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Essay
Scene of Plato’s Apology
There is no doubt that Plato’s Apology is the most famous piece of English literature. It is also the most admired text in the history of world literature. It is interesting to note that Plato did not converse anything even he did not witness the trial of Socrates as well. In Plato’s apology, there has been portrayed a scene where Socrates is defending himself and is standing for a trial in the court of Athens. By taking a look at the title, scene could be predicted as it is making a sense of justification. Another major thing that could be seen in the title is that statement given by Socrates showed no regret or sorrow. The scene that has been depicted in Plato's Apology is of speech that Socrates delivers at the time of his trial when he got charged with blasphemy.
The charge put against him was that he did not recognize the gods that were worshiped by the state and general public. Plato's Apology depicts the scene of the death of Socrates when he decides to drink the hemlock. This scene shows that three accusers came with charges against Socrates, where he is in front of the jury and is given the opportunity to prove his innocence. By taking a look at the scene and his arguments that he proposed against jury, it could be said that he was the one who accepted death but did not deny what he said or did.
Charges against Socrates
Socrates was one of the most famous Greek philosophers and he is best known for saying "knowing nothing". Another thing for which Socrates is best known is that he drank a cup of the poison hemlock. He was sentenced to death for a capital offense. There could be witnessed two main charges that were put against Socrates. First and the main charge is that he was accused of asebeia against the pantheon of Athens, which means that he did not pay respect to the gods of that time that were recognized and worshiped by the Athenian state. Blasphemy has always been a matter of great concern for people as it questions belief of all the rest who had been following set traditions since ages.
Second main charge put against Socrates was that he tried to corrupt the youth of Athens morally. He was the one who inculcated in youth a sense of raising questions against things before accepting and practicing them. Both the charges that were put against Socrates were impious. The first charge was more severe and was considered as a kind of blasphemy. It was believed that he failed to acknowledge the old gods that were worshiped by states. Rather accepting gods, he tried to introduce new deities and this was a totally unacceptable matter for the Athenian court and general public. Both charges that had been put against Socrates were because of his nature of questioning everything. He was sentenced to death as he questioned the authorities about their spirituality and it was the most sensitive matter against which they were not willing to tolerate any question that would be raising questions in the minds of youngsters regarding spirituality.
Defense of the charges
By taking a look at the scene of Socrates trail that is being depicted by Plato in his Plato’s Apology, it could be said that Socrates’ defense was one of the most impressive defenses that could ever be witnessed in the world. Defense of Socrates was quite unique as he tried to convince the jury that he was innocent and a man of average knowledge who knows nothing. He was not at all afraid of death and was just depicting how clear, clever and tenacious he was about his claims. He defended himself in best ways by saying that he doesn't morally corrupt the Athenian youth as he does not want to stay with such people who would be distracted easily. Further, he said that he doesn't want to stay with those who got corrupt. His self-defense was quite unique as he despite having any regret, was trying to convince the jury and all those who were present in court at that time. He told everyone that he never had any experience with the court so he is going to say everything true.
This defense could be called a real defense as in the trail; Socrates never showed that he at any point was asking for apology. He was not at all guilty of what he did; rather he supported things that he did with clear logic and valid reasons as his conduct was not at all apologizing. He supported his defense by explaining that his behavior is stem with the prophecy that was made by oracle at Delphi that there is no man who is smarter than him. His defense was little different than other defenses as it could be seen that despite convincing the jury in his favor, he also questions their justice system. All the points and claims that he proposed were based on true grounds and sound basis. He defended himself by claiming that he never tried to corrupt youth rather he always guided them as a paid teacher. He defended himself against both the charges by talking on some solid grounds that actually convinced the jury but it was bound to give punishment to him so that they could keep intact their conventions.
Reflection
There is no doubt that Socrates was at right as it could be seen that he was the one who supported his claims and defended himself with logic. He succeeded in delivering his points to the jury and this was his real success. As far as his innocence is concerned it could be said that he could not prove himself innocent in front of the jury and accepted the punishment to drink hemlock. It is quite obvious that if he had succeeded in proving his innocence then he would not have to drink the hemlock that he actual took (Kessler,et,al,1992). There are various reasons why he could not prove his innocence. One of the main reasons is that he really doesn't want to live among people where no one has the right to ask questions about things that used to confuse them. Another reason why he could not prove his innocence is that he believed, it is much better to suffer injustice than doing unjust to others as denying truth is just like being unjust with one’s own self.
Socrates was unsuccessful for proving his innocence because there was no expression of regret and apology as for him, he was right. Living in a democratic state means everyone has the right to do and believe whatever one wants to. He remained unsuccessful and could not prove his innocence as he was the one who always wanted to explore more and more by raising questions and he is the one who used to question all the phenomena’s and believes that they were practicing for long. He could not prove his innocence because both the charges that were put against him were true. He used to question why he has to worship the gods that were recognized by the state. This thing must be kept in consideration that he was the one who challenged the conventional society and its traditions.
Work Cited
Kessler, Gary E. Voices of wisdom: A multicultural philosophy reader. Wadsworth, 1992.
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