Socrates Many people knew of Socrates in ancient Greece but few knew the reach his teachings had and how it would impact the world. We don't know much from Socrates himself, many of the informational texts we have about his life were written by his students and playmakers; Plato, Xenophon and Aristophanes. Many of the elders Socrates questioned would abandon their aspirations and create schools to teach and spread the ideology of philosophy. Plato, his most famous student, became the teacher of Aristotle, and he became the tutor for Alexander the Great. Socrates mentality of Greek philosophy would be spread throughout the world during Alexander's conquering of nations. The impact of his ideology can even be seen in the Renaissance …show more content…
Anaxagoras is a Greek philosopher who made important contributions to the fields of astronomy and physics, some of these contributions include, the reason for an eclipse, an accurate description of the moons lunar surface, and he was also the first one to try and square a circle. Anaxagoras’s parents were wealthy but he chose to forsake a life of luxury and leisure so that he could study philosophy. Around 463 BC he decided to move to Athens, which was fast becoming the intellectual center of the time, while he was there he became friends with a politician by the name of Pericles and he became friends with the playwright Euripides. Anaxagoras was the first person to put forth the molecular theory of matter, “he believed that matter was infinitely divisible” (Anaxagoras of Clazomenae). Anaxagoras was also the first person to propose that our solar system began as nothing more than dust and debris that eventually formed into the planets and galaxies that we know of today. He was also the first person to propose that the moon light was just the light of the sun reflecting off the moon’s surface. Anaxagoras also started a school in his hometown of …show more content…
Proclus “received his elementary education in Xanthus and then continued his studies in Alexandria” (Proclus Diadochus) and he also studied rhetoric since his original intention was to practice law in the legal profession, but upon taking a trip to Constantinople with Leonas he apparently changed his mind and decided to pursue a career in philosophy instead. After returning to Alexandria from his trip in Constantinople Proclus decided to study Aristotle and mathematics, and at the age of nineteen he joined the Platonic academy in Athens, which is where he studied under Plutarch of Athens, which is the person who founded the Athenian school of Neoplatonism, he also studied under Syrianus. Proclus’s philosophical development was greatly influenced by his teacher Syrianus who considered him as both a pupil and a successor as leader of the Athenian school of Neoplatonism. Around the age of twenty eight Proclus produced a number of complex commentaries on different dialogues of Plato, and “when Syrianus died, the chair passed briefly to Domninus of Larissa, and it was then assumed by Proclus, who held it until his death” (Proclus Diadochus). Proclus also wrote important works on systemic philosophy and