Plato's Apology: The Trial Of Socrates

If a person could go back in time to witness an incredible event in history where should they go? It would have to be something that has a lot of significance for them. One of the most significant incidents in history was Socrates trial in 399 BCE. His trial’s outcome has led to our knowledge of virtue and living a good life as it is known today. He is considered the father of western philosophy, and his prodigies would spread his beliefs and wisdom around the world. Socrates’ most famous student was Plato, and he wrote the Apology which is the recording of Socrates’ defense in his trial and the outcome from his conviction of charges. There are many perceptions of what happened and what he meant with his actions in his defense. Socrates was …show more content…
“If, in claiming that he is innocent of the charge, Socrates does tell the truth, then those jurors who thereupon convict him of impiety and corruption, and subsequently sentence him to death, have failed in their duty to judge rightly” (Blyth 1). The jury consisted of many sophists, and their hatred of Socrates and his actions might have misguided their judgment in sentencing Socrates correctly. Socrates was trying to prove that his allegations were charged against him not because they were true, but because they were tired of his antics and wanted him gone. Many people had said that they just wanted him gone, but if he was telling the truth he proved that he should not die for what they charged him for. “The possibility thus emerges that Socrates has treated the legal proceedings all along as a moral test, or trial, of the empaneled jurors themselves, to see whether they are capable of the legal function to which they have been allotted” (Blyth 2). The jurors cannot let emotions or past excursions cloud their judgement, and that is what Socrates is trying to prove. By testing the jury using his knowledge of virtue and justice and comparing it to theirs he shows that the jurors have already made presumptions about what they should conclude about him. They have already made up their minds about what the outcome of his trial should be. Socrates wanted to test the jurors of their abilities and their character to see if they would give him a fair trial. He tests their character in his defense because he believed that they were not going to treat him fairly based on their past beliefs to see if they would let that misguide them. The jurors failed the test because more jurors voted for his death than his guilt, which proves that they had their minds set before the trial that they just wanted him