Socrates
was a great Greek philosopher. He is considered to be the wisest man of
the
ancient world as he relentlessly pursued truth in all spheres of life
and lived
and died for it. The Greek philosophy emerged with the philosophy of
Socrates.
He taught people not to follow anything blindly.
Socrates was born at
Athens in 470 BC. His father
was a stone-cutter and a sculptor. Socrates was an ugly-looking person
with a
flat nose and inward eyes. In his childhood, he had received religious
training.
In his youth, Socrates was a soldier and had taken part in many
battles
from the side of his own land, Athens.
Athens,
the land of Socrates, was a land of great
civilization. In literature, drama, architecture, philosophy and
sculpture,
Athens was at Peak. Thus Socrates background inspired him to turn to
philosophy. Socrates teaching about the soul was so incomprehensible
that his
countrymen were unable to understand.
But his
disciple Plato had respect and admiration
for Socrates. Soon Socrates came into conflict with the contemporary
government. The officials accused him of corrupting the youth by
misleading
them and teaching them to doubt the traditional beliefs. Socrates
believed that
everybody was not fit to run the government, as administration is an
art which
needs special skills.
Socrates' ideology earned him few friends and
many enemies. Thus the social life of Socrates became troubled.
At the
same time, he got no cooperation from his
wife, who was a cruel and complaining woman. Despite all this, Socrates
refused
to stop expressing his ideas and beliefs which irritated the powerful
people.
Young disciples of Socrates followed his teachings and questioned their
elders.
His enemies charged him of corrupting the Athenian youths.
The charges were baseless, but the authorities
declared him guilty and sentenced him to death. He gladly embraced
death by
drinking the cup of poison, and died a glorious death for the sake of
his ideas
and beliefs.