Was Socrates a democrat? Melissa Lane looks at the reputation of Socrates, both at the time of his death and in subsequent debates about democracy.

From: History Today | Date: January 1, 2002| Author: Lane, Melissa | Copyright information

BORN TO A HUMBLE ARTISAN family in fifth-century democratic Athens, Socrates (469-399 BC) attracted a circle of prominent disciples, with whom he pursued the question of how to live well. His conversations with all-comers in search of knowledge, on the grounds that `the unexamined life is not worth living' (Plato, Apology 38a); his ugly face, which concealed the beauty of his soul; his legendary self-control, which enabled him to stand for hours in the cold while meditating; his re...

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