Socrates Notes

The Controversy

- Athens was a great city which attracted brilliant thinkers.
- Visitors shared knowledge: astronomy, medicine, meteorology, literature, philosophy, and all things scientific
- Back then people thought the sun was a God


The Trial

- Charged with two crimes:
1. Corruption of Athen's youth
2. Impiety (not believing in the Gods of the state)


How Did That Work for Ya?

- A jury of 500 male citizens found him guilty (279-221?)
- Sentenced to death by drinking poison hemlock
- He had the opportunity to escape but refused, proving his loyalty to Athenian democracy


"You Idiot!"

- An idiot in Athenian democracy was someone who was characterized by self-centeredness and concerned almost exclusively with private- as opposed to public- affairs

- In Athenian democracy, idiots were born and citizens were made through education