Preview

What did it mean for a man in Ancient Greece to lead a good life, according to Platos’s four dialogs in the Trial and Death of Socrates?

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1014 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
What did it mean for a man in Ancient Greece to lead a good life, according to Platos’s four dialogs in the Trial and Death of Socrates?
What did it mean for a man in Ancient Greece to lead a good life, according to Platos’s four dialogs in the Trial and Death of Socrates?

In Ancient Greece, leading a good life is rather more complex than it is in today’s society. It is evidenced in Plato’s four dialogs in The Trial and Death of Socrates. Through the dialogues of Socrates we can learn that in Ancient Greece education, religion, society in general, law and values played a major role on a person’s way of living a good life. In the dialogues of The Trial and Death of Socrates, society condemned those such as Socrates for changing or questioning their way of life. A person in Ancient Greece must be a pious man who conforms to the laws and values of the society. We can learn how a man should lead a good life in Ancient Greece through the dialogues of Socrates in his trial. In order for a man to lead a good life, he must have a good education. In ancient Greek society it is stated that a man shouldn’t think about having kids if he doesn’t plan on giving a good education to them (Plato 45). This signifies that education is the first thing in a man’s life that will make him a good person. In the dialogues of Crito, we can see that music and gymnastics played a major role in education because Socrates’s father trained him in those fields (Plato 51). Education also plays a major role in a man’s life because it not only helps in this life but also the after life. According to Socrates, education and nurture are the only things that you can take with you to the underworld (Plato 106). Your knowledge and education will help you in your next life not your material wealth. Asides from having a good education, a man in Ancient Greece should value and ignore certain actions. As I have stated earlier a man should value education, but asides from that he must be a pious person. We can see in the dialogues between Euthyphro and Socrates that piety should be valued a lot. In other words a man should value

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Athenians live as the society tells them to live, and they follow their own traditions, customs, and morals of the rest of the people. Socrates has never forced Athenians to follow his teachings, on the contrary he lets them do it without getting anything in return. He states “And I cannot justly be held responsible for the good or bad conduct of these people, as I never promised to teach them anything.” (33a-b) He doesn’t directly influence society, he tries to make them aware of their lack of knowledge; it then becomes their responsibility to fill the void exposed by Socrates. Therefore, he believes they have not examined their own lives. Socrates believes an examined life is one that is reflective, where we examine actions on the basis of…

    • 151 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Socrates’ unique wisdom can be likened to that of a midwife, as stated in Theaetetus. In Meno, Socrates discusses the definition of virtue with the titular character. Socrates challenges Meno to define virtue, and Meno states that each demographic has a different virtue, for example, “a man’s virtue: to take part in the city’s affairs capably…”(Meno, 71e-72a) or “there is a different…

    • 984 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Greece had one of the first ethical systems in the ancient world, the main ethical belief in ancient Greece was Arete which the greeks viewed as the act of living up to one’s full potential. The Greeks also believed hybris, the act of trying to go beyond one’s possibilities. Many of the great scholars of Greece followed the ethical systems such as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and Heraclitus who thought that injustice appears only in the eyes of man.…

    • 449 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Socrates lived a life of inquiry in order to achieve a fulfilled life of eudaimonia and success. I argue that the Socratic examined life is a process, which should be valued because it teaches one to be critical thinkers, and aids us in the understanding our true actions.…

    • 455 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Everyone in society has different views on the best kind of life. Some people think that the best kind of life is one that is filled with family. Some may think that it is concerning living life without any regrets and being prosperous, healthy and having someone to share it all with. But this is not the case for Socrates. Having very profound views about what could be called the best kind of life for a human being. This paper is going to explore four areas that Socrates believes makes up the best kind of life for humans. The fist point that this paper is going too examine the values and how it was vital for Socrates. Secondly this paper is going to explore virtue. The Third point of this paper is the pursuit of happiness. And lastly…

    • 1223 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Socrates, on the other hand, did not concern himself with metaphysics and arché; he studied ethics. Instead of studying the physical world, Socrates strived to find life’s deeper meaning. Socrates’ ideology was different than the rest of the Athenian population. Therefore, the state saw him as a threat. The Sophists, who were the first paid teachers, did not like Socrates or his inadvertent teachings; they taught relativism, or how to win an argument. Socrates was a war hero in at least three Athenian wars. Socrates believed in that which is which eternal and unchanging, such as truths, like love, beauty, justice, and virtue, and absolutism. Socrates that there was one hierarchy of values for all human beings, and…

    • 2221 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Plato’s Republic begins with a debate on the subject of morality. One by one, Cephalus, Polymarchus, and Thrasymachus put forth their definitions of morality and one by one, they come up short. None survive the merciless scrutiny of the author’s mentor, Socrates.…

    • 772 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    For these two articles that we read in Crito and Apology by Plato, we could know Socrates is an enduring person with imagination, because he presents us with a mass of contradictions: Most eloquent men, yet he never wrote a word; ugliest yet most profoundly attractive; ignorant yet wise; wrongfully convicted, yet unwilling to avoid his unjust execution. Behind these conundrums is a contradiction less often explored: Socrates is at once the most Athenian, most local, citizenly, and patriotic of philosophers; and yet the most self-regarding of Athenians. Exploring that contradiction, between ¡§Socrates the loyal Athenian citizen¡¨ and ¡§Socrates the philosophical critic of Athenian society,¡¨ will help to position Plato¡¦s Socrates in an Athenian legal and historical context; it allows us to reunite Socrates the literary character and Athens the democratic city that tried and executed him. Moreover, those help us to understand Plato¡¦s presentation of the strange legal and ethical drama.…

    • 1653 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ephiletus

    • 714 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Thousand years ago many honor-based societies had laws that citizens should follow and obeyed those laws. The laws were about if somebody murdered someone, stole something or disobeyed some other law, they could be punished by going to jail, being whipped or death. Ancient Greece had one of the fundamental honor based societies in the history. In this society hierarchy played an important role and divided people into social classes. For instance women and men were not equal and women had few rights. Moreover, the main task of women was to stay at home and did not have right to participate at public events. Men had dominant role in public and social events.…

    • 714 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Socrate's Conviction

    • 1666 Words
    • 7 Pages

    [ 11 ]. Pomeroy, Sarah B. "The Trial of Socrates(399 B.C.)." Ancient Greece: A Political, Social, and Cultural History. New York: Oxford UP, 1999. 360-64. Print.…

    • 1666 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    “The most intriguing people you will encounter in this life are the people who had insights about you, that you didn't know about yourself” (Alder). This quote can be used to show why the great Greek philosopher, Socrates is deemed as being so intriguing. During his time, Socrates was seen as a great threat because he tended to break free from the normal way of thinking and inevitably, people became afraid of him. Socrates was eventually put to death on account of “corrupting the youth” and being an “atheist,” which were false claims against him to cover up the fact that his accusers simply didn’t like him or his ways. When reading Plato’s Republic, Socrates is shown as being very intriguing because of: his humble ways, his Socratic method,…

    • 867 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I liked how the Greeks and Romans valued education. Their government, standard of living and the way of life was quite similar to ours. Plato believed that in a perfect system of government everyone should be educated from birth as best as possible and I completely agree with this. According to Plato, we should have three classes of people, the ruling class, the military and the working citizens. Although we have different classes in our society today, the distinction is not so large that we would be forced to stay in a certain class. Fortunately, most classes as Plato thought of are chosen occupations today.…

    • 793 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Thucydides

    • 1274 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In Thucydides, “The Funeral Oration of Pericles”, I will analyze and summarize the excerpts used within our primary source course packet to comment upon the core questions of being human, having purpose, the natural world and the just society that was created by the great civilization of Athens. The oration that Pericles delivers at the funeral for the fallen soldiers in the first year of the Peloponnesian war provides an excellent vision of the things that made the warriors and citizens of Athens strive to achieve honor or Arete. Pericles speaks of valor, ancestry, parenthood and many more honorable facets of the Athenian society and it’s implication within it’s society and societies beyond, “ [F]or Athens alone of her contemporaries is found when tested to be greater than her reputation…[R]ather the admiration of the present and succeeding ages will be ours”. (Thucydides Page 33)…

    • 1274 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    While according to Socrates music and gymnastics appear to be the only two components in education, it is clear that both of these are only two of three parts for the sake of the soul. The soul of the natural man has irrational desires (epithumetikon) which is why in an ideal society those that rule would not have materialistic ambitions. The guardians would live in modesty and not own private property, they would be rich in education and protect against both wealth and poverty (416/425). To keep riches away from the guardians is beneficial to the ruled because they will be “champions of war” not “fat rich men” therefore they would not only be a stronger force at protecting the people, but it will make the city stronger than that which could separate the unity of brother such as pleasures, desire, and pain…

    • 1013 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Socrates Exile

    • 1010 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In the book The Trial and Death of Socrates, Socrates is faced to refute a friend's argument for him to escape Athens and not to be put to death. Socrates however, being a man of pious intent and just composition, believes for many reasons, that escaping is not the just thing to do. He provides many reasons for his point of view, The main reason Socrates does not flee Athens is because of the way he lives his life. What was ultimately most important about Socrates' inquiries was, indeed, the unceasing practice and habit of being critical and thoughtful--of not being blind to one's own unfounded convictions and presuppositions. Thoughtfulness and critical self-awareness as a way of life is what Socrates stands for. Socrates ultimate way of life was to live one’s life and focus on self-development, rather than trying to become rich.…

    • 1010 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics