Last Days Of Socrates
Plato. The . London: Penguin Books Ltd., 1993
Imagine the time just after the death of Socrates. The people of Athens were filled with questions about the final judgment of this well-known, long-time citizen of Athens. Socrates was accused at the end of his life of impiety and corruption of youth. Rumors, prejudices, and questions flew about the town. Plato experienced this situation when Socrates, his teacher and friend, accepted the ruling of death from an Athenian court. In The , Plato uses Socrates’ own voice to explain the reasons that Socrates, though innocent in Plato’s view, was convicted and why Socrates did not escape his punishment as offered by the court. The writings, ...
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state and individual and society have impacted the past and are still concerns that are with us today.
While Plato is writing to prove Socrates a good or respectable person, he allows the modern reader a glimpse into Athenian culture. We see that religion is held in very high regard and failing to serve a religion is punishable by death, no matter what one’s social or political stature. In “Euthyphro,” the reader learns that sometimes an Interpreter is consulted when dealing with certain criminal behavior. Also, we realize that the Athenians regard a son accusing a father of a crime, no matter what the charge, as very odd and of great annoyance to the family. I believe this is still true today. Family loyalty is considered, in some cases, more important than the laws of the country. One example is the crime families that operate in the country. These families are known to be patriotic, but their patriotism stops when family and money are involved. In “The Apology,” the ...
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know the answers to these questions. Thus, Plato writes about Socrates’ confusion about the charges about impiety, his defense, and his sense of duty to his city’s laws in a way that is designed to make Socrates seem appealing to the Athenian people. While accomplishing this goal, Plato almost defines the relationship between the individual and the society and the relation of state and religion.
The first topic discussed is Socrates’ confusion about the charges of impiety in “Euthyphro”. In this first scene, Socrates and Euthyphro are waiting to enter court. As they stand outside, the two men fall into discussion. Socrates questions Euthyphro, a man who claims to know the details of ...
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