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.