each other and to make clear to each other whatever we desire.. “
-Socrates
The Apology, written by Plato talks about the trial of Socrates his mentor before the Athenians. This is where he answers all the accusations given against him by his accusers which he divided into two, the recent and the present. But the trial was just a front of what the Athenians think was Socrates fault to them, living his life the way he wanted. At first, he answers all the accusations. Then at the last part, he says that whatever the decision would be that he is not afraid to die.
For me, I think that he defended himself well, if that was what he really wanted because of how great a speaker he was. And I also think that this is the reason why he was sentenced to death. What amazed me was how he did the “Socratic Dialogue”, a way of questioning in where one would get the answers he wanted. I think that in order to do this one needs to have great knowledge, especially when unprepared.
What I don’t agree with what he said was that it would be better to accept death than disgrace. With death everything ends; life, triumphs, despair, sorrow and disgrace itself. But death also ends the chance; the chance of redeeming one’s self from disgrace.
After this, I realized that I must be logical in reasoning in order to be believable. In his words, Socrates showed how being rational could help him defend himself and prove that what he was saying was true. He was sentenced to death not because of him and his actions but because of the Athenians own reasons.
Van Bryan Bergado
