Socrates Amazing Facts

20 Amazing and Interesting Facts about Socrates | Amazing Facts 4U 

  1. A philosopher by profession, Socrates can rightly be called as the father of Western thought. He hailed from ancient Greece.
  2. It was around 470 BC when Socrates was born in Athens, Greece. He was executed in 399 BC.
  3. Socrates’ father was Sophroniscus, a sculptor and stone mason from Athens and his mother was a midwife by the name of Phaenarete.
  4. He received basic Greek education because he did not belong to a noble family and hence, he learned the skills of his father at a very early age.
  5. Before turning a philosopher, Socrates took up masonry and sculpting as his profession for several years.
  6. Socrates didn’t write anything. No record of his writings exist.
  7. Whatever information exists today is a result of some of the records that were kept by his disciples Xenophon and Plato.
  8. Xanthippe was Socrates’ wife. The two had three children by the names Menexenus, Sophroniscus and Lamprocles. She was not happy with the ‘philosopher’ profession of Socrates.
  9. Socrates was far more interested in intellectual upbringing of young minds of Athens rather than looking after the upbringing of his own sons.
  10. Socrates was the teacher of Plato, who in turn was the teacher of Aristotle.
  11. The primary emphasis of Socrates was on importance of mind and not on physical attractiveness.
  12. Socrates always believed that if anything could improve the well-being of society, it was none other than philosophy.
  13. His way of thinking led him to believe that attaining true wisdom is the only way to create a government that is neither a democratic government nor a tyrannical government. He always believed that government required individuals with greater understanding and knowledge.
  14. There was no fixed classroom for Socrates as such. He travelled all across Athens and questioned common and elite men alike in order to find out the truth about ethics and politics.
  15. He invented a new style of conversation which is now referred to as the “Socratic Method.” This involved asking lots of questions until finally reaching an answer, rather than simply conveying information. This was based on his philosophy that “true wisdom is drawn from knowing that you know nothing” and is why he was accused of corrupting the entire social system.
  16. Socrates challenged the conventional wisdom of Greek and adopted a humorous path for the same and in the process had some enemies who hated his philosophy.
  17. Socrates was charged for questioning the existence of the gods and he was also charged for corrupting the youth of the city. He was put on trial where he was convicted to death. He lost his case by 280 votes against and 221 votes for him.
  18. According to Athenian law, any convicted person could ask for an alternative punishment. Socrates made things worse by asking for honor, rewards and payments for the services he rendered for to the people in an attempt to enlighten them instead of asking for exile.
  19. Socrates’ demand forced the jury to sentence him to death by hemlock poisoning.
  20. After being sentenced to death, many of Socrates’ friends asked him to flee to exile by offering to bribe the guards but he declined. He instead said that despite the fact that the Athenian law sentenced him to death, he was still a loyal citizen of Athens and would happily accept his death. He drank a hemlock poison mixture without the slightest hint of hesitation.

By Amazing Facts 4U Team



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