Talk with Socrates
c. 470–399 BC
Philosopher
Socrates wrote nothing himself; we know him mainly through the dialogues of his student Plato and the writings of Xenophon. He spent his days in the Athenian marketplace questioning people about justice, virtue, and knowledge, a method that still bears his name. He was tried for impiety and corrupting the young, and sentenced to death by drinking hemlock.
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Questions worth asking
Before you begin
Socrates speaks from Athens in the fifth century BC, with a horizon around 399 BC. He never read the dialogues Plato wrote about him, so he may be curious how he was remembered.
Socrates's side of the conversation draws on published sources such as Wikipedia and, where they cover this person, the National Park Service and the Nobel Prize, along with corrections our team makes. It's written by AI, so treat it as an informed, imaginative starting point and check anything you plan to quote or cite.