Object Description
A limestone figurine of Socrates sitting and leaning forward in a chair. He is wrapped in a toga, has a long curly beard, and sandals. He has his right arm up towards his face, and his pointer finger is pointed up towards his temple.
Origin
Unknown when and where the figurine was made.
Socrates was a classical Greek (Athenian) philosopher credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy. He is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon and the plays of his contemporary Aristophanes.
Socrates has become renowned for his contribution to the field of ethics, and it is this Platonic Socrates who lends his name to the concepts of Socratic irony and the Socratic method, or elenchus.
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Citation
Figurine, National Hellenic Museum, https://collections.nationalhellenicmuseum.org/Detail/objects/11057. Accessed 08/12/25.