Plato, the Apology of Socrates the Charges

Plato, The Apology of Socrates

The charges against Socrates, as given in Plato's Apology, are twofold. This is how Socrates himself phrases it:

And now I will try to defend myself against them: these new accusers must also have their affidavit read. What do they say? Something of this sort: - That Socrates is a doer of evil, and corrupter of the youth, and he does not believe in the gods of the state, and has other new divinities of his own. (Plato 2009).

In other words, the first charge is that Socrates has corrupted the youth of Athens, and the second charge is that of impiety towards the official gods of Athens. Socrates in his defense begins by cross-examining his accuser, Meletus. On the first charge he asks whether Meletus thinks his corruption of young minds was intentional: when Meletus says it was, Socrates notes that Meletus has never privately said this to Socrates before the trial. Thus Socrates hopes to demonstrate that the corruption charge is of no particular interest to Meletus, since a man who permits corruption of youth but does nothing about it is essentially passively engaged in the same corruption process. Thus Socrates hopes to demonstrate that Meletus himself does not really believe this charge.

The second charge requires more cross-examination because it turns out that Meletus' actual accusation sounds substantially different from the charge as Socrates has cited it. Meletus claim about Socrates' impiety is that he is "a complete atheist" (Plato 2009). Socrates notes the fundamental contradiction between this claim and the charge in the affidavit quoted above, which is that he believes in some "new divinities" of his own devising. The essential defense that Socrates has is that he is a philosopher -- the Delphic oracle has proclaimed his great wisdom, but that wisdom lies not in knowledge but in critical inquiry. Socrates then offers a noteworthy image to describe his role in Athenian society, while warning the jury of what they will lose if they put him to death:

For if you kill me you will not easily find another like me, who, if I may use such a ludicrous figure of speech, am a sort of gadfly, given to the state by the God; and the state is like a great and noble steed who is tardy in his motions owing to his very size, and requires to be stirred into life. I am that gadfly which God has given the state and all day long and in all places am always fastening upon you, arousing and persuading and reproaching you. And as you will not easily find another like me, I would advise you to spare me. I dare say that you may feel irritated at being suddenly awakened when you are caught napping; and you may think that if you were to strike me dead, as Anytus advises, which you easily might, then you would sleep on for the remainder of your lives, unless God in his care of you gives you another gadfly.

Although Socrates acknowledges that his metaphor is possibly "ludicrous" his intentions are serious. Athens is like a large, if sluggish, horse. Socrates is like a small stinging insect whose actions keep the horse awake. To be awakened in such a fashion is irritating and might well make one consider swatting the gadfly and killing it -- this is what Socrates claims his accusers want. But to do this would be to allow Athens to "sleep on for the remainder of your lives." In other words, the sleep of the horse in the metaphor is a kind of unawareness or ignorance, a refusal to ask questions about the fundamental nature of things. Socrates' gadfly-stinging is simply his philosophical approach: to ask questions and point out contradictions.