Reading Justice First Content Social Studies by R Anthony Kugler Prologue Athens and Sparta, two city-states in ancient Greece, fought a war against each other that lasted 27 years Before the war, Athens was a democracy ; the citizens chose their leaders During the war, a group of Athenians wanted Athens to be an oligarchy, or a government led by a few rich men After Sparta defeated Athens in the war, the rich Athenians took control of their city-state, got rid of democracy, and created an oligarchy Socrates showed great courage as a soldier in his city’s long battle with Sparta, but his courage in the face of injustice was even greater It is never easy to talk about uncomfortable or unpopular topics, or to point out the wrong actions of people in power But Socrates did so every day His loyalty to truth and justice sometimes made him unpopular It is also one of the reasons we still talk about Socrates Recall details Which two cities were fighting a war? Athens Ionian Sea Identify proposition What idea about Socrates does the author propose? Sparta Mediterranean Sea 50 100 km 50 your own words what the author means by Socrates’ “courage in the face of injustice.” Reading Check Aegean Sea Paraphrase Explain in ✓ GREECE Reading Strategy Make an inference Why would loyalty to truth and justice make someone unpopular? N W E 100 miles S city-states cities that are run like countries defeated won a victory over someone power control Unit • Chapter 171 In School of Athens, the artist Raphael painted many Greek scholars together Socrates (above) is shown talking to students Build Your Knowledge Socrates had many powerful enemies His most dangerous enemies were called the Thirty Tyrants They were Athenians who saw their city’s final defeat by Sparta in 404 B.C as a chance to destroy something they hated: democracy The word “democracy” comes from the Greek word demos (“people”) and kratos (“power”) They believed that power should not be held by the people but by a few rich individuals The Tyrants thought that they should be the leaders of Athens With the help of the Spartan general Leonidas, the Thirty Tyrants quickly took charge of the city Many of the Thirty Tyrants came from rich and powerful families in Athens The sons of these wealthy families were also the most interested in Socrates’ ideas A man named Critias, a loyal student of Socrates, was a powerful member of the Thirty Tyrants Critias tried to get the people of Athens to accept the rule of the Tyrants Then he got an idea: If Socrates supported the Tyrants or looked like he supported them, other Athenians would too Socrates was well known, and the people of Athens greatly admired him So, Critias looked for a way to use his teacher’s popularity to help the Tyrants A root is the part of a word that gives the word its basic meaning The word democracy comes from two Greek roots Use the meaning of the roots to figure out the meaning of democracy in this passage Reading Strategy Paraphrase Use your own words to explain Critias’s idea destroy ruin, put an end to took charge of began to lead popularity acceptance by many people 172 Unit • Chapter Critias knew that his old teacher tried to stay away from acts that went against his beliefs of what was right He also knew that Socrates was a loyal and patriotic citizen What would Socrates if the Tyrants ordered him to something unjust and illegal? Critias believed that if Socrates had to choose between his personal beliefs and his public duty as a citizen, he would have to follow his duty Socrates did not like the rule of the Tyrants But Critias and his friends hoped that if people saw the respected teacher following their orders, they would start to support the Tyrants’ rule The Tyrants ordered Socrates to arrest an innocent person named Leon of Salamis, but the old man simply ignored them The incident made people respect Socrates and oppose the Tyrants even more Soon the Tyrants’ rule was overthrown Unfortunately, the democracy that took over was opposed to Socrates too Because many of the Tyrants had been followers of Socrates, many people thought he was as guilty as they were Even though Socrates had refused to obey the Tyrants’ orders, the idea went around that he taught them to be against democracy Reading Strategy Paraphrase Read how Critias describes Socrates Paraphrase this description in your own words ✓ Reading Check Recall details What was the goal of the Thirty Tyrants? Form an opinion Should Socrates have followed his duty as a citizen? Explain Socrates with two students Identify support for proposition What support does the author provide for his proposition that Socrates’ “courage in the face of injustice was even greater”? patriotic loyal to and proud of one’s country illegal against the law rule leadership; authority innocent not guilty of a crime ignored paid no attention to incident event overthrown removed from power by force Unit • Chapter 173 The democrats had another reason to dislike Socrates In 406 b.c., Socrates publicly ignored the will of the crowd For this, many democrats could not forgive him It happened after Athens defeated Sparta in the great naval battle of Arginusae The ships could not rescue many of the wounded sailors, and they drowned In their grief, the citizens of Athens blamed the 10 admirals who were in charge at the time The admirals were called before the Athenian boule, the legislative council The angry crowd wanted them to be executed After a careful reading of the law, however, there was no doubt that the motion in favor of execution was illegal One of the council members was Socrates, and he refused to allow the illegal motion to go forward The crowd got even angrier, but Socrates followed his conscience and refused to change his decision Reading Strategy Paraphrase Why did the democrats dislike Socrates? Paraphrase the author’s explanation Ruins of the Athenian Agora, where the admirals likely stood before the boule democrats people who support democracy legislative council group that makes laws executed put to death motion formal request to vote on something 174 Unit • Chapter Statue of Socrates in front of The Academy in Athens As it turned out, the admirals were executed anyway, but Socrates had made his point The council’s actions were shameful, and the old teacher made sure they knew it As one character in Plato’s Symposium says, “Socrates is the only person in the world who can make me feel ashamed.” Many of those in the hall that day never forgave him for it But Socrates was not concerned with popularity, wealth, or power What mattered most to him was to know right from wrong and justice from injustice That is how he lived his life By those standards, his life can only be considered a triumph Reading Strategy Paraphrase What does the character in Plato’s Symposium mean by this statement? Explain the statement in your own words ✓ Reading Check Recall details Whom did the Athenians blame when the wounded sailors drowned? Summarize What happened to the people who were blamed? shameful very bad Plato another Greek thinker Symposium title of one of Plato’s writings ashamed very sorry triumph great success Unit • Chapter 175