Brenden Huke
Period 1
4 April 2017
The “Socrates Gone Mad”
Diogenes of Sinope was a great Greek Philosopher, best known for holding a lantern to Athenian people trying to search for an “honest man.” Diogenes was born in Sinope, Paphlagonia, in 404 BC. He lived in a tub and owned almost nothing. His only possession was a cup, and he threw that away when he saw a boy drinking water with his hands. Before he died, he asked for his body to be thrown outside of the city for the wolves to feast on his body. Diogenes had an interesting background, philosophy and had pretty great achievements.
Diogenes’s rather humorous background led to his great philosophy. Diogenes was a young boy when his father was “forced into exile from Sinope, Turkey with his father [Hicesias]” (“Diogenes: Greek Philosopher”), who was a banker. When he went to Athens, he wanted to be taught by Antisthenes, but he “struck Diogenes with his staff when Diogenes first came through the doors of the cynic school” (“A Socrates Gone Mad”). But with Diogenes’ smarts, he said “strike me, Antisthenes, but you will never
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Diogenes was the interesting head of the interesting cynic way of life. This noun in Greek means doglike, just like his philosophy. In his philosophy, he believed that everyone should “reject all which was considered unnecessary in life such as possessions and social status” (“Diogenes of Sinope”). So the cynic way is to live doglike because they do not care where they sleep or what they eat. The cynic way of life was originally brought up by Antisthenes, but was and is said to be taught better by Diogenes. Even when he saw a young boy drinking water with his hands, he threw away his only possession, a cup, just so he could live simpler. He wanted everything to be as simple as possible. Diogenes’ philosophy is very important. If everyone lived this way, the whole world would have peace and everyone would be
Everyday we face the choice of letting our freak flag fly or complying to nonsense of society. In photo “Diogenes or Lucidity,” by Gilbert-Garcin, it shows Diogenes captivated in his personal desires because of his cynic belief of conformity leads people astray, depletes the logic of any man and also lowers the reward of valuable citizen; this is significant because the entire world is shrouded with lies and dishonesty and the few honest non conformed men are isolated and need light to hold back the darkness.
Aristophanes believes that two humans used to be combined as one, and we were separated by the Gods because they thought we had too much power together. He thinks the purpose of love is to seek out our other half and be with them. In his speech, however, he fails to think about whether or not our other half is good or bad. Diotima takes goodness into account. She says “…a lover does not seek the half or the whole, unless, my friend, it turns out to be good as well” (205E). Her speech is superior to Aristophanes’ because she states clearly that you are not supposed to love someone unless they are good. By good I mean having knowledge and wisdom.
The Ancient Greek contribution ranged by the 1900-133 BC, however its influence on the Western Literate Society lasts to this day. As the Greeks expanded their empire, they spread their ideas to other countries, while also borrowing from other cultures. During this period of time, the Greeks made many significant and long-lasting contribution to our modern culture in Philosophy, Art, Democracy, Drama, Math, and Science. These givings of important ideas, inventions, and structures have had an extraordinary influence on the surrounding environment, society, and in the future. The essential contribution of Greeks to the Western Civilization are Democracy, Art, and Philosophy.
Socrates was wise men, who question everything, he was found to be the wise man in Athens by the oracle. Although he was consider of being the wises man alive in those days, Socrates never consider himself wise, therefore he question everything in order to learned more. Socrates lived a poor life, he used to go to the markets and preach in Athens he never harm anyone, or disobey any of the laws in Athens, yet he was found guilty of all charges and sentence to die.
Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex introduced the one of the most important tragic heroes of Greek literature. First performed in the fifth century B.C.E., the play is centered around Oedipus, the king of the Greek city-state Thebes, and his struggle to conquer his emotions as he seeks out the true story of his life. This work, inspired by a well-known Greek myth, scrutinizes both the tragic flaws of Oedipus and his heroism. Examples of Oedipus’ tragic flaws abound in the play. In his condemnation of Tiresias and Creon, Oedipus is controlled by his emotions. However, the heroism of Oedipus is also an essential theme of the drama, though it is often downplayed. Despite this, careful analysis can uncover many instances in which Oedipus exhibits his heroism by attempting to control his emotions and discover the truth of his origins. In his finest moments, Oedipus is in complete command of his emotions as he searches for the truth, while at his nadir, Oedipus is completely controlled by his emotions and is absolutely unpredictable. This contrast is, in large part, what makes Oedipus a tragic hero. Oedipus, King of Thebes, is among the greatest Hellenistic tragic heroes because of his fight to overcome his greatest flaw, his uncontrollable anger, as he heroically searches for the truth.
Though Plato was Aristotle’s teacher, their ideas could not differ more in relation to Doryphoros. While Plato would feel that it is worthless, Aristotle would feel that it is very valuable to the process of learning more about our very natures. The duality of their opinions is very similar to the duality we can see in Doryphoros mentioned above. Plato was on a kind of warpath with creative expression, yet student Aristotle embraced it with calm analysis. In Doryphoros we see their opinions in juxtaposition to one another. If nothing else, Doryphoros expresses the masculine, logical side of human nature with near effortlessness.
The Delphic oracle told to his friend Chaerephon that Socrates is the wisest man on earth. However, he did not think in that way and tried to prove that the oracle had not right. When he started to talk with people it turned out that the politicians are arrogant and not so clever, poets do not understand their own work, manual artisans considered themselves to be so smart in all areas, however, they know only their craftsmanship. When Socrates showed their ignorance, he became hated. Although he only wanted to prove that human wisdom is not so important and has not the biggest value in life. Moreover, he was just about to show that real wisdom belongs only to the gods. Socrates wisdom consisted in realizing his ignorance. Other people did not confess to their ignorance, they thought that they know everything. Socrates was aware of that he can do not know something, compared to others. And for him it was natural, when other people did not want to confess to their
Diomedes is one of the finest and bravest of the Greek warriors. He is respectful to all authority figures and shows little or no arrogance. He may be viewed as the perfect nobleman because he is always wise and reasonable. Diomedes demonstrates a great respect for government authority. He risks his own life to save Nestor, the Greek commander, and helps him escape from Hector. In regards to following orders, when Athena tells him not to fight with any of the gods except Aphrodite, he follows the orders exactly. Throughout the poem, Diomedes never takes credit for his accomplishments. Instead, he thanks and praises the gods for their assistance. Before his duel...
Socrates (470-399 BC) was a credited philosopher born in the city of Athens to father Sophroniscus and mother Phaenarete. Despite his world-renowned contributions, he did not leave any written accounts of his life. His story was taught through the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon, along with Aristotle and Aristophanes in various forms of dramatic texts and histories. Among others, Plato wrote many dialogues that quoted Socrates’ exact words. Much of what we know comes from this greatly influenced student. However, Plato being a literary artist, leads many to think that he brightened up Socrates’ teachings as a result of his positive bias. For this reason, much of his history remains uncertain.
"Socrates Biography - Life, Name, Story, Death, History, School, Young, Son, Information, Born, Time." Encyclopedia of World Biography. Web. 05 July 2011. .
Sophocles’ background influenced him to write Antigone. One important influence on the drama was the author’s life in the “golden era” of Athens during fifth century BCE. In that time, Athens was experiencing much change in all facets, and drama was a major factor in Athenian culture. In his essay “Sophocles,” Ed Downey reports that Sophocles was born at the beginning of the “golden era” in Athens and lived a long life influenced by “the artistic and cultural achievements in the ancient Greek world”. Sophocles was a wealthy and highly educated, “happy man.” As a young man, Sophocles began his playwright career, eventually becoming one of the greatest writers in history although only seven of his works are still intact (1). Similarly, the setting
Socrates is easily one of the most well known names in the history of philosophy. He is even portrayed via the magic of Hollywood time travel in the popular movie “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure” and was more recently quoted inaccurately on a t-shirt as saying, “I drank what?” Despite his fame, Socrates was not the first philosopher by far, and certainly not the earliest to make meaningful contributions to the field of philosophy. Some of the great “Pre-Socratics” include Anaximenes, Parmenides, Xenophane, and Democritus. The philosophical issues of their days were significantly different from the popular discussions today, though no less relevant, and provide ample fodder for the cannon of philosophical consideration. The issues in consideration here that may benefit from discussion are the problem of the one and the many, the distinction between phusis and nomos as regards the nature of god(s), and distinction between appearance and reality. Appropriate and thorough discussion of these topics in the pre-Socratic context is certain to yield insight into the connection between these three issues.
Socrates was born around 470 B.C. in Athens to a family with moderate wealth. His father was a mason and his mother was a midwife. He followed his father’s footsteps and became a stone mason as his first job. He was a mason for a few years before he decided to become a philosopher. Because of his family’s wealth, he was able to become a foot soldier for the Greek army. He served during the Peloponnesian War. During the war he served campaigns in Delium, Amphipolis, and Potidea. During his time in the army, he also saved Alcibiades, a famous and important general of the Greek army. After he served his time in the army, he married a woman named Xanthippe and had three sons with her. Unfortunately he had a very rocky marriage as Socrates spent more time teaching the youth of Athens then spending time with his own sons. His wife was also angry with him for his current job. Philosophy does not always pay the bills.
Socrates was known to be a philosopher in ancient Greece, specifically Athens, who laid down the foundations of western philosophy. He was born in 469-470 BC and died by execution in 399 BC for his philosophies. His ideologies are extremely appreciated today for many uses. His philosophies are guidelines on how we should live, but Socrates never once wrote his teachings down. The majority of his work was documented by Plato, who was one of Socrates followers. Many considered Plato as one of his students, but Socrates was documented to have not taught for money or opened his own academy of philosophy which suggests that Plato was not an actual student of his. The main source of information about Socrates and his work is not documented by him
Among the most revered philosophers of all time was Socrates. Living around the 5th century B.C.,