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 134 A Short History of The World blics of the people or of leading men. Eloquence and able argument became very desirable aecomplishments therefore, and a class of teachers arose, the S(jphists, who undertook to strengthen young men in these arts. But one cannot reason without matter, and knowledge followed in the wake of speech. The actix'ities and rivalries of these sophists led very naturally to an acute examination of style, of methods of thought and of the ^'alidity of argiunents. When Pericles died a certain Socrates was becoming prominent as an able and de- structi^-e critic of bad argument — and much of the teaching of the sophists was bad argument. A group of brilliant young men gathered about Socrates. In the end Socrates was executed for disturbing people's minds (399 B.C.), he was condemned after the digni- fied fashion of the Athens of those days to drink in his own house and among jiis own friends a poisonous draught naade fronr hemlock, but the disturbance (jf people's minds went on in spite of his condemnation. His yoimg men carried on his teaching. Chief among these young men was Plato (4.27 to 347 b.c.) who presently began to teach philosophy in the grove of the Academy. His teaching fell into two main diisions, an examination of the foun- dations and methods of human thinking and an examination of poli- He was the first maT to write a Utopia, that is to PART OF THE FAMOUS FRIEZE OF THE PARTHENON ATHENS A specimen of Grecian ticulpturc i advance of art with that see.i ts finest expression. Compare the the animals shown on p. 103 tieal institutions. ._ . ,^^ ,, ^.,,^...., ..„.^ ,o ^^ say the plan of a community (HI'fereiit from and better than any existing community. Tliis shows an altogether unprecedented human mind which had hitherto boldness in tl le accepted social