The barefoot ‘gadfly’: Vijay Tankha’s new book brings the baffling, maddening Socrates back to life

4 min readUpdated: Jul 26, 2026 08:43 AM IST Socrates’s life was as remarkable as his death. He claimed to know nothing, walked barefoot, liked being the target of comedians, mesmerised young philosophers and infuriated those in power. His ability to reason had the effect of a sting ray. He described himself as a gadfly and a midwife. He had no ideas of his own but could give birth to the ideas of others. He accepted the death sentence awarded to him by the Athenian court with equanimity. He refused to leave the prison and run away when Crito offered him the chance to do so. Our knowledge of Socrates is circumscribed by the people who wrote about him. Our information comes from three sources: Xenophon, not a well-regarded historian; Aristophanes, an acerbic satirist; and Plato, who puts hi