Why did Socrates get arrested?

Answer 1

Socrates was arrested for corrupting youth and for being a so-called sophist. Practicing sophistry was contradictory to the society of Athens and the belief system that holds multiple gods control everything, including knowledge. Utilizing what would later become known as the "Socratic Method" of teaching, Socrates used a series of queiries or rhetorical learning where the learner acquires knowledge by being asked questions and uses critical thinking to answer them. This knowledge through self-reliance empowers people. Any empowerment of individuals robs power from a belief system that is reliant on omnipotent beings, gods.

Answer 2

Socrates was arrested and sentenced to death for corrupting the youth of Athens and impiety, which was essentially failing to acknowledge the city's gods. His philosophical teachings and questioning of the established beliefs and authorities of the time made him unpopular among the powerful elites of Athens.