Socrates was a stonemason born in 470 BC in Athens who was known for his use of questioning and dialectic to reveal the ignorance of those who claimed to have knowledge. He was tried in 399 BC and sentenced to death, partly due to being satirized in Aristophanes' play Clouds. Our main knowledge of Socrates comes from Plato, who was his student, and Xenophon, though Plato's works likely included his own philosophical ideas attributed to Socrates. Socrates claimed his wisdom was in knowing his own ignorance, and focused on cultivating moral virtue through questioning.

1. 1-22 the trial of socrates