Defense Of Socrates Essay

For every teacher one may have, there is always a wiser teacher. Socrates is the wiser teacher to the city state of Athens. Socrates is a man who has been teaching his ways of questioning to students for over 25 years in the Agora. People have created accusations such as corrupting the youth and in not believing the gods. Why have Socrates put on trial now? At Socrates's trial, both the defense and prosecution have provided strong evidence, but the prosecution was not as strong as the defense. From the defense side, you'd hear from Plato who is Socrates's most notable student, Crito who is a lifelong friend of Socrates, and finally Aristophones who is a famous playwright and wrote The Clouds. Socrates is charged with not believing in the gods. …show more content…
One of Socrates’s lifelong friends, Crito, gave a testimony at the trial which proves that Socrates did not fully hate, maybe dislike, but did not hate the democracy and had respect for it and its rules. Crito was taught by Socrates later in their friendship to not retaliate or render evil to anyone no matter what the other may have done. Socrates later went on to say how he has no desire to interrupt the process of law which has brought him to trial. During Crito’s testimony, he said how he offered Socrates the chance to escape and from there he'd get on a boat and go to Delos where he'd be free. Socrates declines the offer for he feared what would happen to the people who'd help him escape. Socrates also went on to say how he believed that the truth will set him free and believed that it’s important to follow the laws of Athens and to allow justice to be served. Charmides, one of Socrates’s students, was on the prosecution side and Charmides, as well as many others, accused Socrates of hating the democracy. However, in the statement given by Crito and Socrates, Charmides’s accusation is proven false. Yes, Socrates may not have cared or fully agreed with the democracy, but still followed the laws and respected