Plato's Apology really surprised me with the depth of the dialogue and the extent of the examples that Socrates used to defend his innocence. It was the fact that "at the age of seventy, he had been indicted for breaking the law against 'impiety' for offending the Olympian gods (Zeus, Apollo, and the rest) recognized by the city's festivals and other official activities" (p. 17) that really surprised me. I don't generally picture someone that old causing trouble. It has often been speculated that his only involvement was guilt by association in reference to Athens defeat in the Peloponnesian War a few years earlier and some of his associates role in that.
The first accusation that Socrates addresses is that he does not believe in the gods. This raises the question of a citizens rights in Athens, or lack there of. It appears that people can be brought before a jury and tried on any number of fictional charges. He is then charged with being "guilty of wrongdoing in that he busies himself studying things in the sky and below the earth; he makes the worse into the stronger argument, and he teaches these same things to others" (p. 20). Another accusation I thought interesting was the one by Meletus stating that Socrates was guilty of corrupting the young. In response of this, Socrates accused Meletus of "dealing frivolously with serious matters, of irresponsibly bringing people into court, and of professing to be seriously concerned with things about none of which he has ever cared" (p. 23).
I really enjoyed the comparisons he made to prove a point such as the examples with horses and their trainers. I find it interesting how talented he was with manipulating stories and words to try and prove his innocence. Unfortunately I believe he sealed his fate when he claimed that Delphi said that no one was wiser than him. The death penalty seemed a little harsh for the few crimes he was accused of and the strength of the defense. I was slightly shocked to find out that he was not set free and instead executed. The severity of punishment seemed a little out of control during that unstable time period.
ReplyDeleteI really like some of Timothy's insight on this article. Especially the part about actually visualizing Socrates age and the trouble that he got himself in to, not something you see every day.
While I do agree the death penalty was a bit harsh, it did fit the time period of which Socrates was a part of. He maybe should of been aware of the fact that if he offends their religion, his fellow people would no longer think so highly of him. Maybe death wasn't justifiable, but in my opinion the Athens had no idea what to do with him and by killing him they felt that they were able to regain the control they believed they had lost.
Oooooh, I do like this idea of control. We should explore this more.
DeleteExcellent analysis, Timothy. I do like how you picked out some of his most visual examples.
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