The Rise Is Sophism in Ancient Greece

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Sophism is a school of thought and a system of education which began to infiltrate Greece around 485 BCE. Starting with Protagoras, sophism had increased appeal to scholars, peasants, and aristocrats alike. It was also the focal point of an absurd amount of controversy and political commotion because of its connection to atheism. Sophism is important in analyzing Greek history because of its influence on the culture, politics, and religion. This paper will also address the controversial question of whether or not Socrates should be considered a sophist. It is important to understand what sophism is and how it influenced many young political minds in the 400’s. We start, briefly, with Cleisthenes, who was a ruler of the people. He wanted to, “…give political power to the masses.” (Constitution of Athens, Aristotle. pp.10) He succeeded in overthrowing the Tyrants around 500BCE, and redistributed the land and people from four major tribes to ten. He also increased the council population from four-hundred to five-hundred (pp.11), which in turn changed the constitution to make it much more democratic and reliant on the people than it had been under Solon. The line of command continues until we get to Pericles, whom “…belonged to the tribe of Acamantis and the deme of Cholargus…the noblest lineage in Athens.” (Plutarch pp.167) As a young man he had three teachers who shaped him as a politician and as a speaker. The first was Damon, about whom Plutarch remarks, “[He] used his musical teaching as a screen to conceal his real talents from the world in general; in fact it was he who trained Pericles for his political contests…” (pp.168). The second, Zeno, was an, “…assailer of all things, whose tongue like a double-edged weapon argued on either side with irresistible fury.” (pp.168). His third teacher was Anaxagoras, “…whom the men of his time used to call Intelligence

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