Seminar Paper This retelling of Socrates’ trial was extremely powerful. In the face of the law, Socrates’ does not abandon his beliefs and plead for mercy, but continually stands up for what he believes is true and just. Although his bluntness ultimately showed to be his fatal flaw, it was not without impact. Socrates’ ideologies and legacy are still studied today. Socrates’ claim, “No man will survive who genuinely opposes you or any other crowd…” really struck a chord with me. Many great individuals all across history have broken the mold of what is typical to move society forward. Rosa Parks stood her ground and was arrested when she refused to move to the back of a bus. Galileo spoke against the church when he claimed the sun was the center of our galaxy and was put on house arrest. Socrates questioned others in hopes of getting them to question their beliefs, and while this itself may not sound virtuous, his students helped lead Athens into an era of wisdom and …show more content…
In Greek, the word which was actually used, “apologia”, was not a remorseful statement, but one of defense. In the beginning of the trial, it is revealed that the primary accusers of Socrates told the jury not to be “deceived by an accomplished speaker” like Socrates, but by doing so, they are becoming the true deceivers. They implanted ideas into the heads of the jury in an attempt to sway the decision in their favor. Socrates never intentionally did anything wrong. Those who followed him did so willingly without being prompted and based on how he taught, I can only assume they were led to form their own opinions. Why Socrates spoke the previously mentioned quote is quite obvious. All he did was speak against others opinions and that made them uncomfortable. He was villainized simply for questioning others