History Creator / Socrates

Socrates, commonly considered the father of philosophy (though not the first one to practice it by any stretch), was an UsefulNotes/{{ancient Gree|ce}}k philosopher from UsefulNotes/{{Athens}} who lived from 469-399 BCE, when he was executed in the wake of UsefulNotes/ThePeloponnesianWar (of which, interestingly, he was a veteran, having served with distinction at Delium in an earlier phase of the war). The earlier philosophers are, in fact, known as the "pre-Socratic philosophers".

Socrates, commonly considered the father of philosophy (though not the first one to practice it by any stretch), was an Athenian philosopher who lived from 469-399 BCE, when he was executed in the wake of UsefulNotes/ThePeloponnesianWar (of which, interestingly, he was a veteran, having served with distinction at Delium in an earlier phase of the war). The earlier philosophers are, in fact, known as the "pre-Socratic philosophers".

He disapproved of writing, and so is known chiefly through the writings of his student Creator/{{Plato}}. (Another of his students, Creator/{{Xenophon}}, also wrote about him, but his works are less known. His portrayal is so different from Plato's version that it hardly seems like they are describing the same man.) Socrates taught and inspired many prominent young Athenians, from the aforementioned Plato to Alcibiades. (Plato even devoted a good chunk of his ''Literature/{{Symposium}}'' to defending against the common charge that Socrates had an affair with Alcibiades.)

* Following up on the ''Film/BillAndTed'' example, the Music/PansyDivision song "Bill & Ted's Homosexual Adventure" is about the time-traveling duo beginning a relationship. It includes this verse:

** He's one of the people that Film/BillAndTed meet on their journeys.

* In ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' episode "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS5E137Number12LooksJustLikeYou Number 12 Looks Just Like You]]", Socrates is one of many historical philosophers and creators whose works have been banned by the futuristic CrapsaccharineWorld's CulturePolice.

* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: With regard to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_of_Salamis Leon of Salamis]]. Socrates refused to obey the orders of the Thirty Tyrants to unjustly arrest Leon and turn him over for execution. Fortunately for Socrates, the Tyrants were swept from power before their wrath could be turned on ''him'' as well; unfortunately, the removal of the Tyrants doesn’t prevent people from going after Socrates and having him executed.

Not to be confused with the Brazilian [[UsefulNotes/AssociationFootball footballer]] Sócrates, who captained his country at the 1982 World Cup.

* BarefootSage: One of his best-known characteristics. He's probably the UrExample of the trope. Overlaps with DoesNotLikeShoes.

* Following up on the ''Film/BillAndTed'' example, The Music/PansyDivision song "Bill & Ted's Homosexual Adventure" is about the time-traveling duo beginning a relationship. It includes this verse:

* Following up on the ''Film/BillAndTed'' example, The Music/PansyDivision song "Bill & Ted's Homosexual Adventure" is about the time-traveling duo finally acting on all that [[invoked]] HoYay in their movies. It includes this verse:

It's possible to say a few things about him with confidence. He didn't value tradition for its own sake, and was willing to question everything, including the existence of the gods and whether traditional values were worth anything. This is what led to the strong disagreement between himself and Aristophanes, who was a conservative and traditionalist (and wrote ''Theater/TheClouds'' to mock Socrates). It is what also led to the charges of "introducing new gods", specifically because he was so effective at undermining the old. He also taught others to be skeptical and creative in the ways he was, and some of his students went on to be very influential in politics. One notorious example is Alcibiades, who served Athens during the Peloponnesian War until political foes brought charges of sacrilege against him, whereupon he fled to Sparta and served them, causing significant losses to Athens until he made political enemies in Sparta, at which point he defected to Persia, until allies in Athens secured his safe return and he served well enough to get Sparta to sue for peace, until he was again exiled by political enemies. As you can see, that one student caused political chaos and severe disruption of the Athenian empire using wildly unconventional political and military strategy. And that's why Socrates was charged with "corrupting the youth".

* The ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'' episode "[[/Recap/BobsBurgersS12E15AncientMisbehavin Ancient Misbehavin'"]] is about a teacher at Wagstaff School educating her students about ancient Greece. The Socratic method is mentioned, and Louise later uses it (more or less).

* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: With regard to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_of_Salamis Leon of Salamis]]. Socrates refused to obey the orders of the Thirty Tyrants to unjustly arrest Leon and turn him over for execution. Fortunately for Socrates, the Tyrants were swept from power before their wrath could be turned on ''him'' as well.

%%* BaldOfAwesome

* DyingMomentOfAwesome: His trial and execution. He knew going in that it was basically a show-trial and that the outcome was pretty much a foregone conclusion, so instead of trying to mount a defence he used his trial as one last opportunity to tell the ruling class of Athens exactly what he thought of them. He then demanded that his "punishment" should be free meals for life o the grounds that somebody who had done what he had for the city deserved it. He also refused to attempt to flee his execution on the grounds that if he had lived as an advocate of justice he would die obeying the law.

%%* BadassBeard

* DyingMomentOfAwesome: His trial and execution.

* HonorBeforeReason: Why he chose to stay in jail and be executed instead of escape when he was given the chance--or just leave Athens before he could even be tried.

* APupilOfMineUntilHeTurnedToEvil: Socrates' death was partially a result of this, according to some writers. The whole charge of Socrates corrupting the young laid by Athenians makes sense when you factor some of his students. Socrates' students included Alcibiades, Critias, and Xenophon. Of the lot, Xenophon became a mercenary who sold his sword to Persia and Sparta and fought against Athens, albeit since he did pick one side and never turned he at least proved the most honorable of the lot. Alcibiades was a shifty side-switching backstabber who kept going from Athens to Sparta and back again. Critias was the worst, a key leader of the Thirty Tyrants, the oligarchical puppet government installed by Sparta, who on coming to power led a brutal purge against the city's inhabitants, killing more than a thousand (a huge number in an ancient city with a small population). Socrates opposed these actions of his students, and some of his other students were decent, but two years after the end of the Thirty Tyrants, it's not hard to imagine grudges put against the teacher by citizens who might have been related or known someone related to the victims of the tyrants or that Socrates whole FigureItOutYourself ethos led two of them (Xenophon, Alcibiades) to put their own interests over that of the state.

[[quoteright:360:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Socrates_8848.jpg]]

He disapproved of writing, and so is known chiefly through the writings of his student Creator/{{Plato}}. (Another of his students, Creator/{{Xenophon}}, also wrote about him, but his works are less known. His portrayal is so different from Plato's version that it hardly seems like they are describing the same man.) Socrates taught and inspired many prominent young Athenians, from the aforementioned Plato to Alcibiades. (Plato even devoted a good chunk of his ''Literature/{{Symposium}}'' to defending against the common charge that Socrates had an affair with Alcibiades).

* The Creator/RosemarySutcliff novel ''The Flowers of Adonis'' is set in AncientGreece during his lifetime, so it's no surprise that he (along with many other people from that era) makes an appearance.

* {{Irony}}: Socrates may have invented this, and he is certainly the earliest attested practicioner.