Due to a lack of knowledge surrounding Socrates, and an overall uneventful life, there isn’t much to be discussed here. It’s still nice to know some details though.
Socrates was born in 470 BC in Athens, and lived all of his life there, mostly during the reign of Pericles, a ruler of Athens who ushered in a new age of social change and artistic expression while he was alive, which collapsed in the years following his death.
Socrates was described as a short, ugly man who walked around in near rags. This may be hyperbole to prove how humble he is, but that’s as much as we know about how he was viewed by his peers.
He was married to Xanthippe, a woman known for being especially strong-willed. They had three children. One way Socrates and Plato disagree philosophically is on feminism, as Socrates believed women would prove they were equal if given the chance, while Plato believed that men were just superior. He did like to joke though, as when he was asked why he puts up with his wife being so argumentative, Socrates jokingly replied “If I can put up with her, I shall find it easy to get along with any other human being.”
While he is characterised in the Platonic dialogues as a larger than life philosophical figure with wisdom pouring out of every orifice, another student of his, Xenophon, who was a lot less dramatic, described a Socrates who was a very simple pleasant man, who went around offering more advice on eating appropriately and respecting your elders more than deep philosophy. Xenophon’s Socrates is a lot more human, leading some to think that Socrates might not have even been a philosopher at all, and that Plato just used him as a human puppet for his philosophy.
What’s probably the case is that Xenophon portrayed Socrates the way he lived, while Plato portrayed him the way he thought.
In 404 BC, Sparta conquered Athens, after a plague swept through which killed a third of the population, including Pericles. In a time of crisis, a group of Athenians created by Sparta to control the city begun plans to redirect the public anger at Sparta. Socrates was a perfect candidate, as his was well renowned for speaking against the bureaucracy and traditional values.
Once arrested Socrates made no attempt to prove himself innocent, change his sentencing or escape captivity. He loved the city and had a good life there, and so he decided, very stubbornly, to not contribute to his trial. Given the option between renouncing his values and teachings, and death, Socrates chose to be executed, as then he could stay true to his personal values and the city he loved.
He died, surrounding by a few friends and followers who didn’t fear being similarly prosecuted (Plato was not there), after drinking a goblet of hemlock. He had strange last words: “Crito, we ought to offer a cock to Asclepius. See to it, and don’t forget.” that many scholars have tried to decrypt some kind of deeper meaning out of. If you want to try, it’s good to know that Asclepius was a new but popular god at the time, the god of healing. There is probably some kind of meaning to it, as one of his main convictions was not believing in the Greek pantheon.
Plato, fearing his safety, decided to leave Athens and travel to see the major civilisations at this point, including Egypt. By the age of 40, he returned to Athens and bought a plot of land where he created his school. Here he taught many people, the most famous being Aristotle, the third Great Greek Philosopher.
He taught philosophy for another 40 years, until his eventual death by natural causes. He was buried in his school and died unmarried, though it’s unsure if he died without a partner.
The thing about Plato is that he was very gay, only in his earlier life though. During his time in Athens, and the time when he was travelling there are multiple times where he has had intense physical and emotional relationships with different men, writing poems to them and describing his maddening desire for them, but in his later years he describes homosexuality as a distasteful and sinful thing. For all we know, Plato might’ve been trying to cover his tracks in an Athens that was regressing socially, but that’s just something we’ll never know the truth of.
