1
Socrates started the spread of a completely new way of thinking that contrasted with
everything the powerful Athenian government was built upon. Consequently the government put
Socrates to trial, at which his closest pupil and follower, Plato, was present. Though the
Athenian government sentenced Socrates to death for his philosophical teachings, as described in
Plato’s Apology, his unique methods spread like wildfire, unifying the Mediterranean, Western
Europe, and the Middle East. His followers attempted to keep his philosophy alive, inspiring
many people and in turn even reforming and spreading Græco-Roman culture much farther than
Athens.
Born near and raised in Athens, one would think that Socrates would have abided by the
Athenian law and not questioned anything, as most people living there. This was not the case.
Socrates was born in 469 B.C., and once he matured, he matured outside of the Athenian
government’s ideas. He married and had three sons, but spent most of his time philosophizing.
He was often seen outside, on the streets of Athens, contemplating life’s big questions.1 This he
did not do alone for his philosophy was to ask questions; therefore he confronted quite a large
amount of people in his lifetime. The questions he asked would be deep and meaningful and for
which he himself did not know the answers, but the whole point of asking was to stretch the
mind and find new angles from which to see things.2 These angles have changed the culture of
the Græco-Romans by introducing something so far different from what was normal. Though
this way of seeing things would make their culture much more advanced and widespread than
any other, the government was extremely reluctant to accept it. As Socrates traversed around
Athens talking to and questioning people, almost all were baffled by his questions and did not
delve any deeper in their thoughts once he was gone. These people were just irritated because
1
Pavlac, Brian. Supremacies and Diversities: a Review of Western Civilization (Wilkes-Barre: Zelbstdrook
Press, 2006) 48.
2
The World Book Encyclopedia, “Socrates.” (Chicago: World Book Inc., 2004), 567.
2
Socrates interfered with whatever they were doing at the time.3 Thankfully though, Socrates
gained a few followers who he proceeded to teach on a daily basis, and who usually consisted of
young men. His most renowned followers include Plato and Xenophon.
Plato, who was Socrates’ closest pupil, and who was present at Socrates’ trial and
sentencing, wrote The Apology of Socrates to explain to the public what Socrates’ argument was
and what he stood for. Since Socrates never wrote or taught from any books, people must rely
on such works from Plato and other students of his.4 These writings not only teach people what
actually happened, but give people insight on how Socrates felt on certain issues - not what the
Athenian government accused him of doing. Being a student of Socrates, Plato was also from
Athens. He was born in 427 B.C. into an already well known Athenian family. Plato was at first
interested in politics, but was turned away from it by witnessing unfair trials; ironically not
unlike the trial of his mentor Socrates.5 All of Plato’s works regarding Socrates were written in
the dialogue that was spoken between Socrates and his subjects, except for The Apology of
Socrates. Being the only non-dialogue, there is much argument on whether or not it reflects the
truth, but many critics believe it was just an artistic way of describing such a horrid thing as the
death sentencing of Plato’s own mentor.6 Another reason as to why there is much dispute over
the correctness of the source is that it was written 10 years after the event actually happened.
What quickly clears up this dispute is that there were a total of 500 jurors of the Athenian
government at the trial, not to mention the many bystanders present.7 Though writing all of these
books spread the Græco-Roman culture throughout the land, there is yet another unavoidable
World Book, “Socrates.” 567. (2 sentences)
World Book, “Socrates.” 567.
5
The World Book Encyclopedia, “Plato.” (Chicago: World Book Inc., 2004), 567. (2 sentences)
6
Shukov, V.A., “An Apology for Socrates’s Freethinking.” Russian Studies in Philosophy 42, No. 1
(Summer 2003) 48.
7
Millett, Paul, “The Trial of Socrates Revisited.” European Review of History 12 No. 1 (March 2005) 25. (2
sentences)
3
4
3
thing that happened to Plato and his fellow students that extended their knowledge. Socrates’
pupils were forced to leave Athens after his sentencing. Though this is not what the
government’s plan was intended for, this greatly helped the spread of philosophy and GræcoRoman culture because these followers continued to defend Socrates’ teachings and ways of
living. One more attempt at broadening this whole new culture pioneered by Socrates was also
made by Plato when he attempted traveling to Sicily multiple times.8 This did not work out as
well as he had hoped; unlike his books and his more local traveling that gathered more
supporters and made the culture well on its way to unifying the Mediterranean, Western Europe,
and the Middle East.
One obviously strict non-supporter of the now-famous philosopher was the Athenian
government and the slight 280 to 221 majority of the jurors at Socrates’ trial and sentencing. It
was only a small majority of the jury that voted for Socrates’ death sentence, but the intense
democracy of the Athenian government was based on a strict majority rule on any situation.9
Socrates was accused of corrupting the youth by teaching them to not believe in the Greek gods
– completely opposing the Greek government’s foundation, structure, and laws.10 Unfortunately
these accusations were not true, and Socrates did not feel it was his duty to prove this to the
judge and jurors.11 Apology is Greek for defense, and this is exactly what he was doing – he was
defending his stance on the situation.12 He expressed to the government that Athens needed to
turn in his direction and accept his ideas of questioning things, and freedom of thought and
speech. All Socrates believed in was examining life and not falling under the absurd idea of
8
Shukov, V.A., 62-63.
Long, Roderick T., “The Athenian Constitution: Government by jury and Referendum.” Formulations
(Autumn 1996) “Athens: A Neglected Model”.
10
Pavlac, Brian, 48.
11
Shukov, V.A, 56.
12
Millett, Paul, 24.
9
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praising gods for which there no proof of existence.13 He did not want people to just live; he
wanted people to expand their minds and live in thought, where new ideas could arise and
improvements on culture could come about. This is what would soon be referred to as the
“Socratic Method”. The government would not hear any of this, especially because many of
Socrates’ comments mocked the foundation and beliefs of the Athenian government. One of the
government’s biggest fears that affected the trial was that Socrates would become a tyrant, and
the whole form of politics would be ruined.14 They misunderstood the philosopher though;
Socrates just wanted a reform, an improvement, an advancement. Socrates did not fear death,
and in his mockery, he made sure the government was aware of that. The philosopher especially
did not fear his sentence because he believed that life was not worth living if one did not search
for meaning and truths.15 Socrates emphasizes his point by making an allusion in his apology to
Thetis, who would have rather died than lived with a betrayal to what he really believed in.16
With this allusion, Socrates tries to explain to the government where he is coming from. He
even told the government that if they did not condemn him, he would not stop educating people
and encouraging them to use their knowledge.17 This inspired many people to continue on with
his beliefs and to extend this reach further to even more governments and cultures throughout the
surrounding regions. Even though his ideas were not accepted by the government, and his
mockery got him condemned, the spread of what was becoming the new and improved culture
moved on.
13
Pavlac, Brian, 49.
Long, Roderick T., “Ostracism”.
15
Goldman, Harvey S., “Reexamining the ‘Examined Life’ in Plato’s Apology of Socrates.” The
Philosophical Forum XXXV No. 1 (Spring 2004): 2.
16
Plato, “Apology.” Page By Page Books, 2004,
<http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Plato/Apology/APOLOGY_p9.html> (15 September 2006).
17
Millet, Paul, 24.
14
5
As Socrates’ new ideas on how a government should rule spread, they became the
epitome of Græco-Roman culture and how people identified with it. The culture that spread to
unify the three aforementioned areas was not what the Athenian government was built upon, but
was in fact based on the new ideas and principals that Socrates brought about with his fervent
apology. He tried to amend the government’s mistake of sticking with the tradition of religious
convention by only suggesting that it change its policies with the change of the times. People
derive more knowledge over time, and the government was just sticking to what age old
knowledge gave it. It was not stretching its capabilities on how to rule and be fair to the
common person, and Socrates was just calling the government out on this flaw. Even though the
government did not change its method of rule immediately, the culture was reformed into
humanism. This constitutes residents deciding on laws according to the way things are at the
time, not how life was when the original laws came about.18 This attracted many people from all
over and began the forming of a new unification of the neighboring regions. This was a
revelation not only in Athens, but in all places, namely the Mediterranean, Western Europe, and
the Middle East.
Being a man that pulled away from the religious traditions of the Athenian government,
one would think it is tremendously ironic that Socrates is referred to as a martyr.19 This may
very well be for the fact that he pioneered a completely new outlook for the whole of GræcoRoman culture. With the help of Plato and many other scholars, Socrates’ teachings reached out
far and wide throughout the Mediterranean, Western Europe, and the Middle East. His attitude
on life and unapologetic mockery of his court case, as depicted in The Apology, paved the way
for many citizens ready to break free of the controlling Athenian government. Picking up where
18
19
Pavlac, Brian, 49.
Shukov, V.A., 49.
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Socrates left off, this wide range of people adopted his views and brought together these three
large regions. Had Socrates not made this outstanding and empowering speech (and had Plato
not written about it), the Mediterranean, Western Europe, and the Middle East may never have
been joined into such a universally accepting and tolerant Græco-Roman based culture.
7
Bibliography
Goldman, Harvey S. “Reexamining the ‘Examined Life’ in Plato’s Apology of Socrates.” The
Philosophical Forum. XXXV, No. 1 (Spring 2004).
Long, Roderick T. “The Athenian Constitution: Government by Jury and Referendum.”
LewRockwell.com. 21 June 2004. <http://www.lewrockwell.com/long/long8.html> (7
October 2006).
Millett, Paul. “The Trial of Socrates Revisited.” European Review of History 12, No. 1 (March
2005): 23-62.
Pavlac, Brian. “The Trial of the Greeks.” Supremacies and Diversities: a Review of Western
Civilization. Wilkes-Barre, PA: Zelbstdrook Press, 2006.
Plato. “Apology.” Page By Page Books. 2004.
<http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Plato/Apology/APOLOGY_p9.html> (15 September
2006).
Shukov, V.A. “An Apology for Socrates’s Freethinking.” Russian Studies in Philosophy 42, No.
1 (Summer 2003): 48-65.
Taylor, Quentin P. “The Last Day of Socrates: An Invitation to Philosophy.” The Midwest
Quarterly. 42, Issue 1 (Autumn 2000): 20-32.
The World Book Encyclopedia. “Plato.” World Book Inc. Chicago, IL ©2004: 567-569 (21
September 2006).
The World Book Encyclopedia. “Socrates.” World Book Inc. Chicago, IL ©2004: 567-568. (21
September 2006).