What was Socrates’ role in ancient Greek philosophy?

Socrates was arguably the most important figure in ancient Greek philosophy. At the time, there were many different forms of philosophical enquiry that were explored. Many philosophers questioned and made deductions about the state and properties and purpose of the natural world encompassing all physical objects.

The first of these were the naturalists. They were the first true Greek philosophers. The naturalists used logic and reasoning to attempt to answer all questions regarding Nature. They had decided that most phenomena were not acts of the gods as previously believed. They believed that a logical and mathematical reason could be found for everything.

There were the Eleatic philosophers. They looked at truth from a purely mathematical point of view and tried to justify truth using mathematical purity. They also believed in a unity between all forms of matter from which many properties of various objects can be explained. They believed that our perceptions are quite unrealistic due to our senses being deceiving

[...] His opening rebuttal of the ?accusers' accusations partly demonstrates his employment of the ?Socratic Method' in an indirect way. This is one of many examples from the Socratic Dialogues. Socrates played a large part in defining many aspects of philosophy. He also had a large affect on the Athenian community. We see that philosophers from Ancient Greece are lumped into three groups, the pre- Socratic, Socratic and Post-Socratic. This shows that educators regard Socrates' influence as a landmark in the history of Philosophy. [...]

[...] Well, as I was saying, they have hardly uttered a word, or not more than a word, of truth; but you shall hear from me the whole truth: not, however, delivered after their manner, in a set oration duly ornamented with words and phrases. No indeed! but I shall use the words and arguments which occur to me at the moment; for I am certain that this is right, and that at my time of life I ought not to be appearing before you, O men of Athens, in the character of a juvenile orator - let no one expect this of me . [...]