The Stereotypical Hero In Plato's 'The Apology'

“Socrates: An Atypical Hero of Greece” In Plato’s The Apology, Socrates defended himself while on trial against the old and new accusers in part by relating himself to other ancient Greek heroes. His most daring comparison is to the greatest hero of the ancient Greek civilization: Achilles. The purpose of Socrates’ defense speech was to attempt to persuade the jury that the social order of Greek society needed to transfer from an honor culture to a civilization that prioritized justice overall. By comparing and contrasting attributes of himself to Achilles, Socrates attempted to justify his claim that he was a hero like Achilles because they were both willing to sacrifice their lives for what they believed was right for the common good of others.

Socrates first compared himself to Achilles by equating their similar morals and values and how this had affected their actions. Socrates argued that Achilles’ understanding of honor and moral values, like Socrates,

Socrates knew that the jury would find it an outrageous anecdote that someone as old, ugly, and physically weak as him would even dare to compare himself to one of Greece’s most famous demigods. However, Socrates designed his comparison to Achilles to have a far impactful meaning. The primary message that Socrates tried to relay in his comparison to Achilles is that he was alike Achilles in that he will not admit defeat to the threat of death for refusing to listen to the advice of others when he believed what he was pursuing was just. As Achilles disregarded his foretold death sentence in his choice to avenge the death of Patroclus, so too Socrates decided not to consider the threat of death by the jury to stop his mission from the gods (particularly Apollo) to “live philosophizing and examining myself in others”