Socrates

Socrates
469-399 B.C.

Socrates is a famous philosopher from the ancient Greece.  Having served with some distinction as a soldier at Delium and Amphipolis during the Peloponnesian War, Socrates dabbled in the political turmoil that consumed Athens after the War, then retired from active life to work as a stonemason and to raise his children with his wife, Xanthippe. After inheriting a big fortune from his father, the sculptor Sophroniscus, Socrates used his marginal financial independence as an opportunity to give full-time attention to inventing the practice of philosophical dialogue.

Socrates then began to study and work with students in Athens.  He would often question them on popular opinions of that time.  He would never charge his students for the time he spent working with them.  As time went on, parents of these students became sceptical of Socrates and were unsure if they wanted their children to work with him because his ideas were so radical.  After several years of parents feeling this way, they brought him to court.  He was found guilty of corrupting the youth and interfering with the religion of the city and was ordered to die.  Socrates took this punishment with grace and drank hemlock, a poison, as he was with his friends and loved ones.

Socrates work is best known by the information given by Plato, Socrates most successful student.