Socrates Character Analysis

Socrates was definitely different from the ordinary man in ancient Athens at the time. Not only was his way of thinking different from what people of that time period were familiar to, but Socrates was also a very compassionate man. Socrates cared more about helping others grow intellectually and opening the eyes of his pupils to view the world in a completely different way. It makes one wonder how an extraordinary man, like Socrates, was willing to receive his death sentence from people dishonest people like the Sophist. The most important message that Socrates is trying to convey when on trial and when he is about to die is that his was placed on this Earth to spread wisdom to the youth, and his life isn 't as valuable as people think it …show more content…
In Guardini 's words, "…because of which he must die, he will go on doing in the next life in a perfect and final manner" (Guardini, 1948, pp. 68). Socrates was innocent of all crimes he was accused of, so because his death is an injustice, Socrates won 't have anything weighing down on his soul. It is true that Socrates gave his life to helping others expand their mind, so in Guardini 's opinion, dying and knowing of all the good one has caused is a good way to accept death. In addition to the previous statement, Guardini continues to talk about the afterlife in connection to the life one may be living at the moment.
Not in the sense of primitive notions according to which the future life is a continuation of the present life freed from all defects, but in a spiritually purified sense: that which has taken place on earth in the venture and jeopardized by the resistance of the temporal order, acquires in the next life its final significance (Guardini, 1948, pp. …show more content…
One thing is for sure is that Socrates didn 't commit any crime to cause his execution. Xenophon stated that the reason why Socrates was ready to die because the factors of being old were starting to get to him, so there was no reason to prolong his death. While Plato states that Socrates had no reason to fear death since his conscience was clean. Socrates wasn 't going to run away when Crito gave him them opportunity to do so after his sentence because he respected the government system and didn 't want people to view him as a criminal for running away. Socrates devoted his life to Apollo and exploring wisdom. His only crime, if any, was to help people think in different ways and to defend their own theories with definitions when in a debate. Because Socrates loved his work so much, he chose death over giving up what he was sent to this world by the gods to