[Footnote 473: "And do we not know that the Eleatic Palamedes (Zeno) spoke by art in such a manner that the same things appeared to be similar and dissimilar, one and many, at rest and in motion?"--"Phædrus," § 97.] SOCRATES (B.C. 469-399), the grand central figure in the group of ancient philosophers, arrived in Athens in the midst of this general skepticism. He had an invincible faith in truth. "He made her the mistress of his soul, and with patient labor, and unwearied energy, did his great and noble soul toil after perfect communion with her." He was disappointed and dissatisfied with the results that had been reached by the methods of his predecessors, and he was convinced that by these methods the problem of the universe could not be solved. He therefore turned away from physical inquiries, and devoted his whole attention to the study of the human mind, its fundamental beliefs, ideas, and laws. If he can not penetrate the mysteries of the outer world, he will turn his attention to the world within. He will "know himself," and find within himself the reason, and ground, and law of all existence. There he discovered certain truths which can not possibly be questioned. He felt he had within his own heart a faithful monitor--a _conscience_, which he regarded as the voice of God.[474] He believed "he had a divine teacher with him at all times. Though he did not possess wisdom, this teacher could put him on the road to seek it, could preserve him from delusions which might turn him out of the way, could keep his mind fixed upon the end for which he ought to act and live."[475] In himself, therefore, he sought that ground of certitude which should save him from the prevailing skepticism of his times. The Delphic inscription, Γνῶθι σεαντόν, "_know thyself_" becomes henceforth the fundamental maxim of philosophy. [Footnote 474: The Dæmon of Socrates has been the subject of much discussion among learned men. The notion, once generally received, that his _δαίμων_ was "a familiar genius," is now regarded as an exploded error. "Nowhere does Socrates, in Plato or Xenophon, speak of _a_ genius or demon, but always of a _dœmoniac something (το δαιμόνιον_, or _δαιμόνιν τι_), or of a _sign_, a _voice_, a _divine sign_, a _divine voice_" (Lewes's "Biographical History of Philosophy," p. 166). "Socrates always speaks of a _divine or supernatural somewhat_ ('divinum quiddam,' as Cicero has it), the nature of which he does not attempt to divine, and to which he never attributes personality" (Butler's "Lectures on Ancient Philosophy," vol. i. p. 357). The scholar need not to be informed that _το δαιμόνιον_, in classic literature, means the divine Essence (Lat. _numen_), to which are attributed events beyond man's power, yet not to be assigned to any special god.] [Footnote 475: Maurice's "Ancient Philosophy," p. 124.]