Summary
Socrates affirms that he has been consistent
and just in his dealings with people throughout his
life. He has never charged a fee for his teaching,
has never kept secret any of thoughts, and has
never refused to converse with anybody. The young
men of Athens flock to him not because he preaches
impious doctrines, as his accusers charge him, but
because they enjoy hearing his cross-examinations:
there is a good deal of amusement to be gained from
watching the embarrassment of a pompous busybody.
If these young have been corrupted by his bad
influence, Socrates asks, why have they not since
learnt the error of their ways and stepped forward
to denounce him? On the contrary, Socrates cites
the names of several of his pupils present in the
jury--Plato among them--who are here in his
support. Not only they, but their older relatives
also take his side.
In summing up, Socrates alludes to the common
practices of shedding tears, begging, and making
mention of family members and loved ones in order
to gain mercy. Though he has three sons of his
own, Socrates scorns such methods for three
reasons: first, it would be shameful and
embarrassing, and such behavior would earn the
scorn of foreigners; second, he would be asking the
jury to consider facts that are irrelevant to the
case at hand--if they are to deal justly with him,
they should not consider such extraneous matters;
and third, he would be asking the jurymen to break
their oath of judging justly and impartially, a
deed which would be highly impious. Of all places,
Socrates would not like to appear impious when he
is at court on charges of impiety.
Commentary
In referring to the "corrupted" youth of Athens one
more time, Socrates is not saying anything new,
except that this time he identifies a number of his
pupils by name. This is significant because Plato
is one of the students mentioned. Most of Plato's
dialogues, particularly the more mature works, are
framed in a very complex manner. The dialogues are
usually told by a third or fourth party who heard
from a friend or acquaintance about a dialogue of
Socrates' at which another friend was present. Not
only does The Apology present Socrates'
words verbatim, without any framing devices to
distance the narration, but Plato makes a
particular effort to point out that he was actually
present at Socrates' defense. The purpose here
might be to lend the retelling a certain
authenticity: the author was present at the trial,
and has copied down Socrates' speech word for word.
It would be important for Plato to be able to claim
such authority, as he wishes to acquit Socrates
posthumously as much as possible.
Socrates' final remarks about not begging for mercy
can be taken as either arrogant or ironic. On one
hand, he is showing defiant bravery in a dangerous
situation, while openly criticizing the normal
practices of the law courts. On the other hand,
this defiance could be read as very tongue-in-
cheek. After all, Socrates alludes to his three
children almost immediately after claiming that he
would make no pleas based on his family life. This
could be seen as a parody of a typical rhetorical
maneuver. One's reading of this final passage
depends on whether one prefers to see Socrates as
the passionate and noble defender of a
philosophical ideal, or as an ironic trickster who
refuses to be taken too seriously.
