Final answer:
Socrates sought to establish objective moral standards, distinct from the relativistic and subjective interpretations of the Sophists. His philosophical inquiries were often misunderstood, which contributed to his being charged with impiety and corrupting the youth in Athens. Despite his opposition to sophistry and commitment to reason, he was ultimately executed for his controversial search for ethical truths.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question of whether Socrates was hypocritical about Eros can be explored by examining his dialogues on piety, ethics, and the nature of the good. Through Socrates' questioning of Euthyphro, we see his discomfort with defining moral actions merely as those that please the gods, given the contradictory behaviors attributed to the deities. Socrates' efforts to understand good, as recorded in Plato's dialogues, show a clear distinction between his search for objective moral standards and the relativistic approach of the Sophists, who believed in subjective interpretations of truth and virtue.
During his lifetime, Socrates' relentless questioning made him unpopular with some in Athenian society, leading to charges of corrupting the youth and impiety. Despite being misunderstood and associated with Sophist teachings due, in part, to his portrayal in Aristophanes' plays, Socrates ardently opposed sophistry and strove for ethical truths grounded in reason over tradition or conjecture. Ultimately, Socrates' philosophical inquiry into ethics and his challenge to accepted norms, without writing any of his ideas, lead to a legacy of intellectual rigor that influenced his student Plato and generations of thinkers to come.