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Socrates made people questioned their customs, values. He made people think for themselves, when he put the questions before them. He taught people without teaching them, thus self-awareness or self-realisation. So in essence, to "Know Thyself".

He even questioned the gods that the people followed, which got him a lot of hot water at the end.

Was Socrates the "original" agnostic?

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LOL, yes, of course!

He was possibly more precisely the first famous skeptic. He is a great hero and role model for me too.

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Socrates seemed more down-to-earth or practical guy than Plato.

Although Socrates wrote nothing, and what we know of him comes mostly from Plato, but it would seem that Plato is more of dreamer than Socrates. Plato's writings, particularly Timaeus and the Republic speaks volume of utopia - the ideal world, like Atlantis. He also write of the demiurge. And though Plato put Socrates frequently in his dialogues, they were largely Plato's ideals, not Socrates.

I am not saying that Plato's works are not good. Something like Timaeus is of great interest to me, but I am dubious that Socrates would have contemplated either the demiurge and the Atlantis.

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I've not read much Plato, only some of the Socratic dialogs and the Symposium in particular. I think I once tried the Republic but found it boring. I've not tried to read Timaeus.

Plato is often contrasted with Aristotle, of course. Plato is the idealist while Aristotle is the realist. Both tendencies are present, I believe, in all of us and both are good. We do need to dream up different futures but also keep at least one foot firmly planted on the ground.

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It is boring.

For some reason, the Gnostic Nag Hammadi texts include a very small part of the Republic. I don't understand the connection between Gnosticism and Republic.