The trial and condemnation of Socrates is one of the great mysteries inherited from 5th century Athens.

Was his trial political? Why did he mock his judges? Why did Athens—weary from the long war with Sparta, humiliated by its defeat—decide to execute a seventy-year-old philosopher?

The three texts of Plato that record the events of Socrates' trial are among the most beautiful writings that live in our libraries.

Moreover, one could say that the Trial of Socrates was perhaps the first trial of political correctness in the history of Western civilization. Socrates was not politically correct, and the stance he took in court continues to challenge the political correctness of our legal culture.

At a time when our entire culture is at risk of sinking into an endless cycle of violence and extreme fanaticism, Socrates' stance appears to be a necessary condition for whatever freedom remains to us. And for that reason, he is our contemporary.