The Trial Of Socrates, The Golden Age Of Athens

The trial of Socrates was held in 399 BC. The philosopher was held on account of two charges, the corruption of youth, and impiety. The accusers cited two impious acts by Socrates, failing to acknowledge the gods that the city acknowledges, and introducing new deities (Jowett).

Socrates was born in about 469 BC in Athens, Greece. He lived during a time considered to be the golden age of Athens because of the great contributions to art and philosophy that occurred in this time period. Although Socrates was not born into a particularly poor family, he chose a life of poverty. He dressed extremely modestly, often times being barefoot and unbathed. He was a rather ugly man, with large eyes, a large nose and a pot belly. His pot belly was not due to him being unfit, he was quite the contrary. Socrates believed physical fitness was important to keep a

Socrates became unpopular in Athens for various reasons. Athens had an instillation of democracy in their government. Unlike representative democracies of most republics in modern society, Athens was a direct democracy. Socrates was known to not support this type of direct democracy, because he had little faith in the common man to contemplate the complex subjects of government. He believed in rule by a group of “Philosopher Kings.” Socrates never ran for a political office, but he often participated in debates. Socrates quickly gained a reputation of questioning the wisdom of city leaders. He would ask difficult philosophical questions that usually ventured away from the topics being discussed. He believed asking questions like, “How do we know this is true?” or “How can we live a good