The life and death of Socrates are still of great interest not only for historians, but also for many of his admirers. Many circumstances of the fate of this thinker remain a mystery even today. The life and death of Socrates are covered in legends. No wonder, this is one of the greatest thinkers of all time.
The Origin of Socrates
Socrates is a famous Athenian philosopher who was awarded a great monument - Plato's dialogues. In them, he is the main character.
It is known that the father of the future philosopher was a stonemason (or sculptor) Sofronisk, and his mother was Fenareta. Probably his father was quite a we althy man. The researchers made this conclusion based on the fact that Socrates fought like a hoplite, that is, like a heavily armed warrior. Despite the we alth of his parents, the philosopher himself did not care about property and became extremely impoverished by the end of his life.
Conflicting sources
Socrates expounded his teaching exclusively orally. We know about him from several sources, one ofwhich are the mentions and images of him in the comedies of Aristophanes, parodic and lifetime. The portraits of Socrates made by Xenophon and Plato are posthumous and written in a laudatory spirit. These sources, however, are largely inconsistent with each other. Apparently, Aristotle's messages are based on Plato. Many other authors, friendly or hostile, also contributed, as did the legends of Socrates.
Philosopher's social circle, participation in the war
When the Peloponnesian War broke out, the philosopher was 37 years old. Among the people with whom he communicated before her were intellectuals from the circle of Pericles - the sophist Protagoras, the scientist Archelaus, the musician Damon, and also the brilliant Aspasia. There is evidence that he was acquainted with the famous philosopher Anaxagoras. In Plato's Phaedo, Socrates tells of the dissatisfaction he felt from reading the writings of Anaxagoras. The philosopher of interest to us studied dialectics with Zeno of Elea, later attended the lectures of the sophist Prodicus, and was also a participant in disputes with Thrasymachus, Gorgias and Antiphon. Socrates distinguished himself in the war at the Battle of Potidea, which dates back to 432 BC. e., under Delia (424 BC) and under Amphipolis (422 BC).
Socrates - Oracle of Delphi
A very important stage in the development of this philosopher was his proclamation by the Delphic oracle, "the wisest of men." Plato speaks of this in the Apology of Socrates. The Delphic Oracle himself thought a lot about these words. He compared them withhis conviction to the contrary, that he "knows only that he knows nothing." The philosopher came to the conclusion that this is what makes him the wisest, since many people do not even know this. Knowing the extent of both one's own ignorance and the ignorance of others is the general principle of Socrates' research. This is prompted by the words that are carved at the entrance to the Delphic temple of Apollo. These words are: "Know thyself".
Socrates and politics
By 423 BC e. Socrates was already quite a prominent figure, because of which he became the object of satirical attacks by two famous Athenian comedians - Ameipsia and Aristophanes. The philosopher eschewed politics, although among his friends were Alcibiades, Critias, Charmides and Theramenes. The last three were the leaders of the Thirty Tyrants who overthrew the democracy in Athens. And Alcibiades came to betray his native city because of political opportunism. There is evidence that connections with these people damaged Socrates in the trial.
In 406 B. C. e. the philosopher of interest to us tried to prevent the unlawful and hastily drafted sentence of the strategists who were brought to justice after the Athenian fleet won the battle of the Arginus Islands. It is also known that in 404 BC. the philosopher disregarded the order of the Thirty Tyrants to capture Leontes of Salamis, who was included in their proscription lists.
Private life
Socrates, already in his old age, tied the knot with Xanthippe. This womanbore the philosopher three children. It is possible that this was the second marriage of Socrates. The philosopher was poor. His unusual appearance and unpretentiousness are proverbial.
Trial and death of Socrates
Socrates was put on trial in 399 on charges of "corrupting the youth" and "impiety". He was found guilty by a narrow majority. When the thinker did not want to admit guilt and did not try to ask to replace the execution with exile, a larger number of those present at the trial voted for the death of Socrates.
The philosopher was in prison for a month, then the sentence was executed. The thinker was offered a bowl of poison (hemlock). He drank it, and the result was the death of Socrates. Plato's writings such as "Phaedo", "Crito" and "Apology of Socrates", which tell about this trial, about the philosopher's stay in prison and his execution, immortalized the courage of the thinker we are interested in, the firmness of his convictions.
In 399 B. C. e. Socrates died. Its year is precisely known, but the date cannot be named. We can only say that the philosopher died in late June or early July. According to the testimonies of three authors of antiquity (Apollodor of Athens, Demetrius of Phaler and Plato), by the time of his death, the thinker was 70 years old. The death of Socrates (the vast majority of ancient authors agree on this) did not occur as a result of natural causes. It happened because he drank poison. The cause of Socrates' death, however, is stillhas been questioned by some historians. Much later, Plato, in his Phaedo dialogue, immortalized the image of a philosopher who is alien to death by nature, but must die under the circumstances. However, Plato himself was not present at the death of his teacher. He personally did not see the death of Socrates. Briefly, Plato described it on the basis of the testimony of contemporaries.
Text of the accusation
The text of the accusation against the philosopher, which was submitted for judicial review, has survived to this day. For this, one should express gratitude to such a little-known author as Diogenes Laertius. He owns an essay called "On the Lives of Philosophers", referring to the first half of the 3rd century AD. e. Diogenes Laertius, in turn, borrowed this important information from the works of Favorinus of Arelat. This man was an admirer of antiquity, a philosopher and a writer. He lived only a century earlier, however, unlike Diogenes, he personally saw this text in the Athenian Metroon.
The overwhelming majority of researchers agree that it was as a result of taking the poison that the heroic death of Socrates occurred. However, we cannot know exactly how it all happened. The circumstances of Socrates' death are one of the most interesting moments of his biography.
Teachings of Socrates
Socrates, as a teacher, is a very controversial figure. Usually, the death sentence passed on him is explained by the degeneration of democracy. But it must be said that in 403 BC. e. a regime was restored in Athens, which was quitemoderate and human. He relied on the principles of political amnesty, strictly observed. In this case, everything suggests that the most serious and specific was the accusation of Socrates in "corrupting the youth." However, one can only guess what is meant by this. Plato's dialogue Crito speaks of defending the philosopher from being accused of "undermining the laws". Quite possibly, this indicates that Socrates' influence on young people at that time was considered an attack on the very foundations of contemporary society.
Changing social patterns
A young man who was already out of school age, since the time of Homer received a "higher education" by communicating with elders. He listened to their oral instructions and also imitated the behavior of the mentors. Thus, the young man acquired the qualities characteristic of an adult citizen. Among the political elite, in turn, methods of exercising state power were passed down from generation to generation. But in the time of Socrates, the family circle ceased to perform all these functions. They were transferred to another authority, which took the form of an institution founded specifically for this purpose after the death of Socrates. Plato's Academy became the prototype of this organization. At the head of this process was just a group of intellectuals to which Socrates belonged. It was these people who brought the concept of "professional" education from western Greece and Ionia.
What is the essence of the accusation of "corrupting the youth"
Socrates had a particularly difficult time, because he had tooperate in Athens. In 423 BC. e. two comedians at once - Aristophanes ("Clouds") and Ameipsiy (the not preserved comedy "Conn") - stigmatized the philosopher, as he led a newfangled school, based on the lessons of filial disobedience and youthful rebellion. Such an idea of the thinker of interest to us by 399 BC. e. crystallized into the famous accusation of Socrates in "corrupting the youth". If we turn to the dialogues of the disciples of this philosopher, we will see that they often raise the question: can elders and fathers pass on virtue to young people, or does this need to be specially learned?
Socrates as a herald of the abstract idea
Deeper deeper into the cultural crisis of the era, we will come closer to understanding why Socrates' dialectic was so powerful. At first glance, it is not clear how to explain the fact that over the course of two generations the Greeks were invariably fascinated by the philosophy of Socrates, whose death was quite logical. And this despite the fact that the teachings of this thinker were seen as an instrument of destruction.
To understand this, it is necessary to consider what kind of communication was adopted at the time of the birth of Socrates and how it changed later. Athens was in the process of completing the transition to the written word from oral speech. This, in turn, influenced the vocabulary, and also forced the changes that occurred in the forms of consciousness. These changes can be defined as the transition from image to abstraction, from poetry to prose, from intuition to rational knowledge. Whilean abstract idea was seen as a new, startling discovery. It was Socrates who was her herald.
In Aristophanes' "Clouds", the philosopher is ridiculed as an abstract thinker, heading the "thinking room", looking for "thoughts". He was also represented as a priest of concepts floating in the heavens like clouds. "Thoughts" at that time caused laughter only because they were such. It should also be noted that in Aristophanes, Socrates uses a new language in his conversations, speaks in an abstract jargon in which ideas take shape.
For the students of the thinker we are interested in, preoccupation with ideas, ridiculed by Aristophanes, is presented as a search for definitions for all sorts of abstract concepts, such as "just" and "good", as well as the process of creating an exact language with which one could express not concrete experience, but conceptual knowledge.
Life, teaching, death of Socrates - we told about all this. One could talk for a long time about this outstanding philosopher. We hope this article sparked your interest in it.
