The Fate of Socrates in the World of Lion's Blood

   

Bust of Socrates
Source: Cornell Cast Collection

    According to Plato's Phaedo, Socrates was found guilty of impiety against the gods and corrupting the youth by an Athenian jury and sentenced to death by drinking hemlock. This event occurred in 399 B.C. During Socrates' imprisonment, one of his friends named Crito attempted to save him by bribing the guards and allow him to escape. However, Socrates refused and followed through his sentence. In another work of Plato, titled Crito, the reasons of Socrates' refusal is summed up in the following manner: he did not fear death, any other country would have wanted to eventually kill him, to escape would be considered a crime against the state, and those who helped him escape would also be guilty of committing crimes.

    In the story of Lion's Blood, author Steven Barnes chose to have the point of divergence (POD) begin with Socrates escaping to Egypt in 400 B.C., about one year before his death. Based on what is known in real-life about him, it is highly unlikely that Socrates would have chosen to escape without deeply betraying his principles. When I was researching the old website that described the timeline of the novel, I noticed that there is mention of the escape of other persecuted philosophers to Egypt a few years after Socrates' own escape. Once there, an academy is established, presumably by the same philosophers. 

    I never really understood why Mr. Barnes chose this particular event. How would a bunch of Greek philosophers cause a chain reaction that allowed the New World to be colonized by Muslim Africans? Perhaps this was not the best choice for a POD, since it lacked strong plausibility and made no significant change to the timeline.

Instead, the next alternate event written by Mr. Barnes is a better choice for a POD.

To Be Continued...