I mean, that’s kind of exactly what happened. He was “Athens’ gadfly”, always asking people what they believed, and why they believed it. Eventually it annoyed some relatively influential Athenians, to the point that they accused him of something like “corrupting the youth” (I don’t quite remember, it was some BS like that).
The punishment for breaking that law was technically supposed to be death, but if you were a citizen you could plead for exile (and your plea would usually be granted). Socrates, however, obstinately refused to plead the council for anything. As a result, he was scheduled to be executed. I suppose you could say he died because he held his ideals to be more important than his own life — or you could equally say he died of his own stubbornness. Either way, not too far off from your comment.
I mean, that’s kind of exactly what happened. He was “Athens’ gadfly”, always asking people what they believed, and why they believed it. Eventually it annoyed some relatively influential Athenians, to the point that they accused him of something like “corrupting the youth” (I don’t quite remember, it was some BS like that).
The punishment for breaking that law was technically supposed to be death, but if you were a citizen you could plead for exile (and your plea would usually be granted). Socrates, however, obstinately refused to plead the council for anything. As a result, he was scheduled to be executed. I suppose you could say he died because he held his ideals to be more important than his own life — or you could equally say he died of his own stubbornness. Either way, not too far off from your comment.
An example of beligerence at it’s finest.