228 HISTORICAL TALES,

drawn to Athens by his fame, and anxious to hear
this wonderful conversationalist and teacher. These
became known as his scholars or disciples, though he
claimed nothing resembling a school, and received no
reward for his teachings.

The talk of Socrates was: never idle or meaning-
less chat. He felt that he had a special mission to
fulfil, that in a sense he was an envoy to man from
the gods, and declared that, from childhood on, a
divine voice had spoken to him, unheard by others,
warning and restraining him from unwise acts or say-
ings. It forbade him to enter public life, controlled
him day by day, and was frequently mentioned by
him to his disciples. This guardian voice has become
known as the demon or genius of Socrates.

The oracle at Delphi said that no man was wiser
than Socrates. To learn if this was true and he
really was wiser than other men, he questioned
everybody everywhere, seeking to learn what they
knew, and leading them on by question after ques-
tion till he usually found that they knew very little
of what they professed.

As to what Socrates taught, we can only say here
that he was the first great ethical philosopher. The
philosophers before him had sought to explain the
mystery of the universe. He declared that all this
was useless and profitless. Man’s mind was superior
to all matter, and he led men to look within, study
their own souls, consider the question of human duty,
the obligations of man to man, and all that leads
towards virtue and the moral development of human
society.