What was it that motivated Socrates? It appears that man motivated him. Socrates believed men were glorious and pondered their existence throughout his life. We could view his statement, "Many are the wonders of the world, and none so wonderful as man," as a supreme tribute to his race. If we also take into account Socrates" typical point-of-view of many facets, we could derive a dual meaning from this statement, the other being that men caused him to "wonder." .
Socrates was a philosopher who had many devoted followers. Throughout his philosophical life, Socrates stirs the pot by forcing man to think deeply about himself. In doing so he inadvertently caused people to feel intellectually inferior. The irony of this was that it was not his intention to belittle his fellow man, but raise him up above the archaic beliefs he held that regulated his life, those which bore no evidence of truth. Where some felt appreciation for his ideas, others felt malice. Nobody likes to be told that they are wrong. .
However many Athenians were devoted to the teachings of Socrates, there were that many more who bristled at his anti-democratic tone. His disposition pertaining to these matters could have stemmed partially from his own belief that he was on a divine mission to reform the thinking of man. The perceived threat he posed to the general ideology of the Athenian population had already been long in place. This, coupled with his blatant rejection of governmental practices, was likely to be what caused Meletus, Anytus, and Lycon to conjure up charges of his being impious and corrupting youth, so that Athenian society may be rid of him. His avoidable execution, nevertheless unavoidable in the mind of Socrates, was what resulted.
Socrates thrived on his quest for an answer to the question, "What is man?" Being a simple man of simple means, it is ironic that his thought processes should be so complex in nature and his attitude be so humble, ".