Socrates
The main themes of Plato's Apology are the great irony of many of Socrates' claims, his use of the Socratic method of teaching, and his surprising strategy of questioning the fundamental validity of his trial itself, rather than putting on a vigorous and elegant defense of his actions as was expected by both his supporters and detractors, and likely by the people of the jury. Plato's Apology is a detailed account of the 399 BC trial of the great philosopher Socrates, in which Socrates was on trial for his life after being accused by Meletus, an ambitious young Athenian, and others of the upper class of being "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, Apology). Ultimately, Socrates' defense led to his death, by his own hand, and the silencing of one of the world's greatest intellectuals, making Socrates a martyr to the cause of intellectual freedom.
Main Themes
The most important initial theme of the introduction to Plato's Apology is Socrates' surprising decision to choose to question the entire basis for his trial, rather than to put on an elaborate and eloquent defense as was likely expected by both his supporters, detractors, and the individuals in the jury.
At the end of his well-argued and carefully constructed defense, Socrates has engineered his response to get him found guilty and condemned to death, and he even chooses to drink the hemlock himself, rather than to...
Socrates' voluntary death sentence is perhaps one of the more extreme actions to ever take place in the name of intellectual defense, and yet it was highly effective in many ways. The extremity of his punishment, and his own role in engineering this punishment, only served to ultimately better illustrate the absurdity and unfairness of his entire trial, as well as the heavy-handedness of his ultimate punishment. If Socrates had not been put to death by his own hand at the end of the trial, it is unlikely that future generations, such as ours, would have continued to study the trial as closely as an example of justice gone awry, and the unfortunate silencing of a great intellectual, ultimately making Socrates into a martyr for the cause of intellectual freedom of thought and speech.
Socratic irony is likely the most apparent and easily identifiable themes in the introduction to Plato's Apology. Socrates begins his apology by urging the jury to listen with open ears, and to pardon him if he accidentally slips into a common conversational style of speech, as he is lacks the ability to use the "set oration duly ornamented with words and phrases" that was used by his accusers, and will therefore seek to speak the truth rather than the falsehoods told by his opponents. This is a great irony, as Socrates was likely well-known in Athenian society as a great speaker (his accusers had even warned the jury of this fact), and his words show him to be a truly clever speaker, as well…
