Socrates Impiety Analysis

Socrates should be found guilty of impiety. Fellow aristocrats, we understand the nature of piety and impiety with greater clarity than most Athenians. To be pious is to honor and respect the gods, and to do so earns the love of the gods. It is clear Socrates does not meet these criteria for numerous reasons, however, one is particularly prominent: Socrates challenged the oracle by actively trying to refute the Pythia’s prophecy regarding him. Socrates himself presented this information, and considering his story does not particularly aid his defense against the charges raised against him, it is surely true. “[Chaerephon] went to Delphi at one time and ventured to ask the oracle . . . if any man was wiser than [Socrates], and the Pythian replied that no one was wiser” (Plato, The Apology, §21a). The words of the oracle are inspired by Apollo; therefore, Socrates is the wisest man among us. Only truth may flow through the oracle. Socrates told us how he reacted to this news, “. . . I very reluctantly turned to some such investigation as this; I went to one of those reputed wise, thinking that there, if anywhere, I could refute the oracle and say to it: ‘This man is wiser than I, but you …show more content…
Surely, this thesis presents, Socrates has performed a greater sum of pious actions to offset these few misdemeanors. And who are we, other mortals, to judge one man’s mistake, having likely commit impious deeds ourselves? Clearly, we consider ourselves to be pious Athenians to wrestle with this case. The flaw in this argument is in the significance of Socrates’ actions. Everyday actions of mortals will occasionally be impious without the knowledge of the actor; Socrates possessed the knowledge of his defiance as he enacted his quest. That is the key difference separating small transgressions towards the gods and open acts of