The Recordless A Socrates Biography - 867 Words

â€Å"The philosopher Socrates remains, as he was in his lifetime, an enigma, an instructable individual who, despite having written nothing, is considered one of the handful of philosophers who forever changed how philosophy itself was to be conceived†(Nails). A great philosopher named Socrates once changed the very way man perceived nature. Socrates was a man that lived life to its fullest, from being a foot soldier, or hoplite, to freelancing around the town hall barefoot and smelly. Socrates, because he never wrote or recorded anything, is only known today from non-primary sources, and the majority of what we know is only from the second half of his life. Socrates, like most men during this time period, had a toned body; however, Socrates’†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"‘The ‘real’ Socrates we have not: what we have is a set of interpretations each of which represents a ‘theoretically possible’ Socrates’†(Cornelia d e Vogel). Unfortunately, historians today can only base Socrates upon what others have written, and because so many wrote about an obviously different person, it is hard to come up with who he really was. â€Å"‘There is, and always will be, a ‘Socratic Problem’. This is inevitable’†(W.K.C Guthrie). The true Socrates might never be unveiled. Thankfully, one of Socrates’ students, one of Greece’s greatest philosophers, wrote a lot about his teacher. That student’s name was Plato. Many writings from Plato during his early life were about his teacher Socrates. Without these writings, we might not know that Socrates was actually a hoplite that fought in the Peloponnesian War. Plato’s philosophical background he acquired later in his life pushes historians to believe his is the most credible(Nails). He, however, was not the only one we get information from. Another of Socrates’ students, Xenophon, also wrote about Socrat es. Xenophon was also a Greek hoplite. Xenophon went on to pursue philosophy just as Socrates did. He had heard of and met Socrates when he was in the army. After he finished his military career, Xenophon found Socrates in Athens and became one of his students. Xenophon would go to Socrates when he had problems. Xenophon later wrote about Socrates, especially after he learned of his death(Nails).