The dialogues of Plato in five volumes, Vol. 2 (of 5) : $b Translated into English with analyses and introductionsPlato
PhilosophyPhilosophy
The dialogues of Plato in five volumes, Vol. 2 (of 5) : $b Translated into English with analyses and introductions
Plato
Dialogues, Greek -- Translations into English; Philosophy, Ancient
There is not much in the other Dialogues which can be compared with the
Apology. The same recollection of his master may have been present to the
mind of Plato when depicting the sufferings of the Just in the Republic
(ii. 361 foll., vi. 500 A). The Crito may also be regarded as a sort of
appendage to the Apology, in which Socrates, who has defied the judges,
is nevertheless represented as scrupulously obedient to the laws. The
idealization of the sufferer is carried still further in the Gorgias (476
foll.), in which the thesis is maintained, that ‘to suffer is better
than to do evil;’ and the art of rhetoric is described as only useful
for the purpose of self-accusation. The parallelisms which occur in the
so-called Apology of Xenophon are not worth noticing, because the writing
in which they are contained is manifestly spurious. The statements of
the Memorabilia (i. 2; iv. 8) respecting the trial and death of Socrates
agree generally with Plato; but they have lost the flavour of Socratic
irony in the narrative of Xenophon.
The Apology or Platonic defence of Socrates is divided into three
parts: 1st. The defence properly so called; 2nd. The shorter address in
mitigation of the penalty; 3rd. The last words of prophetic rebuke and
exhortation.
* * * * *
The first part commences with an apology for his colloquial style;
he is, as he has always been, the enemy of rhetoric, and =Steph.= 17
knows of no rhetoric but truth; he will not falsify his character
by making a speech. Then he proceeds to divide his accusers into 18
two classes; first, there is the nameless accuser—public opinion.
All the world from their earliest years had heard that he was
a corrupter of youth, and had seen him caricatured in the Clouds
of Aristophanes. Secondly, there are the professed accusers, who
are but the mouth-piece of the others. The accusations of both
might be summed up in a formula. The first say, ‘Socrates is an
evil-doer and a curious person, searching into things under the
earth and above the heaven; and making the worse appear the
better cause, and teaching all this to others.’ The second,
‘Socrates is an evil-doer and corrupter of the youth, who does
not receive the gods whom the state receives, but introduces other
new divinities.’ These last words appear to have been the actual
indictment (cp. Xen. Mem. i. 1); and the previous formula, which
is a summary of public opinion, assumes the same legal style.
[Sidenote: _Analysis 19-23._]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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