Socrates (469-399 BC)

As far as we know Socrates never directly denied the gods but by his keen power of reasoning brought the Greeks of Athens to question their assumption of the gods. He sought to awaken the Greek soul to Truth and Goodness.

We find Socrates on the porch of King Archon questioning an Euthyphro who was accusing his father of murder. When he was asked why he did this he answered because this is what the gods dictated. So Sacrates begins a dialogue on the meaning of piety.

Socrates: What is piety?

Euthyphro: 'Piety is what is dear to the gods, and impiety is what is not dear to them.'

Socrates: ' ...what may be dear to one god may not be dear to another, and the same action may be both pious and impious; e.g. your chastisement of your father, Euthyphro, may be dear or pleasing to Zeus (who inflicted a similar chastisement on his own father), but not equally pleasing to Cronos or Uranus (who suffered at the hands of their sons).

Socrates proposes to amend the definition, and say that 'what all the gods love is pious, and what they all hate is impious.' To this Euthyphro agrees.

Socrates goes on to show that the act of been cared for and loved by his father is before the state care and love of it citizens and that this first love is dearer to the gods. Here Sacrates leads Euthyphro to realize that his definition of piety is an attribute and not its essence. (Webpage:Benjamin Jowett, Introduction to the Euthyphro)

On another occasion Socrates asked the same question to the priest.

"What is piety?" asked Socrates.
"It is honoring the gods, and doing their will." The priest replied.

Poor Socrates was confused again. "But the gods of Greece are many. They often fight among themselves in our myths. Is there one god I should obey, or how do I know when to support one god and when to follow another?"

The priest was embarrassed at the question, and had no answer for Socrates.

With Socrates the gods came under the scrutiny of reason and this is why he was charged with unbelief in the gods of mythology. He influenced the young to right thinking which called into question the reality of the gods and this is why he was charged for corrupting the minds of the young and sentenced to death.

6. The God of Reason