[originaltext]The Greek philosopher Socrates taught "the man who is master of h

The Greek philosopher Socrates taught "the man who is master of himself is truly free". By being master of oneself he meant first knowing oneself, one’s faults and weak nesses and one’s good points, without making any pretence, and then being able to control oneself. This knowledge of himself was what helped a man to be courageous, and the courageous man has a very important sort of freedom: freedom from fear.
Socrates himself always felt free to teach what he thought was right; however, this might make him unpopular with the powerful people in Athens. Some of the rulers in Athens did not like people to be encouraged to ask too many questions; they feared that people would begin asking questions about what their rulers were doing. So they accused Socrates of teaching young men evil things. At last they had him arrested and sentenced him to death. During the 30 days that lay between Socrates’ trial and execution, his friends and pupils were allowed to spend a great deal of time with him in his prison. They were astonished to find that he was calm and cheerful and seemed to have no fear of dying. He talked to them and taught them just as he used to in the streets and market places of the city.
The Greeks’ way of executing people was to make them drink a cup of deadly poison. When the poison was brought to Socrates, his friends were in tears, but Socrates took the cup quietly and drank it as if it were a glass of wine at a banquet.