Page:Xenophon by Alexander Grant.djvu/99

Rh before our readers one of the most strange and wonderful men that ever lived.

According to the descriptions both of Plato and of Xenophon, which are corroborated by antique gems, Socrates had a strong burly figure, prominent and crab-like eyes, a flat nose with broad open nostrils, a large and thick-lipped mouth, and a forehead indicative of great mental power. Everything about him conveyed the idea of force, character, and originality. His father had been a sculptor, and his mother a midwife. He was bred up to his father's profession, and followed it for a time with some success; and a statue which he executed of the Graces was preserved in the Acropolis of Athens. In time of war he served his country as a heavy-armed soldier, and was in action, and distinguished himself, at the siege of Potidæa and at the battle of Delium. Xenophon omits to mention one peculiarity of Socrates which we learn from Plato—namely, his strange fits of protracted reverie, almost amounting to trance. But he is full of allusions to the Dæmon, or divine mentor, under whose guidance Socrates laid claim to act. The whole life of Socrates was represented by himself as being ordered under the direction of internal signs from the gods, which told him what to do and what not to do. He thoroughly