The Defense of Socrates

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The Defense of Socrates

Introduction

Socrates was one of the greatest philosophers of the Ancient Greece. Indeed, he is also credited as the founders of the field of philosophy. He had numerous pupils who contributed prolifically to the field of philosophy. His most famous pupils include Plato and Xenophon.

Socrates was tried at the Peoples' Court at Agora within Athens. He was charged with inciting revolt against the state through his teachings (Linder, 2002). In addition, he was charged with misleading and depraving the youth of Greece by teaching those ways contrary to the state policy. Also, he was accused of rejecting the deities that were accepted by the Greek city-states. Furthermore, he was accused of introducing more deities. Finally, he was declared as a criminal (Xenophon, 2007).

The trial of Socrates was brought forth by the principal accuser Meletus, who was a poet. He accused Plato of corrupting the minds of youth and by being a traitor to the state through his philosophical teachings. The witnesses included Anytus and Lycon, who were also the prosecutors. They were in fact the foes of Socrates and were jealous and envious of him, his reputation, and his work. The trial was brought before the chief magistrate who was the King Archon. It was found that the trial was permissible. Consequently, they suggested the punishment of death penalty for the innocent Socrates (Linder, 2002).

However, it has been argued that it was quite a strange occurrence or event. It has been termed as an early example of a suicide, as Socrates utterly failed to protect himself against the accusations, rather prompted the counsel to choose the death penalty for him. At the time, he was seventy years old scholar and philosopher and there was no apparent reason for the 500 strong jury of Athenians (who were mostly farmers) to finalize his execution. It is also known that the Greek society was literate and enjoyed more democracy than any other region would have had. Later on, the pupils of Socrates, including Plato and Xenophon, presented their own biased accounts of their mentor's trial. It is said that there could be some veracity in the evidence brought against Socrates for his accusation (Linder, 2002).

Analyzing the Defense of Socrates

Socrates claimed that no harm could be brought to a person who was good and fair and that, accordingly, he would be safe and secure and ...