Socrates the great Greek philosopher was born at Alopece in Attica, Greece, in 470 B. C. He was the son of Sophroniscus a sculptor and of Phaenarete a midwife.
Socrates at first adopted his father’s art but soon however devoted himself entirely to the persuit of philosophy. In a short time he became famous through the skill he displayed in very wise and logical conversations with others.
He conducted the analysis of philosophical and educational ideas (The Socratic Method). This analysis consisted of a directed sequence of questions; the answers ideally would indicate that the knowledge of the subject belonged to all and that a good teacher could evoke the best from his disciples.
However Socrates did not call himself a teacher and took no pay or fee from his followers, as the others like Sophists did that time.
He was above all a searcher after a knowledge of virtue. (which he identified with knowledge)
He was in himself the noblest exponent of the ethical life of the Greeks.
Socrates served in the Athenian army in the Peloponnesian war.
He was a member of the council of 500 in Athens.
He is the chief character in the ‘Dialogues’ of Plato, his close associate, in which his teachings are set forth.
Socrates left no writings of his own. His most famous associates and pupils were Plato, Xenophon and Alcibiades.
In 399 B. C. he was accused of introduction of new gods and of corrupting the youth.
The accuser was one Meletus who was supported by a politician called Anytus.
It was true Socrates questioned accepted religious practices as he questioned everything. It was also true that he had a profound influence on the young men of his day.
At last Socrates was brought to trial. He could have avoided the trial by leaving Attica when the charges were brought against him, and many pressed him to do so.
The 70 year old Socrates stood before 501 judges and faced the charges boldly. He refused to make a defense. He was found guilty by a majority of 60 and the penalty was death.
He was imprisoned in Athens but the execution of the sentence was delayed by a month.
In that time Socrates’ devoted friends visited him in his prison. His pupil Plato gives accounts of those visits and the conversations held in some of the dialogues, and in them express Socrates’ teachings and ideas.
In the prison Socrates’ old friend Crito tried to persuade him to flee and escape his death sentence. Socrates convinces his friend that such a flight would be a denial of the principles he has been living by all his life, one of which is obedience to the law. “I have been duly condemned under the laws of Athens, by which I had always lived. I would not deny them now”, he said firmly.
The ‘Phaedo’ of Plato shows Socrates talking with his followers on the last day of his life. The subject of discussion was Socrates’ unshakable belief in immortality of the soul.
When all points have been resolved the closing lines of the ‘Dialogue’ describe in detail the taking of the hemlock, the prescribed poison by Socrates, and finally the simplicity and serenity with which the aged philosopher brought his life to a close. The year was 399 B. C. and the place, the prison in Athens.
His marriage late in life to the shrewish Xanthippe who bore him three sons resulted in many amusing and sad tales concerning her bad temper.
