Small format, serious subject matter. This portrait magnet brings one of history's most consequential minds into your everyday spaces - a daily reminder that the people who shaped civilization are worth remembering.
This one captures the man who believed that an unexamined life was not worth living. Part of the Great Minds of Classical Greece collection. Available in three sizes.
ABOUT SOCRATES (c. 470–399 BC)
Socrates never wrote a word. Everything we know about him comes from others - principally Plato, who idolized him, and Aristophanes, who mocked him. That a man who left no written work became the most influential philosopher in Western history is itself a kind of philosophical provocation.
He spent his life in the streets and marketplaces of Athens, engaging anyone willing to talk in conversation designed to expose the limits of their knowledge. His method was simple and devastating: ask questions until the contradiction reveals itself. Politicians, poets, and craftsmen all submitted to it. Most walked away unsettled. Some walked away changed.
In 399 BC, Athens put him on trial for impiety and corrupting the youth. He was seventy years old. He refused to flee, refused to stop philosophizing, and refused to beg for mercy. The jury condemned him to death by hemlock. He drank it without hesitation, continuing to discuss the immortality of the soul with his friends until the poison took hold.
He died as he had lived - asking questions. The Western philosophical tradition begins with that refusal to stop.
PRODUCT FEATURES
- Available in three sizes: 3×3, 4×4, and 5×5 inches
- Matte finish for a sophisticated, glare-free surface
- Laminated surface for durability and color vibrancy
- White vinyl with strong magnetic backing
- Indoor use recommended