Game Advisory from the Gamemaster

We will resume the trial of Socrates tomorrow, with two more speeches in defense of Socrates followed by the vote on guilt and, if necessary, the penalty phase. If time remains, we will return to Assembly, with moderate democrat Julianna presiding and radical democrat Melissa/Thrasybulus as herald. We will be in Assembly next Tuesday (unless another trial, bad weather, or some other unforeseen circumstance prevents us), and if necessary, I will designate another President and Herald.

One of you said yesterday during the trial that the gods are omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. That claim presents an interesting problem about the nature of the gods. While the gods may be omniscient, traditional stories suggest that the gods weren't always paying attention to human affairs. In Iliad 1, for example, the Olympian gods have gone off to Ethiopia and Achilles’ mother, the sea-goddess Thetis, apparently can’t intervene with Zeus on Achilles’ behalf until the Olympians return to Olympos. In Iliad 16, Zeus is unable to prevent the death of his own son Sarpedon. Myth and literature contain unsettling stories, as Socrates suggests in the Republic.

The Gamemaster is neither omnipotent nor omniscient nor omnipresent; he believes that he may have encouraged deal-making in the trial of Socrates. While the game rules say nothing about jury tampering or bribery, scholars of the Athenian court system seem to agree that its mechanisms (such as random selection of jurors and the large number of jurors in individual trials) prevented tampering or bribery. My bad. Do keep in mind that IF jury-tampering has occurred in the Athens of Old College 100, the offenders may find themselves on trial.