[MUSIC] Socrates, 469 to 399 BC, ancient Greek philosopher.
Nietzsche wrote of him, that ugly derisive Athenian freak and rat catcher, forcing the arrogant youth to shiver and cry, was not
only wisest among all talking heads ever living, he was also as great in his silence.
Before the judges sent him to his death, the great philosopher Socrates said, I shall not give up my philosophy as long as I breathe.
The ancient Greek philosopher, Socrates, was born in Athens, in the year 469 B.C.
into the family of the sculptor Sophroniscus and Phaenarete, a midwife.
All the information about Socrates that we have came to us through the works of his pupils, Plato and Xenophon, because Socrates
himself could not read or write.
We do not know much about the early years of his life, though it is known that at 17 he was already the favorite pupil of the
philosopher Archelaus.
Socrates' appearance was extremely plain, but he stood out in strength and endurance.
Hoping to help his fellow citizens become more morally perfect, Socrates often spoke to them.
On the streets and squares, beneath the shady olive trees, he discussed questions of justice and virtue.
His neglect of his everyday affairs ultimately drove Socrates to poverty.
He walked across Athens barefoot and shabbily dressed.
One of his contemporaries was astonished and commented, if the slave was forced to live such a life, he would escape by any
means.
Socrates quite often became so absorbed in his thoughts that, once, he was standing all day long on the same spot.
Nevertheless, when danger threatened his native city during the Peloponnesian War, Socrates fought bravely to protect Athens.
When the Oracle of Delphi announced that Socrates was the wisest man, the Athenian ragamuffin was extremely surprised.
Socrates interpreting this as a riddle, set out to find men who were wiser than he was, the pompous teachers of philosophy and
eloquence called the Sophists.
Pretending to be simple-minded, Socrates humbly questioned the men of Athens about their knowledge of good, beauty, and
virtue.
Then by asking tricky questions, he drove the persons to disprove their own words.
Then, together with this puzzled opponent, Socrates tried to release the wisdom that slept in his soul, just as mother, a midwife,
had helped children to be born.
Socrates concluded that he was truly the wisest among people because even though he had as little wisdom as others, he at least
realized his own ignorance.
I only know that I know nothing, he said.
Socrates felt that the gods had put him in front of the Athenian people so that the citizens would not be asleep spiritually, and felt
as if he was a gadfly annoying a horse.
Actually, Socrates was nicknamed the Athenian Gadfly.
He tried to understand and create moral standards which would become the same for all people.
There is only one goodness, it is knowledge.
There is only one evil, it is negligence, Socrates said.
He insisted on regular education for the Athenian youth in which poets and philosophers, not the parents, should be engaged.
The Athenian citizens grumbled.
It seemed to them they had lost control over their children and that the crafty philosopher had taken over their places in the
hearts of the young men.
Aristophanes even described it in a comedy.
When one young man asked Socrates whether it was necessary for him to get married, Socrates answered, act as you wish, you
will regret anyway.
Socrates himself, at the age of 40, married 19 year old Xanthippe, who had a horrible temper.
Socrates explained, saying he was the bad family man, and did not care for children.
[MUSIC] After the defeat of Athens in the long Peloponnesian War, rigid Spartan rule was established in the city.
This tyranny was headed by Crates, a former student of Socrates, and even though Socrates never cooperated with the tyrants
after their overthrow in 399 BC, he was brought into court and charged with disgrace and depravity of the youth.
Appearing before the court, the 70 year old philosopher proved with logic constructions that he was not subject to trial, but instead
should be honored as a benefactor and spiritual instructor of society.
The judges became furious.
Socrates was found guilty as charged and sentenced to death.
While waiting for his execution, the philosopher spent the whole month in prison talking with his unfortunate friends about the
immortality of the soul.
Before the execution, his friend Crito bribed the jailer, and tried to convince Socrates to escape from Athens.
However, Socrates refused, insisting it was necessary to obey the established laws, even if he had been convicted unfairly.
He easily drank the cup of poisonous hemlock to the bottom, remaining calm and quiet.
And when his friends began to cry, he shamed them.
The last words of Socrates were, Crito, we owe a rooster to Asclepius.
During those times when a patient recovered, a rooster was sacrificed to the god of medicine, Asclepius.
The words of Socrates could be interpreted to mean that the death of his body became a recovery for his soul.
[MUSIC] Recently, some historians of ancient philosophy have more than once tried to prove that Socrates was only a literary
character that was invented by Plato to give greater authority to his own ideas.
Nevertheless, The Athenian mad calf Socrates became the founder of a new philosophy and a teacher of many of the great
philosophers.
[MUSIC]