Socrates

Socrates was born in the year 469 BC (2,478 years ago!), in Athens, the capital of ancient and modern Greece. Socrates was a great philosopher, who lived his life according to the moral values he believed in. Although he never wrote any books, we know about Socrates' life, because his students, like Plato, wrote about him in their books.

Today Socrates is considered one of the wisest men in history, and even when he was alive many people realized that he was an extraordinary human being and a very wise philosopher. However, Socrates himself didn't think that he was so smart. He saw that he had so many unanswered questions about the world, nature, people and life. How could he really be wise, if he had no answers to so many important questions? 

So Socrates wanted to prove that he wasn't the wisest person in Greece. He started asking people who were considered wise, like politicians, artists and writers, questions that he didn't know the answers to. He was surprised to see that these people thought they knew the answers to his questions. In fact, they were sure that they knew the answers to just about any question.

Now Socrates didn't think he was that wise, and he didn't presume to know the answers to all his questions, but he was sure about one thing: those people, who answered his questions, didn't really know the right answers. They weren't really wise. The fact that they thought they knew what they couldn't really have been sure of, was proof that they were actually very foolish.

Socrates now understood that although he too did not know how to answer all his questions, he was still wiser than the others, who thought they could. At least he knew that he didn't know!

Sometimes asking too many questions can get a person into trouble, and Socrates certainly didn't know when to stop asking. Many people got angry with him; because they thought that he was having a bad influence on the youngsters of Athens. They were worried that they too would start asking "silly" questions, instead of believing what their parents had taught them.

So Socrates was put on trial and was found guilty of corrupting the local youth. He was asked to propose his own punishment. Socrates proposed that he receive money from the government, in return for the important work he did, teaching young people how to be philosophers. Unfortunately for Socrates, the members of the jury and the judges didn't agree with him and they sentenced him to death. 

Some of Socrates' friends offered to help him escape from prison. Socrates refused, because he thought that it wasn't right to act against the law, even if the law itself was sometimes unjust. So Socrates died at the age of 70. He was put to death just because he had the courage to ask difficult questions, and because he had the integrity to seek the truth and live his life according to his morals and principles. 

Fill in the chart according to the text:

Answer the following questions:

1.    When was Socrates born?
2.    Did he write about himself?
3.    Did Socrates think he was wise?
4.    How did he know that he was wiser than others?
5.    Why didn't he want to escape from prison?
6.    At what age did he die?