contented himself
with going about the city, conversing with those he met, and leading
them by the force of his questions to discover what he himself had in
mind. He sought especially the young men and gave them instruction and
counsel. Socrates made no pretensions as a scholar: "All my
knowledge," said he, "is to know that I know nothing." He would call
himself no longer a sage, like the others, but a philosopher, that is
to say, a lover of wisdom. He did not meditate on the nature of the
world nor on the sciences; man was his only interest. His motto was,
"Know thyself." He was before all a preacher of virtue.

As he always spoke of morals and religion, the Athenians took him for
a sophist.[82] In 399 he was brought before the court, accused "of not
worshipping the gods of the city, of introducing new gods, and of
corrupting the youth." He made no attempt to defend himself, and was
condemned to death. He was then seventy years old.

Xenophon, one of his disciples, wrote out his conversations and an
apology for him.[83] Another disciple, Plato, composed dialogues in
which Socrates is always the principal personage. Since this time
Socrates has been regarded as the "father of philosophy." Plato
himself was the head of a school (429-348); Aristotle (384-322), a
disciple of Plato, summarized in his books all the science of his
time. The philosophers that followed attached themselves to one or the
other of these two masters: the disciples of Plato called themselves
Academicians,[84] those of Aristotle, Peripatetics.[85]

=The Chorus.=--It was an ancient custom of the Greeks to dance in
their religious ceremonies. Around the altar dedicated to the god a
group of young men passed and repassed, assuming noble and expressive
attitudes, for the ancients danced with the whole body. Their dance,
very different from ours, was a sort of animated procession, something
like a solemn pantomime. Almost always this religious dance was
accompanied by chants in honor of the god. The group singing and
dancing at the same time was called the Chorus. All the cities had
their festival choruses in which the children of the noblest families
participated after long time of preparation. The god required the
service of a troop worthy of him.

=Tragedy and Comedy.=--In the level country about Athens the young men
celebrated in this manner each year religious dances in honor of
Dionysos, the god of the vintage. One of these dances was grave; it