Socrates, the famous ancient Greek philosopher, was put to death in Athens on charges of impiety and corruption. In his own defense, Socrates testified that his inner voice, often called his “daemon,” prevented impious actions. Daemons are intermediary spiritual beings like angels in their capacity as messengers, and the source for our word “demon.” However, Socrates never testified about daemons, only to daemonic signs like his inner voice. So who or what was Socrates’s daemon?   Who Was Socrates and His Daemon? Socrates Looking in the Mirror, by Bernard Vaillant, after Jusepe de Ribera (called Lo Spagnoletto), 17th century. Source: Met Museum   Socrates was an ancient Greek philosopher and is revered as a father of Western philosophy. He used conversation in his philosophy, rather than written text like many modern philosophers. Conversations with Socrates involved pointed questioning that involved both logic and myth, something many philosophers still practice, now known as the “Socratic method.” His most famous student, Plato, wrote dramatic dialogues about Socrates’s philosophical conversations with notable citizens of Athens.   Socrates’s death at the hands of the Athenian Empire is well known because it sets the dramatic background to four important works by Plato: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, and Phaedo. These four dialogues tell the story of Socrates’s last days as he was sentenced to death by representatives of the ancient Greek city-state.   These dialogues serve as a record of the accusations against Socrates and his defense, documenting Socrates’s personal and philosophical perspectives on many topics. Socrates’s final philosophical conversations in these four dramatic works may reveal important considerations that are relevant today.   Death of Socrates, 1882 CE. Source: New York Public Library   When officially questioned about his motives, Socrates testified that daemonic signs inspired his actions. Many people think of Socrates’s daemon as a guardian angel or the inner voice of his conscience, not an evil demonic possession.   Socrates testified that his daemon was responsible for many of the charges brought against him, as well as instructing Socrates to stay and face the charges rather than flee. Socrates trusted his daemon with his life, piety, and philosophy, therefore Socrates’s daemon is essential to the history of Western philosophy.   Socrates’s Daemon Was Not a Demon or a Thought Experiment Bust of a Man (alternatively titled: Rene Descartes), 17th century. Source: Harvard Art Museums   There are two ways that contemporary philosophy uses the word “demon” that may misrepresent Socrates’s daemon. First, modern philosophy beginning with Descartes has used demons as thought experiments: Descartes imagined that a demon was constantly tricking him, Laplace imagined that a demon could know the position and movement of every molecule, and Maxwell imagined a demon that could test the laws of thermodynamics. While both Socrates’s daemon and modern thought experiment demons benefit philosophy, they are unalike because Socrates was willing to die for his daemon.   The second use of “demon” in philosophy involves Christianity and fallen angels. The word “daemon” is similar to “demon,” although the special spelling signifies that the word daemon is used only in the classical or Hellenistic sense, not the contemporary Christian sense. While “demons” are malevolent beings within Christian mythology, daemons may represent benevolent or malevolent beings because they are defined by the mythology of the time.   Unlike in Christian mythology, Greek mythology involved many deities with a variety of altruistic and selfish motives. Therefore, the word “daemon” signifies a type of being within a specific worldview or mythology.   Was Socrates’s Daemon a Sign of the Divine or a Divine Being? View of Delphi with a Procession, by Claude Lorrain, 1673. Source: Art Institute of Chicago   Plato was very careful in choosing the words of the Socratic dialogues, therefore we may look to the ancient Greeks to inform our understanding of Socrates’s daemon. The phrase “Socrates’s daemon,” may not be a true translation of the Greek because it implies there is an entity like a demon or an angel. If we are to be true to the text, we should use the phrase, “Socrates’s daemonic something/voice/sign.”   Just as English can represent entities (“demons”) and qualities (“demonic”) through related words, so too does the ancient Greek represent both entities and qualities. Plato used the “daemonic” quality to describe signs, voices, or something in relationship with Socrates but he never used the word “daemon” to represent a spiritual entity.   Plato also uses the word “daemon” in his Symposium, which may help us understand if Socrates’s daemon involved divine entities or just signs that were considered to have divine qualities. In this dialogue on the nature of love, Socrates relates a story about love as a “daemon” that mediates a person’s relationships with their object of desire.   The character Diotima applies the word “daemonic” to intermediary activities between humans and the divine, such as prayers, sacrifices, and oracles. Therefore, daemonic signs, voices, or things arise from the gods, even if the gods or divine beings are not directly present as entities. Using the phrase “Socrates’s daemon” may still be appropriate because daemonic signs imply a daemon or deity.   The Apology as the Key to Understanding Socrates’s Daemon Death of Socrates, by Michel François Dandré-Bardon, 1749. Source: Met Museum   Of the four dialogues by Plato that deal with Socrates’s last days, the Apology provides the clearest arguments about Socrates’s daemon and its role in his defense. In the dialogue, the men of Athens have accused Socrates of several charges, which Socrates defined in his typical fashion.   Socrates testified to the importance of his daemonic sign, which he described as an inner voice that prevented certain actions. By the end of the dialogue, the Athenians vote and sentence Socrates to death, which is described in Plato’s Phaedrus.   The Athenian accusations center on impiety and corruption of the youth, and the impiety accusation is relevant to our inquiry into Socrates’s daemon. The Athenians accused Socrates of not believing in the gods of the city but in other spiritual things. Interestingly, the accusation associates the word “theos” with the gods of the city and the word “daemonic” with Socrates’s impious practices.   Socrates is forced to defend himself by describing his relationship with his daemon, and so the legal proceedings depicted in Plato’s Apology may be the key to understanding Socrates’s Daemon.   Socrates and the Authority of the Oracle  Marble Head of Apollo, ca. 27 BCE–68 CE. Source: The MET Museum   Socrates defended himself against the Athenian accusations by testifying that his philosophical activity was in part caused by the Oracle of Delphi. The Oracle of Delphi was a priestess at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. Years earlier, the Oracle had said that Socrates was the wisest man in Athens. In response to the puzzling oracle, Socrates sought the wisest man in Athens and offended some citizens through his direct line of questioning, which inspired the accusation that Socrates corrupted the youth of Athens.   In response to the accusation of impiety, Socrates testified that he would rather obey the god of the Oracle than the men of Athens because philosophy will lead to piety and the perfection of the soul. Socrates used his commitment to philosophy and the gods’ will as a defense against the charge that he was an atheist and impious. Apollo, the god of truth and prophecy, presided over the Oracle at Delphi, therefore we may assume that Socrates’s daemon ultimately related to Apollo in some way.   Socrates’s Daemon May Have Been a Form of Prophecy The Delphic Sibyl, by Giorgio Ghisi, after Michelangelo, 1570s CE. Source: National Gallery of Art, Washington   In Plato’s Apology, Socrates testifies that his daemon would prevent him from taking certain actions like fleeing Athens or teaching certain students. Socrates said that the daemon was with him since childhood. The daemon would speak through an inner voice, often frequently and in small matters, but always to oppose certain courses of action. Socrates describes the daemon in impersonal terms as a negative voice.   Socrates’s daemon has been interpreted as the inner voice of conscience or the unconscious, perhaps not even a spiritual being at all. Our reading of the Apology demonstrates Socrates used impersonal or adjectival phrases like “something divine” or “daemonic,” but never personal or objective phrases like “god” or “daemon.” At this point, it may seem reasonable to assume that Socrates’s daemon was a personification of his conscience.   However, Socrates repeatedly connected his daemonic signs with prophetic power. The root word for prophecy is “mantis,” which is why prophecy is sometimes called a mantic art. Socrates said that his inner voice was a small type of prophecy and the word “mantis” directly connects Socrates’s daemon with the Oracle at Delphi, which also uses that root word.   The Mythological and Spiritual World of Socrates’s Daemon The Pleiades, by Elihu Vedder, 1885. Source: The MET Museum   The connection between prophecy and Socrates’s daemonic inner voice suggests that Socrates’s daemon was more than the personification of his inner voice. The connection between Socrates’s Daemon and prophecy also connects to core Socratic mythology like the transmigration of the soul or the world of the forms. Socratic myths retell traditional myths about life after death, the primacy of knowledge, and the noble activity of philosophy. The sequel to Plato’s Apology is the Phaedo, which tells the story of Socrates’s death and discusses myths related to the soul’s immortality.   While it may be tempting to interpret Socrates’s daemon as a personification of his conscience, Plato describes it as prophecy. The word root “mantis” was used to describe the means to perceive the realm of the immortal soul, i.e., the world of forms, as well as Socrates’s daemonic inner voice. Socrates himself admitted that he had little prophetic power, perhaps compared with the Oracle at Delphi. Therefore, there is a spectrum of prophetic powers from Socrates’s little voice to the powerful oracle of Apollo.   Socrates’s inner voice was his peculiar way of relating with the divine, perhaps directly to the mythical god Apollo, who he called as a witness during his defense in Plato’s Apology.   Did the Ancients Actually Believe Gods Lived on Mount Olympus? Mount Olympus from Larissa, Thessaly, Greece, by Edward Lear, 1850-75. Source: The MET Museum   It is tempting to imagine that the ancients naively believed their own mythology as if Zeus physically lived on top of Mount Olympus as Homer described. We have seen that it is easy to confuse daemonic things with daemons. On the one hand, daemonic things are impersonal like Socrates’s inner voice or the oracles from Delphi. On the other hand, daemons are personal beings like Apollo or Asclepius. Apollo was the god of prophecy. Asclepius was Apollo’s son and the god of dreams.   Did Socrates believe that Apollo really spoke to him through his inner voice? Socrates, in the writing of Plato, avoided directly addressing such a question. In the Apology, he invoked the god of the Oracle of Delphi as a witness to his piety. Socrates also testified that a daemonic inner voice guided his actions and prevented both the impiety and atheism that were charges against him. The voice was not the personification of his conscience, a thought experiment, or a spiritual entity like an angel or demon. Rather, Socrates testified that his daemon was a small prophetic skill that spoke through daemonic signs, voices, and things.   Socrates’s daemon is a short-hand way of referring to prophetic experiences involving an inner voice. While it is easy to imagine that Socrates was possessed by a literal or figurative demon, the words Plato used suggest that Socrates testified to prophetic skills upon the spiritual authority of the Oracle of Delphi. In other words, Socrates was a prophet and not someone demon-possessed.   Socrates’s Daemon Was a Product of Prophecy  Latona and Her Children, Apollo and Diana, by William Henry Rinehart, 1874. Source: The MET Museum   Socrates never speaks of an entity or a god in association with his inner voice. Rather, Socrates testified that his inner voice was a daemonic prophecy or spiritual communication. Plato’s writing contains many references to daemonic things like Socrates’s inner voice. In contrast, Plato’s writing contains few references to daemons themselves.   The difference between “daemon” and “daemonic” is the same as the difference between “angel” and “angelic.” On the one hand, angelic things may include light in clouds, beautiful music, and sentiments of charity but angels are spiritual beings who have personas that act in this world like we do. Socrates did not testify to encounters with spiritual beings, rather he testified to his own prophetic inner voice.   Seek Socrates’s Daemon in the World of Forms Perspectiva Corporum Regularium, engraver Jost Amman, after Wenzel Jamnitzer, 1568. Source: The MET Museum   The distinction between “daemon” and “daemonic” is subtle, but powerful. Socrates only testified to daemonic things in this world like oracles and prophecy. While Socrates invoked Apollo as a witness to his piety, Socrates offered no direct testimony of interacting with the god or other spiritual entities. As readers of Plato, we must seek Socrates’s daemon in our own experience or our direct apprehension of the divine in the world of the forms.