How Did Socrates Corrupt Youth

In the court of Athens, Socrates was being tried for allegedly corrupting the youth, according to Meletus. Socrates argued that his corruption of the youth was done unintentionally and that there was no malicious intent in the conversations he had with them. Athens was a democratic state in which the people were able to think and speak freely. It will be argued that Socrates was not corrupting the youth because everyone in society has the potential to corrupt the youth. The analysis of this paper is that in a democratic society, you have the freedom to believe in what is deemed to be right or wrong and it is unfeasible for one singular person to influence a whole community. Meletus states that everyone in Athens has a positive influence on the youth except for Socrates. He is absolutely surprised that one believes that a singular person could influence all of the youth of Athens, and if that was the case, they were lucky because that would mean the rest of Athens is a good influence on the youth and therefore, they shouldn’t be so corrupt if it’s only Socrates that’s allegedly doing so. In reality, he spoke freely to those who were willing to listen and whether the people chose to believe it or not, was not up to him. What the youth of Athens did with the information given was up to them. Socrates uses the example of horses and their trainers: “Is it everybody who improves them, while a single person spoils them? Or isn’t the opposite true: a single …show more content…
Being a democratic state, he spoke freely, with no malicious intent, to those who would listen. He had no intention in corrupting the youth, he was simply engaging in thoughtful conversation meant to help better his community. It is unlikely that a single person would have such a negative effect on a group of people and if it is, the wrongdoings were due to