He rose also to the dignity of president of that body by virtue of which office, he for one day managed the popular assemblies and kept the key of the citadel and treasury. In another campaign he saved the life of his pupil, Xenophon, whom he carried from the field on his shoulders, fighting his way as he went.Īt the age of sixty-five, he became a member of the council of Five Hundred, at Athens. This reward, however, he transferred to Alcibiades.
Socrates rescued him and carried him off, for which the civic crown was awarded as the prize of valor. In a skirmish with the enemy, his pupil, Alcibiades, fell wounded in the midst of the enemy. He endured, without repining, hunger and thirst, heat and cold. He took part in three campaigns, displaying the greatest hardihood and valor. With regard to his public life, it appears that he served his country faithfully as a soldier, according to the duty of every Athenian citizen.
By his frugality, he was thus able to live without labor, and yet without being dependent upon others. His habits were simple and economical his dress was coarse, and he seldom wore shoes. Receiving a small property at his father's death, when he was about thirty years of age, he devoted himself entirely to philosophical pursuits. In the early part of his life, he wrought at his trade, so far as to earn a decent subsistence. By these means, he received the best education which an Athenian youth could command in those days. Crito, an intimate friend, supplied him with money to pay the masters who taught him various accomplishments, and he became an auditor of most of the great philosophers who visited Athens, during his youth.
He did not, however, devote himself wholly to this pursuit, but spent a large share of his time in reading the works of philosophers. He educated his son to his own profession, in which it appears that the latter made considerable proficiency. His father, Sophroniscus, was a sculptor of humble reputation and in moderate circumstances. Plato, Xenophon, Samuel Griswold Goodrich
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