Socrates is read about 8,660 times a day, in 206 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 15 October 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 390 days, one point a day.
Something wrong?He wrote nothing, taught by question, and drank poison rather than recant. Fifth-century Athens put Socrates to death for impiety and corrupting the young - and in doing so made him the founding martyr of Western philosophy.
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![Battle of Potidaea (432 BC): Athenians against Corinthians (detail). Scene of Socrates (center) saving Alcibiades. 18th century engraving. According to Plato, Socrates participated in the Battle of Potidaea, the retreat of Battle of Delium and the battle of Amphipolis (422 BC).[38]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/da/Battle_of_Potidaea_Socrates_saving_Alcibiades_%28detail%29.jpg/1280px-Battle_of_Potidaea_Socrates_saving_Alcibiades_%28detail%29.jpg)
Battle of Potidaea (432 BC): Athenians against Corinthians (detail). Scene of Socrates (center) saving Alcibiades. 18th century engraving. According to Plato, Socrates participated in the Battle of Potidaea, the retreat of Battle of Delium and the battle of Amphipolis (422 BC).[38]![The Death of Socrates, by Jacques-Louis David (1787). Socrates was visited by friends in his last night in prison. His discussion with them gave rise to Plato's Crito and Phaedo.[66]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8c/David_-_The_Death_of_Socrates.jpg/1280px-David_-_The_Death_of_Socrates.jpg)
The Death of Socrates, by Jacques-Louis David (1787). Socrates was visited by friends in his last night in prison. His discussion with them gave rise to Plato's Crito and Phaedo.[66]![The Debate of Socrates and Aspasia by Nicolas-André Monsiau. Socrates's discussions were not limited to a small elite group; he engaged in dialogues with foreigners and with people from all social classes and of all genders.[75]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/73/The_Debate_Of_Socrates_And_Aspasia_%282%29.jpg/500px-The_Debate_Of_Socrates_And_Aspasia_%282%29.jpg)
The Debate of Socrates and Aspasia by Nicolas-André Monsiau. Socrates's discussions were not limited to a small elite group; he engaged in dialogues with foreigners and with people from all social classes and of all genders.[75]![Ruins of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, where Pythia was sited. The Delphic aphorism Know thyself was important to Socrates, as evident in many Socratic dialogues by Plato, especially Apology.[94]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7b/Delfi_Apollons_tempel.jpg/1280px-Delfi_Apollons_tempel.jpg)
Ruins of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, where Pythia was sited. The Delphic aphorism Know thyself was important to Socrates, as evident in many Socratic dialogues by Plato, especially Apology.[94]![Henri Estienne's 1578 edition of Euthyphro, parallel Latin and Greek text. Estienne's translations were heavily used and reprinted for more than two centuries.[123] Socrates's discussion with Euthyphro still remains influential in theological debates.[124]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/98/Euthyphro_Stephanus_1578_p_2.jpg/1280px-Euthyphro_Stephanus_1578_p_2.jpg)
Henri Estienne's 1578 edition of Euthyphro, parallel Latin and Greek text. Estienne's translations were heavily used and reprinted for more than two centuries.[123] Socrates's discussion with Euthyphro still remains influential in theological debates.[124]![Alcibiades Receiving Instruction from Socrates, a 1776 painting by François-André Vincent, depicting Socrates's daimon[146]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/10/Alcibades_being_taught_by_Socrates%2C_Fran%C3%A7ois-Andr%C3%A9_Vincent.jpg/1280px-Alcibades_being_taught_by_Socrates%2C_Fran%C3%A7ois-Andr%C3%A9_Vincent.jpg)
Alcibiades Receiving Instruction from Socrates, a 1776 painting by François-André Vincent, depicting Socrates's daimon[146]In their own words 10
, I only wish that wisdom were the kind of thing that flowed ... from the vessel that was full to the one that was empty.
It would be better for me... that multitudes of men should disagree with me rather than that I, being one, should be out of harmony with myself.
Oh dear Pan and all the other gods of this place, grant that I may be beautiful inside. Let all my external possessions be in friendly harmony with what is within.
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Born around 470 BC in Classical Athens, Socrates spent his life interrogating citizens in the agora, using relentless questions to expose contradictions in their supposed knowledge - a method his student Plato would immortalize in dialogues that became the blueprint for Western thought. He claimed to know only that he knew nothing. In 399 BC, he was tried on charges of impiety and corrupting the youth; the trial lasted a single day. Sentenced to death, he refused escape and drank hemlock. Because he authored no texts, everything known about him comes from others - chiefly Plato and Xenophon - whose conflicting accounts created what scholars call the Socratic problem. Medieval Islam studied him, the Renaissance claimed him, Kierkegaard and Nietzsche wrestled with him. The man remains an enigma; the influence is everywhere.
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