Jon D. Mikalson examines how Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and other Greek philosophers described, interpreted, criticized, and utilized the components and concepts of the religion of the people of their time - practices such as sacrifice, prayer, dedications, and divination. The chief conceptsinvolved are those of piety and impiety, and after a thorough analysis of the philosophical texts Mikalson offers a refined definition of Greek piety, dividing it into its two constituent elements of `proper respect' for the gods and `religious correctness'. He concludes with a demonstration of thebenevolence of the gods in the philosophical tradition, linking it to the expectation of that benevolence evinced by popular religion. | Greek Popular Religion in Greek Philosophy by Jon D. Mikalson, Hardcover | Indigo Chapters