Socrates in Athens

Socrates, the most iconic of all the Greek philosophers, lived and died in the Agora, the central market place in Athens. The later Roman statesman and philosopher Cicero famously wrote that it was Socrates who was 'the first to call philosophy down from the heavens and place it in the city and in people's homes, and to ask questions about life and morality and things good and bad' (Tusculan Disputations 5.10).

There are five key sites in the Agora connected to Socrates.

1. Simon's Shoeshop

Our first location is the workshop of Simon the Shoemaker.

Diogenes Laertius 2.122-3
'Simon was an Athenian and a shoemaker. When Socrates visited his workshop and conversed on any subject, Simon made notes of all he could remember, which is why they call his works the shoemaker’s dialogues. ... He was the first, they say, to use Socratic arguments in conversation [i.e. to write Socratic dialogues?].'

Xenophon, Memorabilia 4.2
'Realizing that because of his youth Euthydemus did not yet go into the Agora if he wanted to conduct any business, but took up his position in a saddler’s shop close by, Socrates went to the shop himself with some of his friends.'

2. The Royal Stoa

Our second location is the Royal Stoa, where Socrates was given the charges against him - corrupting the youth and introducing new gods. This frames Plato's dialogue Euthyphro (full text here).

Plato, Theaetetus 210d
'Now I must go to the Royal Stoa, to answer to the suit which Meletus has brought against me. But in the morning, Theodorus, let us meet here again.'

Plato, Euthyphro 2a
'What a strange thing has happened, Socrates, that you have left your accustomed haunts in the Lyceum and are now haunting the stoa where the King Archon sits?'

3. The Courtroom

Our third location is the site of the courtroom where Socrates' trial took place.

The event is described in Plato's Apology of Socrates (full text here).

4. The Prison

The prison is where Socrates was sent after his conviction and where he died. After the trial, Socrates was held in prison for a month because no executions could take place while an Athenian ship undertook a sacred trip to Crete. During this time, Socrates' friends arranged for him to escape but Socrates refused, arguing that it was his duty to obey the law (described in Plato's Crito, full text here).

When the ship finally returned, Socrates faced his execution by drinking hemlock. This is described in Plato's Phaedo (full text here).

Plato, Phaedo 116a
'When he [Socrates, in prison,] had said this, he got up and went into another room to bathe; Crito followed him, but he told us to wait.'

5. The Street of the Marble Workers

Socrates' father was a marble worker. He may well have been involved in the construction of the Parthenon. His workshop was probably on this street. As a young boy Socrates is likely to have played in the street and, as he became older, assisted his father in the workshop. Later in life he spent time on this street, at Simon's shop. And he died on this street, in the state prison.

One of Socrates' central ideas was the idea that virtue or excellence (arete) was not the product of high birth or chance but instead a skill or a craft (techne) that anyone could learn, and the key to developing that skill or craft was knowledge. The idea that virtue might be a craft just like any other was - I suggest - inspired by his many experiences on this street surrounded by craftsmen.

After: The Museum

After visiting these sites, do see the Museum, in the reconstructed Stoa of Attalos. Inside you will find:

Materials from Simon's workshop, including hobnails and a pot with Simon's name inscribed.
Ballots from the courthouse used in trials.
Small pots of hemlock used in the state prison.

Outside: The Painted Stoa

Socrates inspired many later Greek philosophers, including Zeno of Citium, the founder of Stoicism. We are told that Zeno was inspired first to study philosophy after reading Xenophon's Memorabilia of Socrates. Our source says that Zeno read Book 2 of the Memorabilia, in which Socrates discusses the famous 'choice of Heracles' between living a life of pleasure or virtue (Diogenes Laertius 7.2).

Diogenes Laertius 7.5
'Zeno used to discourse, pacing up and down in the Painted Stoa ... People came here to hear Zeno, and this is why they were known as Stoics.'