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Defense of Socrates

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Defense of Socrates
Apology: Defence Of Socrates
By: Gregory Klima

Apology Defense Of Socrates
Plato 's The Apology is an account of the speech Socrates makes at the trial in which he is charged with the following
1) Not recognizing the gods recognized by the state
2) Corrupting the youth of Athens For the most part, Socrates spoke in a very plain, conversational manner, as one would speak to a friend or lecture a child. He explained that he has no experience with courts and demeanor that comes with , he states that he will instead speak in the manner to which he is accustomed: with honesty and directness. He explains that his behavior is from a prophecy by the oracle at Delphi, which claimed that he was the wisest of all men, one that he was reluctant to accept. Recognizing his ignorance in most affairs, Socrates concluded that he must be wiser than other men only by accepting that he knows nothing. This in some people’s eyes have given him a slightly boastful tone and demeanor, although I think that it was the way he carried himself being very direct. This is from what he said when he first addressed the court by saying “None of you should expect anything to be put differently, because it would not, of course, be at all fitting at my age, gentlemen, to come before you with an artificial speeches, such as might be composed by a young lad”. I think that this shows exactly how the rest of the case will go and in the manner he will address the court. The first charge he must confront is with not recognizing the gods recognized by the state, he approaches this with a relation to Aristophanes ' comedy. In which a character named Socrates, "swings around, claims to be walking on air, and talks a lot of other nonsense on subjects of which I have no understanding, great or small", (Socrates, Paragraph 9). He even denotes that people often call him a busybody, in that "He inquires into what is beneath the earth and in the sky, turns the weaker arguments into the stronger, and



Bibliography: Plato, G. M. A. Grube, and John M. Cooper. The Trial and Death of Socrates: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Death Scene from Phaedo. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Pub., 2000. Print. "Socrates on Trial:." Google Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 May 2013.

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