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Comparing and contrasting socrates and plato
Comparing and contrasting socrates and plato
Plato's defense of socrates
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Similarly to Oedipus, Socrates was thought highly off because he was smartest thinkers of his time. Socrates tried to spread his wisdom and knowledge by enlightening and teaching the youth of the society. But in the majority eyes of Athens, he was viewed as corrupting the youth because Anytus and Meletus accused Socrates front of the council that he does not believe in Athenian Gods and have corrupted the youth, for they were no longer as obedient after meeting them. When defending himself Socrates said hat he is trying trying to teach spread his wisdom for the younger generation he questions Meletus by referring to horses.
Do all men improve them and one individual corrupts them? Or is quite the contrary true, one individual is able to
improve them, or very few, namely horse breeders, whereas the majority, if they have horses and use them, corrupt them? (Plato 30). Here, Socrates is portrayed as a good man who simply wants to help the younger generation. He only wants to expand his wisdom to his students. Socrates really wanted the knowledge on enlightened the youth then by questioning Meletus who then will enlightened the youth if it wasn't for him. He also made another point in which he questions how can he an old man corrupt the entire youth. Another act that showed that Socrates' only intentions were for the best of his city through the desire of knowledge was that Socrates has a mission in which he uses his belief in teachings. He believed that his reason for living was to help the gods by understanding of knowledge and expanding it to the youth. If Socrates was really corrupting the youth then he said, “Be sure that this is what the god orders him to do” (Plato 35). Although Socrates' main intentions were to help his city, he was still sent to death. This really shows how unfair men were treated because its clear that Socrates did not do anything that harm the youth or the city. He was actually helping them by expanding their knowledge.
Socrates a classical Greek philosopher and character of Plato’s book Phaedo, defines a philosopher as one who has the greatest desire of acquiring knowledge and does not fear death or the separation of the body from the soul but should welcome it. Even in his last days Socrates was in pursuit of knowledge, he presents theories to strengthen his argument that the soul is immortal. His attempts to argue his point can’t necessarily be considered as convincing evidence to support the existence of an immortal soul.
Throughout all the years, he never could find anyone as wise as himself, and all he did was make enemies searching. These enemies are now his accusers, and they accuse him of spreading evil doctrines, corrupting the youth, and not believing in the Gods. Throughout the speech, Socrates continues to shoot down every accuser and it is evident that he has done no wrong. Eventually, one of his accusers states that he must be doing something strange and that he wouldnt be that famous if he were like other men. Socrates did not live a very public life unlike most people at that time. His thoughts of being virteous had more to do with examining yourself and becoming a better person and in that way, you benifit society. He did not believe Athens to be virtuos at all, and that they relied on materail things and reputation rather than finding happiness by searching for it deep within
Socrates was wise men, who question everything, he was found to be the wise man in Athens by the oracle. Although he was consider of being the wises man alive in those days, Socrates never consider himself wise, therefore he question everything in order to learned more. Socrates lived a poor life, he used to go to the markets and preach in Athens he never harm anyone, or disobey any of the laws in Athens, yet he was found guilty of all charges and sentence to die.
Sophocles' trilogy of Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone is a powerful, tragic tale that examines the nature of human guilt, fate and punishment. Creon, Oedipus' uncle and brother-in-law, is the story's most dynamic character. His character experiences a drastic metamorphosis through the span of the three dramas. Creon's vision of a monarch's proper role, his concept of and respect for justice, as well as his respect for the design evolve considerably by the trilogy's tragic conclusion.
Socrates was accused of being a sophist, a professional philosopher. Sophists were seen as corrupters of society and as generally bad men. Socrates says that every one of these accusations is false. He tells the Athenians a story where he asks a man who he would hire to educate his sons and how much that man's services would cost. The man replies that he would hire Evenus of Paros, and that he charges 500 drachmae. Socrates expresses his surprise that any man could be good enough to charge that much money. The man says that Evenus is the best tutor in the world. Socrates says that he does not posses the knowledge or wisdom to do anything even remotely close to what Evenus does. Socrates never charged money for his lessons, and he never really did any formal teaching. He had followers, and they claim that they learned a lot from him. But the fact is, Socrates never did any formal instruction, so he never told people what to believe. Therefore, Socrates could not have corrupted the youth with his teaching, because...
A tragic hero is shown in both the plays Oedipus the King and Antigone written by Sophocles. Oedipus and Antigone are both tragic heroes with many similarities and differences. Antigone, however is more of a true modern hero rather than an ancient Greek tragic hero. Oedipus is self-confident, intelligent, and strong willed. Ironically these are the very traits which bring about his tragic discovery. Antigone is a strong person and will not give into orders. She doesn 't care what happens to her because the most important thing to her is that she does what is the right thing to do hence her brother may have a good after life. Antigone feels that all people even her brother deserved a proper burial; "with all honorable observances due to the dead” (Antigone, 127). Oedipus is also as noble as Antigone is. Oedipus was so determined
Socrates was a revolutionary thinker. He brought new ideas and processes of thought to Athenian society and his work still has its place in the world today. However during his time, his ideas were not always thought of as a good thing. Many viewed him as a corrupting influence on other people and accused him of forcing his ideas upon others. Perhaps most frequently the center of controversy was his thoughts on theocracy and piety as seen in the Plato’s Euthyphro. Socrates also appears at the butt end of Aristophanes’ comedy Clouds, where he is satirically ridiculed and seemingly corrupting the youth of Athens in his school, the Thinkery. Although virtually completely seen as a positive influence now, in ancient times, Socrates may have done more harm than good for his society.
One of the reasons why Socrates was arrested was because he was being accused of corrupting the minds of the students he taught. I personally feel that it is almost impossible for one person to corrupt the thoughts and feelings of a whole group of people. Improvement comes form a minority and corruption comes from the majority. Socrates is one man (minority) therefore it is less likely the youth have been corrupted by Socrates than by some larger group of people (educators, council members, jurymen etc...).
Socrates, according to Plato challenged the norms of society by questioning life and having others question it as well. He was labeled of “corrupting the youth” and for not believing in the Athenians gods. “Socrates is guilty of corrupting the young, and of not acknowledging the gods the city acknowledges, but new daimonic activities instead.” (The Apology, pp 654) Although, he was cast by being “corrupt”, Socrates had many followers that saw him as a wise man. Socrates trial was made up of thirty jurors, who were later known as “The Thirty.” The “Thirty” really wanted was to silence Socrates, rather than taking his life. However, Socrates did not want to disobey the laws, he did not want to be violated of his right to freedom of speech, nor did he did he want to be undermine his moral position. (The Apology, pp. 647) He stood against injustice acts several times while he was in counsel. “I was the sort...
In Antigone, we have Antigone who is a very determined yet disobedient girl. She goes against the King Creon’s rules to bury her brother and when confronted and punished decides to kill herself. Her death led to main tragedy as her husband and mother in law both commit suicide hence leaving the King in distress and pain. Even though the story line in Antigone is very different from that of Oedipus the King, the two plays do mirror each other in a vast number of aspects. The kings, Creon and Oedipus’ desire to do right despite being warned ultimately led both of them to their doom. Their arrogance towards Teiresas, the fear of being over throned and losing their wives are mirror images of each other.
Greek philosophers Aristotle and Plato were two of the most influential and knowledgeable ancients in our history. Their contributions and dedication to science, language and politics are immensely valued centuries later. But while the two are highly praised for their works, they viewed several subjects entirely differently, particularly education practices, and human ethics and virtue.
Here is a story where Oedipus the King, who has accomplished great things in his life, discovers that the gods were only playing with him. He has everything a man of that time could want; he is king of Thebes, he has a wonderful wife and children, and great fame through out the lands. He has lived a good life, but in the end everything is taken from him.
Socrates was a philosopher who set out to prove, to the gods, that he wasn't the wisest man. Since he could not afford a "good" Sophist teacher, surely a student of one had to be smarter than he. He decides to converse with the youth of Athens, but concludes that he actually is wiser than everyone he speaks with. He then realizes that their lack of intelligence is the fault of their teachers. Socrates understands that the practice of "sophism" leads to a lack of self-knowledge and moral values. Socrates was later accused of corrupting the youth of Athens and put on trial. In The Apology of Socrates he sta...
We humans like to think. Some people take it as a hobby. While others take it as a job. That is basically what a philosopher is. A philosopher is a person that usually thinks about life and tries to find out mysterious questions, and how to solve them. Since a long time ago, in ancient Greece, many people would just meditate about life, and would sit or talk and write books about life. These have always been one of Greek's reasons of why it is so famous. Because of their marvelous philosophers. The most important philosophers from that time and always are: Aristotle, Plato and Socrates.
Oedipus and Tiresias, characters of Sophocles' play "Oedipus Tyrannus," are propelled to their individual destinies by their peculiar relationships with truth. Paranoid and quick to anger Oedipus, is markedly different from the confident and self-assured Tiresias. In the dialogue between the two men, Oedipus rapidly progresses from praise of Tiresias as a champion and protector of Thebes in line 304, to blatantly accusing the blind prophet of betraying the city in line 331, to angrily insulting him in line 334. Rather than be intimidated by the protagonist's title and temperament, Tiresias draws strength from what he knows is true and is able to stand his ground.