Socrates the First Western Myth
Socrates was a Greek philosopher who lived in Athens around 470-399 BC.
He did not produce writing himself, so historical accounts of his life and philosophy stem from contemporaries including two of his disciples.
Perhaps the most notable ideas associated with him in modern times are the Socratic dialectic and the manner of his death.
Socratic dialectic -- as portrayed through the writing of his disciple Plato -- is built around questioning as a tool for challenging one's own notions and beliefs.
Socrates, as it is reported, would approach some figure deemed knowledgeable or achieved in some field, then ask questions such as “what is justice?”, “what is piety?”, “what is courage?”.
When the interlocutor produced some definition, Socrates would poke holes in it by raising examples that would suggest some contradiction or exception, requiring the definition to be amended.
A possible reading of this is that the interlocutor did not in fact know about what they claimed they were knowledgeable in, after all, they weren't able to produce a watertight definition in their own field of expertise.
Another reading, though, more generous to the interlocutor, is that it is indeed possible to judge whether something is “just”, “pious” or “courageous”, on a case-by-case basis, and at the same time be unable to produce definitions for each concept.
For example, it's possible to mentally visualize what a red fruit is, or even what a red elephant would look like, but still be unable to answer the question of “what is red?” or “what is the sensation of the color red?” satisfactorily.
Nevertheless, Socrates' ability to annoy and antagonize powerful people brings us to the second point: the events that led up to his death.
He was judged and found guilty by a jury of 500 members of Athens of the charges of corrupting the young, not worshiping the gods recognized in Athens, and introducing new divinities. He was sentenced to death by drinking poison.
This makes Socrates perhaps the first major “martyr” in western mythology, as he is portrayed as dying as a direct product of his beliefs, as well as choosing death over compromising on what he believed in.
Whether this happened exactly as described bears no importance -- although the trial of Socrates is described by written records, the political scenario that surrounded this trial can bring into question the real intentions of the trial and validity of the verdict.
What the death of Socrates brings forth into western belief is the symbol of the uncompromising believer who will go to any length for what they believe in. This pattern, of course, pops up a few other times throughout western history.