Pondering the Trial and Execution of Socrates with Xenophon and Plato

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What actually happened at the trial of Socrates? Did the speeches of Socrates at his trial reflect the actual speech of Socrates, or were they Plato’s version of a Thucydides speech, a speech that, even if it does not directly reflect the speaker’s actual words, is the speech that the speaker surely would have said, according to Plato?

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We have two versions of the trial of Socrates, one by his brilliant and clever student Plato, and a second by the staid and traditional “just the facts” Xenophon, who is appreciated far more by his peers than by modern scholars. Xenophon wrote his account after reading Plato’s account, and he does not dispute Plato’s account, but rather emphasizes the piety of Socrates and his respect for the traditional gods of Athens.

Xenophon’s Socrates is more of a stoic philosopher, his Socrates is primarily concerned with teaching moral lessons, on living a life of virtue. Plato’s Socrates is more abstract, seeking to instruct the Athenians about concepts like justice and piety so they can become better citizens of the democracy.

Following the lead of Xenophon, we can surmise two threads in the Platonic dialogues regarding the trial and execution of Socrates, the Apology and the Crito.
1. Whether Socrates was unjustly accused and convicted of the charges of corrupting the youth and showing impiety towards the gods.
2. Whether the arrogance and hubris of Socrates himself was a cause of his eventual execution.

Which causes us to ask another question:
Was Socrates truly virtuous in his outrageous behavior? Or, we might ask, is it always good to be a gadfly who irritates everyone they encounter?
Or was Socrates executed partially because he was so irritating? As Socrates himself says to his jurors: “If you kill me you will not find a substitute, for I am a gadfly, given to the state by god,” a god-given gadfly, how lucky you are, you Athenians, for the “state is a great and noble steed who is tardy in his motions owing to his very size, and requires to be stirred into life. I am that gadfly which god has attached to the state, and all day long and in all places I am always fastening upon you, arousing and persuading and reproaching you. You will not easily find another like me, and therefore I would advise you to spare me.”

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This video is based on these blogs:

Another related blog on the comedy by Aristophanes which played a role in his trial and execution:

Please consider purchasing these resources from Amazon, we will earn a small affiliate commission:
The Last Days of Socrates: Dialogues (Penguin Classics)
Masters of Greek Thought: Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle Audible Logo Audible Audiobook, by Robert C. Bartlett, The Great Courses
Plato, Socrates, and the Dialogues, by Michael Sugrue, The Great Courses
Famous Greeks, by J. Rufus Fears, The Great Courses

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This is original content based on research by Bruce Strom and his blogs. Images in the Public Domain, many from Wikipedia, some from the National Archives, are selected to provide illustration. When images of the actual topic or event are not available in the Public Domain, images of similar objects and events are used for illustration.

All events are portrayed in historical context and for educational purposes. No images or content are primarily intended to shock and disgust. The ancient world was a warrior culture out of necessity, to learn from the distant past we should not only judge them from our modern perspective but also from their own ancient perspective on their own terms.
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Your videos are very informative. Thanks

TupacMakaveli
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So here’s another example of how biblical content was taken from and written by Greeks. This is obvious proto-jesus story.
Appreciate the presentation sir 🫡

stephenfriesen