How to Speak Freely: An Ancient Guide to Free Speech and Dissent

"Michael Fontaine translates Plato's Apology of Socrates afresh as a text for modern readers interested in free speech, its purposes, dangers, and, if any, its limits. He supplements this with a short selection, written several centuries later, from the satirical writer Lucian, who referred to himself as "Parrhesiades," i.e., "Mr. Free Speech," and whose dialogue The Gods in Council invented Momus, a new god of frank and fearless criticism. Together, these two texts highlight potent and influential examples of speaking freely, no matter the personal cost"--