How To Be An Agnostic
reputation were nearly the most defi cient.’ Moreover, mixed in
with a growing distaste for the self-righteousness of politicians
and mounting alarm at what it meant for the city, he noticed
that he was becoming unpopular. The gadfl y was emerging from
his chrysalis and another dimension to the oracle’s words was
becoming clear. His search was starting to feel like a mission, to
bring down the mighty from their Assembly seats.
Ancient Greek religion was unlike our own in many respects.
In particular, it had no canonical texts, like the Bible, or mag-
isterium of priests to enforce doctrine. But one group of think-
ers was particularly important in defi ning the limits of pious
behaviour and what counted as orthodoxy, namely, the poets.
The works of Homer and Hesiod were especially venerated.
Their stories of courage and sayings on the virtues provided the
canon-like texts of the day. Phrases like, ‘Of all things, change is
sweet’, or, ‘Friends have everything in common’, littered debate
as proof texts and reference points, much like public fi gures
today cite truisms such as, ‘People love freedom’, or, ‘Treat
others as you would be treated’.
The poets were, in other words, another group of people one
or more of whom might be wiser than Socrates. He certainly
had some great comic and tragic writers as contemporaries,
including Sophocles, Euripides and Aristophanes. So, having
found politicians lacking, Socrates took to questioning these
individuals. Again, he wanted to ‘catch himself more ignorant’.
He identifi ed what he thought were the most meaningful and
considered examples of their work and asked them about it. He
was disappointed. And further, he noticed that bystanders who
happened to overhear them as they talked, often offered better
interpretations of the poems than the poets themselves. This
led Socrates to think that their poetry was not bad per se; he was
not a Philistine. Rather, poets confused their ability to use words
with wisdom. ‘I soon realised that the poets do not compose
their poems with real knowledge, but by some inborn talent
and inspiration, like seers and prophets who also say many fi ne
things without any understanding of what they say...’