The Apology And Interpretation Of The Trial Of Socrates

The Apology is Plato s account and interpretation of the trial of Socrates (399 BC). When the Thirty Tyrants were ruling Athens, Socrates was asked by them to help capture Leon of Salamis, a wealthy man. This arrest was to be made simply because Leon was a just Democrat and the Tyrants wanted to take his huge estate for themselves. Socrates disobeyed these orders hence why he was later executed as a traitor of Athens. Meletus was the man who then brought Socrates before a jury for prosecution. Socrates pleaded innocent in his trial. Similarly, several arguments are used to support the idea that he was innocent and should not have been executed. In his argument for his innocence, Socrates poses his defense before the jury as shown by†¦show more content†¦He made people think he was smarter than everyone else, and that he would always argue better than they could. Moreover, he always aimed at embarrassing people with tough arguments rather than trying to educate or correct them. In this specific argument with Euthyphro, he tries to understand the meaning of holiness, although his state of mind is to show his companion that he always wins in arguments. To begin with, Socrates asks for the meaning of holiness. Euthyphro responds by stating that holiness is what he is doing; prosecuting the wrongdoer even if it is his own father. However, Socrates is not satisfied with this answer and pins down the argument by adding that there are more holy things and that it is an ex ample not a definition. Socrates’ way of arguing with people always led to heated debates, and most people usually walked away from him. He was always a nuisance when it came to explaining matters involving doing things the way that they were done. Just as he argued with Euthyphro, he did the same with the Tyrants. They had issued a command that he should help in the arrest Leon, the Democrat. It was highly likely that Socrates would oppose this move as he was always against what people did as long as he was not satisfied. He found no reason to go after Leon and did not trouble himself with answering to the Tyrants’ call for Leon’s execution because Socrates believed