Socrates as a detective in ancient Athens Amazingly, Socrates the philosopher is not recorded as taking part in any criminal investigation. This historical oversight is corrected in this book. When the holy statues of Athens, known as the Herms, were mutilated, Socrates was in the city. Therefore, he must have been affected by this sacrilegious act, and must have been at least a little involved in trying to discover the perpetrators. There were also rumours at the time that there had been parodies of the Eleusinian Mysteries carried out in private houses. Socrates would have known about these tales, and could not have avoided thinking about whether they were true. If, at more or less the same time, an adolescent boy was castrated, Socrates must have known about it. Furthermore, he may well have been caught up in the investigation of that death. And, when another death occurred, the city would have been terrified. This is the story of that man and that time. When Socrates the philosopher became Socrates the private investigator: Socrates PI.