Family of Socrates

Socrates (; ; – 399 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, perhaps the first Western moral philosopher, and a major inspiration on his student Plato, who largely founded the tradition of Western philosophy. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no texts and is known mainly through the posthumous accounts of classical writers, particularly his students Plato and Xenophon. These accounts are written as dialogues, in which Socrates and his interlocutors examine a subject in the style of question and answer; they gave rise to the Socratic dialogue literary genre. Contrad

thumb|Portrait from Promptuarium Iconum Insigniorum (1553) by [[Guillaume Rouillé]]

thumb|right|Socrates, his two Wives, and Alcibiades. Painting by [[Reyer van Blommendael]] Myrto (; ; fl. 5th century BC) was a descendant of the Athenian politician Aristides and, according to some accounts, a wife of Socrates. The historicity and details of her relationship with Socrates were disputed in antiquity, and many modern scholars dismiss it.

Phaenarete (Greek Φαιναρέτη, born ), wife of Sophroniscus, was the mother of the Greek philosopher Socrates and his half-brother, Patrocles. (Since Sophroniscus had died before 424 BC, he was probably Phaenarete's first husband, while Chaeredemus, father of Patrocles, was her second). Historian of philosophy Debra Nails puts Phaenarete's birthdate around 484 BC, as she must have been old enough to give birth to Socrates in 469 and yet young enough to give birth to Patrocles about 450. She was apparently alive at the time of the Euthydemus, which was set in or after 407.

Sophroniscus (Greek: Σωφρονίσκος, Sophroniskos), husband of Phaenarete, was the father of the philosopher Socrates.

Menexenus (; ) was one of the three sons of Socrates and Xanthippe. His two brothers were Lamprocles and Sophroniscus. Menexenus is not to be confused with the character of the same name who appears in Plato's dialogues Menexenus and Lysis. Socrates' sons Menexenus and Sophroniscus were still children at the time of their father's trial and death, one of them small enough to be held in his mother's arms. According to Aristotle, Socrates' descendants all turned out to be unremarkable "fools and dullards".

Lamprocles () was Socrates' and Xanthippe's eldest son. His two brothers were Menexenus and Sophroniscus. Lamprocles was a youth (μειράκιον meirakion) at the time of Socrates' trial and death. According to Aristotle, Socrates' descendants as a whole turned out to be unremarkable "fools and dullards".