| What Role Did Socrates Play in Ancient Greece? | Natalia Gonzalez| | Mr.
Pellegrini, 2A| 3/24/2010| [Type the abstract of the document here. The abstract is typically a short summary of the contents of the document. Type the abstract of the document here. The abstract is typically a short summary of the contents of the document. ]| What Role Did Socrates Play in Ancient Greece? In the leading city of Athens 2,500 years ago during the Golden Age, a peculiar philosopher was born into the reign of Pericles. Socrates went against common religion, influenced social roles and people, and was the founder of the Socratic Method.
Religious opinions affected Socrates’ life a great deal. Whereas most Athenians observed polytheism and believed in gods such as Poseidon and Hades, Socrates believed there was only one god responsible. Interestingly enough, when asked, Socrates could not put a name to this god or give an explanation. The most he could say was that the god spoke in his mind and gave him advice, like a conscience. He called this his daemon. Conversely, in a world where many things, such as thunder, were scientifically unexplainable, people were very attracted to religion as justification.
Socrates on the other hand, stated that clouds created thunder and lightning rather than Zeus. Such statements more than likely came from Socrates’ younger years when he was a student of Anaxagoras. While studying Anaxagoras’ work, Socrates learned that the Selene, the goddess of the moon, was not real and that the moon had hills and valleys and shone with reflected light. Of the sun, Socrates gathered additionally that Apollo was not real, and that the sun was a very hot rock. This not only shaped Socrates’ religious life but also affected the way he interacted with people and changed their perceptions.
Socrates offended people by daring to mention that he did not believe the god, Apollo. This dilemma was created when Chaerephon, one of Socrates’ students went to visit the Oracle of Apollo on Mount. Parnassus. He proceeded to ask the priestess Pythia, if there was any man wiser than Socrates in Athens. When Pythia, without hesitation, answered “No”, Chaerephon ran to tell Socrates who instead of joy showed anger and frustration.
“When I heard the answer, I asked myself: What can the god mean? What can he be hinting? For certainly I have never thought of myself wise in anything, great or small.What can he mean then, when he asserts that I am the wisest of men? He cannot lie of course; that would be impossible for him. And for a long while I was at a loss to think what he could mean. ” (Plato, n. d. ).
Socrates influenced social roles and people by going around Athens and talking to people of high magnitude to try to find a wiser man than he. “…having fallen into conversation with him, [a politician] this man appeared to be wise in the opinion of most other men, and especially in his own opinion, though in fact he was not so. I thereupon endeavored to show him that he fancied himself to be wise, but really was not.Hence I became odious, both to him and to many others who were present. When I left him, I reasoned thus with myself: I am wiser than this man, for neither of us appears to know anything great and good; but he fancies he knows something, although he knows nothing; whereas I, as do not know anything, so I do not fancy I do.
In this trifling particular, then, I appear to be wiser than he, because I do not fancy I know what I do not know. ” (Plato, n. d. ). Socrates talked to politicians, poets, artisans, engineers, and even athletes but was unsatisfied at the end of his quest. I must tell you the truth, I came to some such conclusion as this: those who bore the highest reputation appeared to me to be most deficient, in my researches in obedience to the god, and others who were considered inferior more nearly approaching to the possession of understanding.
” (Plato, n. d. ). Socrates was obnoxious to many people because of this and even more so because he was believed to be a Sophist. The sophists were people who were paid to teach rhetoric. They were very popular but loathed at the same time because of the financial problems they were causing.
For example, the most famous sophist was called Corax. He had a student called Tisias who refused to pay the fee for his classes, he said “Before I started, you promised you would teach me to persuade anyone to do whatever I wanted. Let me now persuade you not to ask for your fee. If you still demand it, you did not do what you promised, therefore I owe you nothing. ” However, Socrates discredited this, “However, not one of these things is true; nor, if you have heard from anyone that I attempt to teach men and require payment, is this true. ” (Plato, n.
d. ).Socrates irritated people by insisting things that could not be true. Critobulus, who was considered by many to be the most handsome man in Athens.
However, Socrates, with his protruding eyes and large nose insisted he was more stunning than Critobulus. Socrates defended this by saying things such as “Because while yours see straight ahead, mine, by bulging out as they do, see also to the sides,” and “Mine, I consider, granting that Providence made us noses to smell with. For your nostrils look down toward the ground, but mine are wide open and turned outward so that I can catch scents from all around. (Zannos, 2004). Another story of Socrates impacting the life of an individual is shown by the dialogue that he had with a young man he met at a wrestling school named Lysis.
Socrates admitted to Lysis that he did not know how to make friends. They started talking about the love that men shared by being students and tutors. Eventually, they landed on the topic of the love that parents have for their children. Socrates insisted Lysis’ parents did not truly love him because they did not let him do whatever he wanted.This in conjunction with rhetoric, people realized they could do much more and could choose to not follow rules sometimes. Socrates also improved the quality of other people’s lives.
His most esteemed student, Plato, viewed Socrates very highly, he said “Of all the people I knew, he was the kindest, the most intelligent and the most upright. My greatest good fortune was to be born during his lifetime”(Zannos, 2004). So many of his students admired him so much that they successfully bribed guards to let Socrates escape nearing the time of his death. Socrates refused this help, “How can I escape?If I am innocent, history will bring me justice.
If I escape, I will be a common criminal. The law may not be perfect, but it guides the way I live. I don’t want to destroy the law, I want to improve it” (Bowen & Ghiuselev, 2002). The last way Socrates influenced people was by his quiet demeanor when accused, in jail, and on his deathbed. “I’ve never had a prisoner like Socrates, so gentle and polite.
Most of the prisoners that are brought here are angry and complaining of great injustices, whereas Socrates acts almost as though he were back at home. said a guard who observed Socrates’ final days. In addition to influencing people and social roles, Socrates was the inspiration and essentially the founder for the Socratic Method. The Socratic Method is a way of talking and debating based on asking and answering questions to encourage critical thinking and bring up new ideas. “Instead of requiring allegiance to a specific philosophical viewpoint or analytical technique or specialized vocabulary the Socratic Method calls for common sense and common speech. (Phillips, 2001).
It is a valued way of teaching today because it helps people discover their own opinions about their beliefs. The dialogue with Lysis presents this form of discussion. Socrates leads Lysis to the conclusion that his parents do not love him by asking things such as “I suppose, Lysis, your father and mother love you very much? ”, “Then they’d want you to be as happy as possible? ” and “Do you think that a man is happy when he’s a slave and allowed to do nothing he desires? ” according to Zannos (2004).Socrates went against common religion, influenced social roles and people, and was the founder of the Socratic Method.
He went against popular ideas by giving scientific reasons for natural incidents as well as offending the god, Apollo. Socrates affected society and the population by not only inspiring people to question and examine but also by bewildering and enraging them by disproving their beliefs. Lastly, Socrates was the founder of the Socratic Method which helps by developing questions that encourage the student think further.
