Time-trippers from the 29th century arrive in 20th century Turkey to interview Socrates, who is still alive, contrary to his rumored death by hemlock.  The time travel episode takes place within a larger story of Socrates giving a guided tour to two sailors.
—Fred Galvin
And the interview was a great success. The old master used the hundred or so questions as takeoff points for truly masterful illuminations. It really was the archeological-historical coup of the century.

Tags

(7)

Variants

(3)
  1. limited release.
    “Rainy Day in Halicarnassus” by R. A. Lafferty, in At the Sleepy Sailor: A Tribute to R. A. Lafferty, edited by Guy H. Lillian III (The Sons of the Sand, 1979) [fanzine].
    2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by R. A. Lafferty
  2. alternate title.
    “Rainy Day in Halicarnasses” by R. A. Lafferty, in The Back Door of History (United Mythologies Press, 1988).
    3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by R. A. Lafferty
  3. first widely distributed release.
    “Rainy Day in Halicarnassus” by R. A. Lafferty, in Betcha Can’t Read Just One, edited by Alan Dean Foster (Ace Books, December 1993).
    4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by R. A. Lafferty

Indexer Notes

(2)
  1. Debut—We have not seen the 1979 fanzine, At the Sleepy Sailor: A Tribute to R. A. Lafferty, but ameqlist.com, the University of Tulsa Archival Catalog, and  Worthpoint suggest that it contained “Rainy Day in Halicarnassus,” and Lafferty’s Biography lists the story with a 1979 date.
  2. Alternate title—We have not seen the 1988 limited release publication, The Back Door of History, but the ISFDB and WorldCat list the title used there as “Rainy Day in Halicarnasses.”