Download Socrates’ Trial

Socrates’ Trial
The three men who brought the
charges against Socrates were:
The Royal Stoa, where the charges were brought.
• Anytus
• son of a prominent Athenian, Socrates
says Anytus joined the prosecution
because he was "vexed on behalf of the
craftsmen and politicians"
• Meletus, the only accuser to speak during
Socrates' defense. Socrates says Meletus
joined the prosecution because he was
"vexed on behalf of the poets"
• Lycon, about whom, according to one
scholar, "we know nothing except that he
was the mouthpiece of the professional
rhetoricians." Socrates says Lycon joined
the prosecution because he was "vexed
on behalf of the rhetoricians"
•
Socrates says that he has to refute two
sets of accusations
1. disrespect toward the gods
2. corruption of the youth.
“The Apology” by Plato
in 3 parts…
1. Socrates’ own defense
2. The verdict
3. The sentencing
The Trial
• Athenian juries were drawn
by lottery from a group of
male citizen volunteers.
Socrates the Corruptor?
• He says his reputation for sophistry comes from
his enemies
Socrates an atheist?
• He cross-examines
Meletus, and extracts
a contradiction. He
gets Meletus to say
that Socrates is an
atheist who believes
in spiritual agencies
and demigods.
Socrates a Teacher?
• Socrates claims to never have “taught” or
imparted knowledge onto others.
Socrates and Death
• He was not afraid of death, because he was
more concerned about whether he is acting
rightly or wrongly.
Detail from “The Death of Socrates”
Jacques-Louis David
1787
The Verdict
• Socrates is voted guilty by a narrow
margin
• Socrates does say that if only 30 more had
voted in his favour then he would have
been acquitted
The Sentencing
• It was the tradition that the prosecution and the
defendant each propose a penalty, from which
the court would choose.
The Sentencing
• Instead of proposing a penalty, Socrates instead
proposes a reward for himself
The Death of Socrates
Jean-Francois-Pierre Peyron
1744-1814
The Sentencing
• the judges decided on the sentence of
death.
“The Death of Socrates”
Cignaroli Giambettino
Socrates’ Death
• he carried out his own execution, by drinking the
hemlock provided to him. Socrates died at the
age of 70
“The Death of Socrates”
Jacques-Louis David
1787
Socrates in Art
“The School of Athens”
Raphael, 1511
Socrates and his Students
Johann Friedrich Greuter
c. 1640
Socrates
or 2nd century CE
Roman copy of an original by Lysippos
marble, 27.5cm high
British Museum, London
1st
Socrates
sculptor unknown
The Death of Socrates
Jacques-Louis David
1787
“The Death of Socrates”
Cignaroli Giambettino
1: Zeno of Citium 2: Epicurus 3: unknown 4: Boethius or Anaximander or Empedocles? 5:
Averroes 6: Pythagoras 7: Alcibiades or Alexander the Great? 8: Antisthenes or Xenophon? 9:
unknown or the Fornarina as a personification of Love or (Francesco Maria della Rovere?) 10:
Aeschines or Xenophon? 11: Parmenides? 12: Socrates 13: Heraclitus (Michelangelo) 14: Plato
(Leonardo da Vinci) 15: Aristotle 16: Diogenes 17: Plotinus (Donatello?) 18: Euclid or
Archimedes with students (Bramante?) 19: Zoroaster 20: Ptolemy? R: Apelles (Raphael) 21:
Protogenes (Il Sodoma, Perugino, or Timoteo Viti)