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Similarities Between The Trial And Death Of Socrates

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In the second dialogue titled Apology in the book ‘The Trial and Death of Socrates: Four Dialogues’, Socrates presents his defense to the men of Athens who will ultimately vote to either acquit or convict him for the charges laid against him by Meletus, Anytus and Lycon. While reiterating the importance of virtue, and self-examination in his defense, Socrates uses the aforementioned quote to predict a certain fate for the unrighteous people he calls his murderers. These people, he argues, are committing an unjust act by persecuting him. This essay will analyze Socrates’ understanding of virtue and consequently argue that parallels could be drawn between Socrates and Jesus (central figure in Christianity) in their understanding and proclamation …show more content…

This argument is representative of his understanding of virtue as opposed to his accusers, which believe in the accruement of “greatest amount of money and honor and reputation” (Plato, 30). Socrates then preaches that in order to be free of the “disgraceful sort of ignorance” (Plato, 30) which those who were considered wise, exhibited, one has to seek the greatest improvement of the soul through self-examination. In essence, while the people of Athens believed more in the worldly materials of the earth, Socrates rooted virtue in the spiritual realm of the soul. While coming to terms with his sentencing, Socrates introduces the analogy of the faster and the slower pursuer. Due to his understanding of virtue, he characterizes ‘unrighteousness’ as a more innate evil, which pursues the unrighteous man faster than death. In this narrative, it is pertinent to understand that Socrates does not see death as an evil, he explains, “… when I do not know whether death is a good or an evil” (Plato, 37). His fate is contrary to his unrighteous accusers, who are being chased by the faster pursuer

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