Socrates was from Athens.
The city of Athens during the classical period of Ancient Greece ( 508 -- 322 BC ) was the major urban center of the notable polis ( city-state ) of the same name , located in Attica , Greece , leading the Delian League in the Peloponnesian War against Sparta and the Peloponnesian League . Socrates ( [ ˈsɒkrətiːz ] Σωκράτης [ - grcsɔːkrátɛːs ] , Sōkrátēs ; 470/469 -- 399 BC ) was a classical Greek ( Athenian ) philosopher credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy .