Page:General History of Europe 1921.djvu/148

 98 General History of Europe presence he then quietly drank the fatal hemlock poison. Thus the Athenian democracy, which had so mismanaged the affairs of the nation in war, brought upon itself much greater reproach in quite unjustly condemning to death its most profound thinker and reformer. 147. Writing of History. The change in Greek belief was also evident in a new and remarkable history. Its author was Thu- cydides, the first scientific writer of history. A generation earlier Herodotus' history ( 122) had represented the fortunes of na- tions as due to the will of the gods ; but Thucydides, with an in- sight like that of modern historians, traced historical events to their earthly causes in the world of men where they occur. There stood the two books, Herodotus and Thucydides, side by side in the citizen's library. There were only thirty years or so between them, but how different the beliefs of the two historians, the old and the new! The history of Thucydides has been one of the world's greatest prose classics ever since. 148. Plato (427-347 B. c.) and his Dialogues. Plato, by far the most gifted of the pupils of Socrates, wrote out much of his mas- ter's teachings in the form of imaginary conversations between Socrates and those who flocked around him to discuss the deep problems of man's nature and duty. These Dialogues are at once so charming and so full of profound thought that they are still ranked among the most wonderful books of all the ages. They give us a lively idea of the informal way in which the intellectual Athenians were wont to meet in the market place or in the house of some thoughtful citizen and confer together on the good, the true, and the beautiful. Among the most famous of the immortal Dialogues are those describing Socrates' defense of his teaching against his accusers and the calm manner in which he cheerfully discussed the immortality of the soul with his companions while he sat in prison and waited for the fatal draught of the poisonous hemlock to be administered. He faced death serenely, assured that his spirit would not perish with the body. It is through the writings of Plato that we learn most of what we know of Socrates, for he himself wrote nothing.