Late in life Socrates was accused of impiety and of
corrupting the youth of Athens with his doctrines. As a matter of fact he was a
deeply religious man. If he objected to the crude mythology of Homer, he often
spoke of one God, who ruled the world, and of a divine spirit or conscience
within his own breast. A jury court found him guilty, however, and condemned
him to death. He refused to escape from prison when opportunity offered and
passed his last days in eager conversation on the immortality of the soul. When
the hour of departure arrived, he bade his disciples farewell and calmly
drained the cup of hemlock, a poison that caused a painless death. Although
Socrates gave his life for his philosophy, this did not perish with him.
PLATO
One of the members of the Socratic circle was Plato, a
wealthy noble who abandoned a public career for the attractions of philosophy.
After the death of Socrates, Plato traveled widely in the Greek world and even
visited Egypt, where he interviewed the learned priests. On his return to
Athens Plato began teaching in the garden and gymnasium called the Academy.
His writings, known as Dialogues, are cast in the form of question
and answer that Socrates had used. In most of them Plato makes Socrates the
chief speaker. Plato's works are both profound in thought and admirable in
style. The Athenians used to say that if Zeus had spoken Greek he would have
spoken it as did Plato.
