The Apology Analysis
John Hoogerhyde
In the beginning of this section of Apology of Socrates, the jurors find Socrates guilty by a 281 to 220 vote. Socrates begins his next speech by revealing that he is not grieved by this decision, and that he is surprised only by the ratio of guilty to innocent votes, thinking the majority would have been against him. He tells the audience that the proposed penalty is death, yet he does not feel that is fair in his belief that he had never wronged anyone. He believed that what he was doing was a job given to him by God, and that he was instilling, or attempting to instill, the seeking of wisdom and virtue that he thought led a man to righteousness. Socrates then lists all the possible alternatives for penalty, being a fine, imprisonment, or exile. He follows these alternatives with reasons against these, being that he has no money, does not wish to be the slave to magistrates in prison, and will only continue his practices and be exiled at each new place he travels, in that he will not cease his tongue as it would be a disobedience to God. The jurors then vote to condemn Socrates to death, and he retaliates with the stating that he would never act as they wanted him to in order to receive acquittal, and that he would rather be true to himself and die for it. He further explains that he is convinced that death cannot be evil, for the oracle did oppose him from saying any one thing during his trial, as it normally does when something Socrates is about to make an error or slip in any way. Additionally, death can be of two beneficial things, a state of nothingness and unconsciousness compared to a sound sleep, or the migration of the soul to from this world to another, in which Socrates can question and be amongst the heroes of the Greek history. Socrates finishes by asking the jury for one last favor, being that when Socrates sons grow up, he asks for them to be punished if they ever value riches or anything other than virtue, and pretend
In the beginning of this section of Apology of Socrates, the jurors find Socrates guilty by a 281 to 220 vote. Socrates begins his next speech by revealing that he is not grieved by this decision, and that he is surprised only by the ratio of guilty to innocent votes, thinking the majority would have been against him. He tells the audience that the proposed penalty is death, yet he does not feel that is fair in his belief that he had never wronged anyone. He believed that what he was doing was a job given to him by God, and that he was instilling, or attempting to instill, the seeking of wisdom and virtue that he thought led a man to righteousness. Socrates then lists all the possible alternatives for penalty, being a fine, imprisonment, or exile. He follows these alternatives with reasons against these, being that he has no money, does not wish to be the slave to magistrates in prison, and will only continue his practices and be exiled at each new place he travels, in that he will not cease his tongue as it would be a disobedience to God. The jurors then vote to condemn Socrates to death, and he retaliates with the stating that he would never act as they wanted him to in order to receive acquittal, and that he would rather be true to himself and die for it. He further explains that he is convinced that death cannot be evil, for the oracle did oppose him from saying any one thing during his trial, as it normally does when something Socrates is about to make an error or slip in any way. Additionally, death can be of two beneficial things, a state of nothingness and unconsciousness compared to a sound sleep, or the migration of the soul to from this world to another, in which Socrates can question and be amongst the heroes of the Greek history. Socrates finishes by asking the jury for one last favor, being that when Socrates sons grow up, he asks for them to be punished if they ever value riches or anything other than virtue, and pretend