469 B.C.E.–399 B.C.E.

Philosopher
Teacher

Importance to Greek Religion.

Socrates is more important for his contribution to philosophy than religion. Nonetheless, he was important as a catalyst in Athenian intellectual life of the fifth century B.C.E., and the questioning of conventional attitudes which he helped to initiate spilled over into religious thought. In 399 B.C.E. he was tried before a popular jury of 501 jurymen on a charge of not recognizing the gods whom the state recognized, introducing other new gods, and corrupting the young. There are two surviving accounts of his Apology, that is, his speech in his own defense: one by his disciple Plato and a second by another of his followers, Xenophon. They are quite different and neither has a great claim to accuracy. It is not clear what new gods Socrates introduced, and his accusers seem to have concentrated...