Plato, Apology (399 BCE)
This is Socrates¹ famous
defense of his career. (The Greek
word apologia originally
meant ³defense speech.²) This speech falls a bit more than 30 years after
Pericles¹ Funeral Oration in Thucydides. Both speeches make a point of their
absolute sincerity, as opposed to the false embroidery found in many
orations. But it¹s worth noting
that the rejection of falsehood and insistence on sincerity is itself
³rhetorical.²
The numbers in
parentheses below, such as (17a-19a), refer to the pages in the original printing of the Greek text of
Plato by Henri Estienne--or Stephanus- in 1578. These are universally used in the margins of Plato texts,
whatever the language, facilitating location of passages in the original or in
translation.
We get a good dose of
one famous trait of Socrates in
this speech: Socratic irony:
³feigned ignorance, and feigned belief that one's interlocutor knows the
truth about something, in order to provoke discussion and advance the search
for truth.² (http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socratic_irony) Try to find at least two examples of
this trait.
Introduction
(17a-19a)
Compare Socrates¹
comments on the law with those of Pericles at the beginning of the Funeral
Speech. How do they agree? How to they differ?
The Charges Against
Socrates (19b-29b)
Accusations
against Socrates (19b-20c).
It is important to get these down:
Old slanders (found in
the play, The Clouds, by the
comic poet Aristophanes)
Studies things in the
sky
Makes the worse the
better argument
Teaches these things to
others (At 19c-20c he distinguishes himself from the Sophists, who took fees
for their teaching note also references to fees at 31b,33b)
(Compare Meletus¹
charges at 24b, below)
Socrates¹
quest for knowledge (20c-23b)
What
did the Delphic Oracle do to motivate this quest?
Socrates
describes his interrogation of politicians, poets and craftsmen and his
conclusion about his own mission on earth (23b). What is this mission?
Socrates¹
educational mission (23c-24a)
Interrogation
of Meletus (24a-27e)
Meletus¹ charges (24b)
Socrates corrupts the
youth,
does not believe in the
gods in whom the city believes,
but in other new
spiritual things
Corrupting
the youth (24c-26b)
Who
else corrupts them? (24c-25c)
Why
should Socrates corrupt them? (25c-26b)
Not
believing in gods (26c-27d)
Note
that Meletus seems to shift position between 24b and 26c: not believing in gods
the city worships is not the same as not believing in any gods.
This
deliberation on demigods, ³bastard children of the gods,² leads to the mention
of mules (27e) and then of the demigod Achilles (28c)
Note the word that
provides the fulcrum for this transition:
³Are you not ashamedŠ?²) Suddenly we¹re talking about
Achilles! Why?
Socrates reviews his
record as an infantryman (28d).
How is warfare similar to philosophy? Note the statement: "this is what the god orders me to
do." (30a)
At 29cd, Socrates
imagines the jurors delivering acquittal, with the proviso that he no longer
practice philosophy. Compare
Socrates¹ refusal here to the refusal of Achilles to accept gifts in Iliad Book
9. What points of similarity do
you notice?
And now, he introduces a
new word: the soul (29e,
30b). Why is this word important?
Socrates
now moves from his ³defense² to a statement of the benefits he¹s brought as the
gadfly appointed by god to awaken the city. (30d)
Now
Socrates defends the life he¹s chosen (avoiding public affairs). He gives examples of his
conscience-driven votes against both democratic (32b) and oligarchic (32c)
governments, and says that a ³divine or spiritual sign² protected him from
political participation. (31d)
Socrates¹
companions (33c-34b)
Socrates¹
family (34b-35)
Refusal
to resort to courtroom strategy of seeking sympathy: must teach, not
supplicate.
The
verdict (35d)
Sentencing (35e-38c)
Socrates,
proposes that the state maintain him at public expense, for his services. as a public benefactor, should live in
the prytaneion (35e-37b)
Sentencing (death) (39b)
Socrates
on death (38c-42a)
Why isn¹t he scared to
die?
Based in part on:
Http://plato-dialogues.org/tetra_3/apology/plan.htm
Other useful comments on
this speech:
http://www.stier.net/teaching/ih51/notes/apology_chart.asp
http://www.stier.net/teaching/ih51/notes/Apology.htm