What were the major factors that led to the convition and death of the Socrates?

Answer 1

He was intelligent, and did make fools of many powerful people. But he was not intelligent enough to be strong, to become a leader of people, to be able to vanquish his death even if he WERE to die by his words of wisdom or enlightenment, that, in my opinion, was his downfall. What did he want?

Answer 2

Socrates said the Greek god system was a joke. He said it made no sense that gods lived on Mt. Olympus and had intrigues and affairs with humans. He was killed for this opinion.

Much as today, when rational people say that Jesus didnt' exist and that the God of Abraham is a folktale. When people say that no god came and impregnated any woman to make a baby to save the world, and that the world is not in need of 'saving' so much as a new sustainable nonpolluting energy source.

So, what say you? Should we ridicule and persecute rational philosophical people when they express valid facts, or listen to them?

An excerpt:

In reality, Socrates' accusers actually think that by putting him to death and eliminating him, they will no longer have to give an account of their lives and risk being exposed as ignorant. However, Socrates says that there are many people like him who will approach the court, who are younger and who will be resented far more than him. He ends his prophesy by saying: "You are wrong if you believe that by killing people you will prevent anyone from reproaching you for not living in the right way. To escape such tests is neither possible nor good, but it is best and easiest not to discredit others but to prepare oneself to be as good as possible" (Apology, 40). In the conclusion of his trial, Socrates states: "a good man cannot be harmed either in life or in death, and that his affairs are not neglected by the gods" (Apology, 42). Socrates declares that he has led a good life, a life of morality and virtue. He states that although people have judged him and sentenced him to death, their opinions and verdicts will have no bearing on him once his body has perished. They cannot harm the most pure, true, and everlasting essence of his existence.

Answer 3

well i dont know about the factors but he had a choice to leave Greece and become a "barbarian" or be killed in Greece and die a Greek. He chose to die in Greece, which shows how highly he thought of the culture.
The greeks rejected Socrates's teachings because they were unheard of and "corrupted the youth" so they hanged him.

Answer 4

I think it was corruption of the youth. He died by drinking poisonous hemlock. His Socratic method was flawed but that was no reason to kill the guy.

Answer 5

The citizens of Athens condemned him to death for heresy, and corrupting the youth of Athens. He calmly drank the hemlock they gave him, and died a noble death.

Answer 6

Socrates lived during the time of the transition from the height of the Athenian Empire to its decline after its defeat by Sparta and its allies in the Peloponnesian War. At a time when Athens was seeking to stabilize and recover from its humiliating defeat, the Athenian public court was induced by three leading public figures to try Socrates for impiety and for corrupting the youth of Athens. This was a time in culture when the Greeks thought of gods and goddesses as being associated with protecting particular cities. Athens, for instance, is named after its protecting goddess Athena. The defeat of Athens in the Peloponnesian War was interpreted as Athena judging the city for not being pious. The last thing Athens needed was more punishment from Athena for one man inciting its citizens to question her or the other gods. In the Apology, Socrates insists that this is a false charge.

According to the version of his defense speech presented in Plato's Apology, Socrates' life as the "gadfly" of Athens began when his friend Chaerephon asked the oracle at Delphi if anyone was wiser than Socrates; the Oracle responded negatively. Socrates, interpreting this as a riddle, set out to find men who were wiser than he was. He questioned the men of Athens about their knowledge of good, beauty, and virtue. Finding that they knew nothing and yet believed themselves to know much, Socrates came to the conclusion that he was wise only in so far as he knew that he knew nothing. Socrates' superior intellect made the prominent Athenians he publicly questioned look foolish, turning them against him and leading to accusations of wrongdoing.

He was nevertheless found guilty as charged, and sentenced to death by drinking a silver goblet of hemlock. Socrates turned down the pleas of his disciples to attempt an escape from prison, drinking the hemlock and dying in the company of his friends. According to the Phaedo, Socrates had a calm death, enduring his sentence with fortitude. The Roman philosopher Seneca attempted to emulate Socrates' death by hemlock when forced to commit suicide by the Emperor Nero.

According to Xenophon and Plato, Socrates had an opportunity to escape, as his followers were able to bribe the prison guards. After escaping, Socrates would have had to flee from Athens. In the painting "Death Of Socrates", under the death bed, there is an irregularly-shaped tile, which many believe is an escape hatch. Socrates refused to escape for several reasons. 1. He believed that such a flight would indicate a fear of death, which he believed no true philosopher has. 2. Even if he did leave, he, and his teaching, would fare no better in another country. 3. Having knowingly agreed to live under the city's laws, he implicitly subjected himself to the possibility of being accused of crimes by its citizens and judged guilty by its jury. To do otherwise would have caused him to break his 'contract' with the state, and by so doing harming it, an act contrary to Socratic principle.

Answer 7

he was charged with corrupting the youth because of his teachings, and the powerful hated him too because he made a fool of them by a battle of wits

Answer 8

well socrates himself was particularly missed ,a lovely little thinker ,but a bugger when he's pissed, died of cronic alcoholism,

Answer 9

he embarassed those in power by showing them up and chose to drink poison rather then leave his home.

Answer 10

He would'nt stop asking questions, man.....