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(This section was written in the
5th grade by my daughter Rachel!):
Early Life
Socrates was born into a wealthy family
in Athens between 471 and 469 B.C. His Father Sophroniscus was a
professional sculptor. In Greece sculpture was one of the three main
arts. Therefore Socrates’s father was well paid. During his
childhood Socrates had the ambition of becoming a sculptor like his father.
Socrates was believed to have actually put together a few sculptures called
the “Graces” that are located along the road to the Acropolis. Socrates
soon left his job as a sculptor to take up the job we know him for, a philosopher
(meaning lover of wisdom).
The Teacher
Socrates would ask his students questions
that involved lots of thinking (the dialectic method). When a student
would come up with an answer, Socrates would come at him with a “what if”
question causing them to think again harder. Socrates would keep
this up until he thought his students knew exactly why they wanted to do
a specific thing. Socrates thought that everyone needed a clear reason
to go with their idea. He thought that you needed to think everything
through before you acted or else everything would turn out all wrong, not
the way you wanted it.
Socrates also thought that you need
to stand firm on your idea even if everybody disagrees. He said never
to go with the crowd because you’re going to end up not knowing what you’re
doing. He disagreed strongly with the Sophists whose whole
idea was to flatter and go along with the crowd and whatever they said
went.
Socrates and His Understanding of
God
An interesting thing about Socrates
was that his religious thoughts were very different from basically about
everybody during that time. While the Greeks were busy worrying about
pleasing some petty gods running around on top of Mount Olympus, Socrates
was focused on the idea of a much greater and perfect God that created
everything and that watched over all of us. He thought that there
was a higher and greater God than that of the pagan Greek gods. Socrates
would make fun of the Greek gods through the Iliad and the Odessy.
He would read sections of them to his students, talking about their jealousy
and pride. Socrates would wonder how people actually believe them
to be gods as imperfect as they were. To Socrates they were just
immortal humans with magical powers. Even though Socrates was about
400 years before Christ, some people think Socrates would have agreed with
the Christians and maybe perhaps would have been a Christian himself.
Socrates' Personality
Socrates had an attitude to go along
with his face. He was portrayed in paintings and sculptures as having
an ugly and tough looking face. Socrates had a tough personality.
In fact he served in the army for several years. He was thought to
be a tough, well trained soldier that was loyal to his army. He also
had a wife named Xanthippe who was supposed to be easily upset and temper
filled.
Socrates also had a very strong will.
When he made up his mind nobody could stop him. Socrates would let
everyone know his opinions and would let everyone know whether they were
right or wrong. Socrates was not afraid of other people and their
opinions. He expressed his opinions whenever he wanted to.
He kept this up even when he was threatened with death. The reason
for that might have been that he kept thinking of “the higher world” and
somehow knew that all imperfection would cease to exist for him when he
died. Therefore he was never afraid, not even of death.
Socrates' Works -- as Recorded by Plato
Although Socrates never wrote anything
of his own, we did manage to come to know and understand Socrates’s thoughts
and methods through some dialogs recorded mostly by his follower and disciple
Plato. We can’t exactly be sure that these are all of Socrates’s
words. Actually it is very likely that Plato was changing some of his words,
or putting words in Socrates’s mouth. Probably the closest record
of Socrates’s actual words was his farewell speech given while he was in
court called The Apology. We think this is how Plato got his idea
of the perfect (revealed, higher) world of pure forms or ideals, and his
idea of us on earth being in the mirrored or shadowed (empirical) world.
His Trial and Death
Probably, the most important time in
Socrates’s life was his death. I know that sounds a bit weird but
this is the period in Socrates’s life that really shows you his understandings
of things. This is the time that all in all explains who Socrates
was from the inside of not only his thoughts but of his soul.
In 399 B.C., Socrates was tried in
court. He was accused of the following: “Socrates is guilty, firstly,
of denying the gods recognized by the state and introducing new divinities,
and, secondly, of corrupting the young.”
This court scene is described in
The
Apology, a document recorded by Plato.
Even though Socrates could have played
along with the people and saved his life, Socrates refused and even mocked
some people saying to them whatever was on his mind, as if he had absolutely
no care about this life or death situation (which he didn’t of course).
Socrates was given several chances to change his mind (supposedly) and
go on living his life. Even some of his closest disciples pleaded with
him to change his mind. But nothing could stop the strong willed
Socrates from doing what he thought was right. He thought there was
no point in lying and that he would rather die and go to the life of eternal
peace than give up his methods and thoughts to a bunch of dishonest, prideful,
self centered, aristocratic, Sophists.
As a result, Socrates was condemned
to death then thrown into prison. Socrates remained in prison for
a number of days. Then, on the evening he was to die, Socrates’s
friends and family gathered around him to say farewell. It was in
their presence that Socrates drank the hemlock poison and died.
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(469 to 399 BC)
Socrates: An Overview
His Life and Works
Go
to the history section: Ancient
Greece (500 to 300 BC)
