February 15 0399

Philosopher Socrates Sentenced to Death

According to Plato's Apology, Socrates' life as the "gadfly" of Athens began when his friend Chaerephone asked the oracle at Delphi if anyone was wiser then Socrates; the responded that none where wiser. Socrates believed that what the Oracle had said was a paradox, because he believed he possessed no wisdom whatsoever. He proceeded to test the riddle by approaching men considered wide by the people of Athens-Statesmen, Poets, and artisans- in order to refute the oracle's pronouncement. Questioning them, however, Socrates concluded that, while each man though he knew a great deal and was wise, in fact they knew very little and where not wise at all. Socrates realized that the oracle was correct, in that well so-called wise men though themselves wise and yet where not, he himself knew he was not wise at all, which paradoxically, made him the wiser one since he was the only person aware of his own ignorance. Socrates' paradoxical wisdom made the prominent Athenians he publicly questioned look foolish, turning them against him and leading to accusations of wrongdoing. Socrates defended his role as a gadfly until the end: at his trial, when Socrates was asked to propose his own punishment, he suggested a wage paid by the government and free dinners for the rest of his life instead, to finance the time he spends as Athens' benefactor. He was, nevertheless, found guilt of both corrupting the minds of the youth of Athens and of "not believing in the God's of state", and subsequently sentenced to death by drinking a mixture containing poison hemlock.