Apology Summary

In Plato’s Apology, a man named Socrates is being persecuted and The Apology takes place at his trial. Socrates feels there are two offenses in which he is be persecuted for.

The first offenses are derived from rumors. Socrates is accused of studying things in the sky and below the earth, of making the worse arguments into stronger arguments, and of teaching these things to others. These all are peoples’ perception of Socrates because his whole life he has gone around trying to find people wiser than him which ultimately he does not find. Through this process he displeases a lot of people and points out their flaws. Socrates feels he is wiser because he knows what he does not know whereas the rest of the people who think they are wise actually are not because they think they know what they do not know.

The second offenses are the legal accusations from Meletus, Anytus, and Lycon. These second offenses are derived from the first offenses. Because of what Socrates does, many people dislike him and this leads to these second charges. He is accused of corrupting the young as well as not believing in the Gods in whom the city believes in, but rather new spiritual things.

Therefore, it is Socrates goal to defend himself against these different charges. He tells the audience that he will speak with them through his everyday conversation and that he will not try and bring pity upon the jury by bringing in his family to beg for forgiveness. Instead, he wants to fairly convince and explain why he is innocent of these charges.

Socrates begins by defending the first charges which he feels are the real charges. These first offenses are the reason the second charges exist. He talks about his calling and why he does what he does. He describes his notion of wisdom and the idea that he knows what he does not know. Then, Socrates asks Meletus about the charge dealing with the gods and Meletus ends up contradicting himself by saying that he does not believe in gods of the...