Beginning the Defense of Socrates from the Apology

Taylor Gonzalez

Rhetoric 103A

GSI: Kuan Hwa

Beginning the Defense of Socrates from the Apology

            In Plato’s account of Socrates’ trial, we read of the accused as he attempts to defend himself in a court of law, a place that he seemed to greatly despise during his life. Socrates begins his defense of himself against allegations of corruption of the Athenian youth among other charges by explaining how he will go about presenting his defense. He states, “And first, I have to reply to the older charges and to my first accusers, and then I will go to the later ones. For I have had many accusers, who accused me of old, and their false charges have continued during many years; and I am more afraid of them than of Anytus and his associates, who are dangerous, too, in their own way.” Here we will see Socrates begin his defense by explaining how the deck is stacked against him and that in fact, his accusers have done more to corrupt than he has.

            In this second paragraph of the Apology, Socrates explains how he has been greatly mischaracterized by his accusers of old and how their harsh words against him have made the odds greatly out of his favor in this trial. He says, “But far more dangerous are these, who began when you were children, and took possession of your minds with their falsehoods, telling of one Socrates, a wise man, who speculated about the heaven above, and searched into the earth beneath, and made the worse appear the better cause.” Socrates is trying to assert that the accusations levied against him have essentially made him out to be some sort of Boogey Man creature; one who has the power to mislead young people into questioning the gods and believing that evil is good. He is saying that the elders of Athens who have made such claims against him have been telling ghost stories, trying to scare the next generation away from trusting Socrates.

In the same way, Socrates continues, “…they made them in days when you were impressible - in childhood, or perhaps in youth - and the cause when heard went by default, for there was none to answer.” Their tales have shaped the minds of those in the court against him. No one made a case in his defense in the days of these ancient accusations. These stories of a corrupt man were told to impressionable youth, so why would they question authorities about the validity of their claims? Socrates is claiming that the authorities of old have abused their position and have corrupted these youth who are now citizens of Athens. The people in the court have grown up hearing nothing but ill of Socrates and thus, are set against him from the very start.

Socrates is gently making the case that those who have raised up this new generation of Athens, and thus the new accusations, are corrupters of minds in favor of their own ideas. He describes that, “…there are some of them who are convinced themselves, and impart their convictions to others…” These ancient indicters have spouted their lies about Socrates for so long that they are convinced that it is the truth. They then have impressed their corrupted beliefs onto their children and others in Athens. Here Socrates is further trying to turn the tables to say that he is not the nefarious monster that they make him out to be, but in fact they are the fraudulent ones in Athenian society.

Finally, Socrates concludes this section with “…my opponents are of two kinds - one recent, the other ancient; and I hope that you will see the propriety of my answering the latter first, for these accusations you heard long before the others, and much oftener.” The point of Socrates indicating the corruption of his ancient accusers is to be able to discredit the more recent opponents he has acquired. He has said multiple times that those present in the court have been indoctrinated against him since the time of their youth. He starts with his ancient accusers in order to make an effort at explaining that the contemporary opponents have begun from a place of prejudice against him. By breaking down the charges brought against him by the ancient opponents, he can certainly poke holes in the premises of the new band of accusers.

The Apology of Socrates is often looked at in terms of the main arguments that Socrates makes in his defense. These are the obvious arguments that he is making; the ones where readers can clearly see an argument being made, but even from the very beginning of his defense, Socrates is making arguments. He presents the idea that he is standing trial by the products of his ancient accusers. He has been slandered since before most of those in the court were born. Socrates presents the idea that the ancient accusers have corrupted the minds of those putting him on trial. He has been made to look like a monster, when in fact; it is the hatefulness of the ancient accusers that is monstrous. The new set of accusers will bring charges against him, but those charges are deeply clouded by the falsehoods of their elders.