tetragrammaton

Tantlevskij Igor, DSc in Philosophy, Professor; Saint Petersburg State University (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Head of Department

Elements Correlating with Syncrisis, Soliloquy, Diatribe and Symposium in the Book of Qoheleth

Tantlevskij Igor, DSc in Philosophy, Professor; Saint Petersburg State University (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Head of Department

The Biblical Prophets-“Statesmen”, the Bible of Lemetre de Sassi and Pushkin’s “Prophet”

Tantlevskij Igor, DSc in Philosophy, Professor; Saint Petersburg State University (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Head of Department

Tantlevskaya Elizaveta Igorevna ; Saint Petersburg State University (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Post-graduate

The Designations of the Jewish Legal Scholars as a Formal Reflection of the Worldview Debates in Jewish Society During the Hellenistic and Early Roman Periods

Tantlevskij Igor, DSc in Philosophy, Professor; Saint Petersburg State University (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Head of Department

“Unhandmade Temple” in Mk. 14:58 and Pushkin’s “Non-handmade monument” in the Context of the Ideology of Russian Freemasonry

Tonkovidova Anna Viktorovna; Kuban State University of Physical Education, Sports and Tourism (Krasnodar, Russia), Senior Lecturer

The concept of personality in the philosophy of P. Florensky: the reception of Plato's philosophy

Tonoyan Larisa, CSc in Philosophy, Associate Professor; Russian Christian Academy for the Humanities (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Researcher

Definition and division as a method of Platonic philosophy

Trofimova Valeriia Nikolaevna; Saint Petersburg State University (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Student

The ontogenetic status of the animal in the concept of "reverse evolution" of Plato

U

Udalova Valeria; Pushkin Leningrad State University (Vyborg Institute) (Vyborg, Russia), Lecturer

Astrological Geometry of the Soul in Plato's Dialogues 

V

Volf Marina, DSc in Philosophy, Professor; Institute of Philosophy and Law of Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences (Novosibirsk, Russia), Director

Platonism in Friedrich Dessauer's philosophy of technology

Volkova Anna Andreevna; National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow, Russia), Student

[User not registered], independent scholar

Plato’s Anthropological truth in Eric Voegelin’s interpretation 

Z

Zemlyakov Gleb Sergeevich; St Alexius College of humanitarian and socio-pedagogical disciplines (Tolyatti, Russia), The teacher

Elements of logical argumentation and its boundary in Parmenides' philosophy

Zolotukhina Anastasia Igorevna, CSc in Philology; National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow, Russia), Research Fellow

"The doctrine of a new Plato": an unexpected image of Plato in early humanistic disputes

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.

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