Socrates in The Apology Essay

The Apology of Socrates

The Apology of Socrates is a philosophical dialogue written by Plato, a student of Socrates. It is an account of the speech Socrates makes at the trial where he is charged with not recognizing the gods of the state, inventing new deities, and corrupting the youth of Athens. He is said to done all of these acts by philosophizing. Socrates speech addresses his accusers: Meletus, Anytus, and Lycon. Furthermore, within the work, he defends himself against the charges and also typifies his accusers.

How does Socrates characterize his accusers? He thinks of them as artificial students of Sophists. A Sophist is someone who is a shallow thinker and has been taught to win arguments with flowery rhetoric. There, he is admitting their education, but dismissing it all at the same time. He tells of how they are trained, but that they are false, artificial, and had hardly spoken a word of truth in their speeches. In some sense, he does not have much respect for his accusers. More proof of that would be when he performs the elenchus on Meletus, the lead accuser, and practically mocks him with derogatory scorns and bullying. He goes so far as calling Meletus out on his righteousness, addressing him saying, Meletus, a good and patriotic man, as he calls himself. He also states that he more fears his older accusers than these newer ones, further downplaying the three accusers significance to him. Still, at the end of his speech when he is sentenced to death, after he has finished disrespecting the, he denies having any grudge against his accusers.

Concerning the next matter at hand, Socrates believes that his charges were invented. He believes that he in fact deserves a reward rather than a penalty for his actionsmaintenance in the Prytaneum is the just return, he states. He does, however, dismiss that as a joke and relays that he cannot think up a penalty that he deserves because he has not wronged anyone. To further his defense, he even calls many of his young pupils by name, allowing them or their relatives at court to accuse him of what evil they suffered at [his] hands. Here, Socrates is much undaunted by the charge against him, as no guilty man would call on the very persons he is said to have wronged. Another point he makes is that his philosophizing is based on the word of Apollo. He continues to say that he may not stop philosophizing because then, he would be disobeying a god, which in turn, only then might [he] be justly arraigned in court for denying a god. He continues to assert his innocence by saying, or almost threatening his accusers, that to put an innocent man to death (himself) is far worse that oneself dying. Evidently, he has a strong belief that he has done nothing to harm society the way in which his accusers suppose.

In the Apology of Socrates, Socrates is without a doubt convinced that he has done nothing wrong to deserve the penalty set against him. According to Socrates, he is simply obeying Apollo and is in no way to be put to death, as his accusers desired (and gained). While addressing his accusers, he was very ill-mannered and conceited, and did not offer much respect to them. Perhaps that is why he was found guilty yet. Perhaps if he was a bit more professional and ethical in his speech, then maybe he would have been able to dodge the cruel penalty of death.