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Analysis Of Plato's The Apology

1071 Words5 Pages

Taylor Diebert
820074652
4 February 2018
Short Essay: Plato’s The Apology
The Apology is a speech presented by Socrates in court in defense against accusations facing him, formal and informal. The Apology is an interpretation of what happened in the time of the trial and who Socrates was and what his duty was in life. In this essay, I will carefully explain section 30e-31b and Socrates analogy of a gadfly and how it relates to the text as a whole. I will explain Socrates role in the city and why if he is killed, the city will be doing themselves a greater injustice than they will be doing to Socrates by killing him. I will also be explaining how the Socratic Method is used by Socrates in the trial to help against his accusations how he could …show more content…

A gadfly constantly disturbs a horse preventing it from becoming sluggish and like a gadfly Socrates prevents the city from becoming sluggish. Socrates uses the metaphor “as upon a great and noble horse which was somewhat sluggish because of its size and needed to be stirred up by a kind of gadfly,” he is comparing himself to a gadfly and the city of Athens to a sluggish horse, saying that he is keeping the city awake and preventing them from being sluggish by moving through the city and stirring up conversations. Not only is Socrates like a gadfly by keeping the city from being sluggish but he provokes the city of Athens with the examinations that causes the people to consider …show more content…

Socrates was rejected by the Athenians and accused of being harmful to the city and wanted him dead more for the informal charges than the formal charges against him. Socrates argues that he has provided a great amount of wisdom to the city and forces them to think about his philosophy and wisdom. Socrates is like a gadfly because he continuously provokes the city with ideas and criticism. His criticism rises when he is trying to awaken the city of Athens when he believes that they are becoming lazy in regard to the truth. Gadflies also seek for their own interest which is what Socrates does when he is trying to make the city question their own knowledge and beliefs about the accusations that Socrates faces. Socrates provokes the ideas that the city has of him as an individual as to being a harmful human being and argues that it is not in human nature to go against his own

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