Trial of Socrates

The Trial of Socrates is a relatively well known court case in which one of the world's greatest philosophers was blamed of heresy and the corruption of youth. Socrates' actions of asking questions, no matter what the content of the question may be, and finding answers to those questions were considered to be a standard practice in Greece. However, due to the fact that Greece was at war, it could not spare any extra attention to people trying to stand out or question the actions of others.

Socrates' questions made people doubt the existence of god while preaching in the streets and markets. However, the important part is that questioning people's beliefs in times of great conflict is not a great way to attract attention. It may have worked when there was peace, and he might have had a great deal of listeners, but if there was a bigger problem in front of the people, no one would have time to listen to his philosophy and would rather find it as an annoyance. Furthermore, in the government's perspective it can even be viewed as a threat since people who may listen to him will start a new conflict inside the country. He was also charged with defiling youths he was teaching. This is a rather strange thing to be charged for because in the ancient time, lives of the younger people were not even considered important. This may be the first time in history in which a person is prosecuted for doing something 'wrong' to a younger generation.

After the trial, Socrates was condemned to death and was killed. To be more precise he committed suicide by drinking poison instead getting killed by another person's hand.