"They spoke of the gods allegorically. It is extremely obvious they were never asserting these gods were for real. I believe it was the denial of gods that led to Socrates taking the hemlock."

Sorry, AR282, no cigar.

"Extremely obvious" they were not asserting these gods for real? Since when? Many thought the bloody Oracle of Delphi was real and based their actions on enigmatic pronouncements, sometimes with disastrous results. I'm quite sure that not all Greeks believed the gods were real, but many of them, including some of the philosophers spoke of them often—and not allegorically.

And it was not Socrates denying of the gods that brought about his execution. In Socrates's time, the Greeks thought of gods and goddesses as associated with particular cities. E.g.Athens, Athena. When Athens was defeated in the Peloponnesian War, there were some who maintained that the defeat was because the citizens of Athens were insufficiently pious and a pissed-off Athena allowed them to be defeated as punishment. Socrates shot off his mouth and said that the defeat was not so much a matter of impiety as human incompetence. This didn't go over too big with The Powers That Be. They charged Socrates with impiety and of corrupting the youth of Athens. That was the excuse that was used to have him executed.

You're really pretty good, AR282, but you're arguing with people who know more than you do.

Don Firth