Socrates In Plato's Apology

In this essay, I explicate connections between Socrates’ descriptions of himself and his role as a citizen and educator in his home city, Athens, as portrayed in Plato’s Apology. The Apology depicts the trial of Socrates, and its entirety is narrated from the point of view of Socrates. Therefore, in the account of this trial, we have a lens through which we can view Socrates’ ideologies and convictions. Additionally, because Socrates is speaking directly to a jury of five hundred and one Athenians, from this dialogue we can interpret how Socrates saw his life and purpose in relation to Athens and her people through his direct interaction with them. Socrates describes his relation to the city of Athens as that of an educator “I was always
We can see that he is a patriotic citizen when he says “Good sir, you are an Athenian, a citizen of the greatest city with the greatest reputation for both wisdom and power.” (Apology 29d-e) From this, we might conclude that it is his love for his city which makes Socrates attend his duty of maintaining righteousness with such conviction. Although, his justification for his pedagogic behavior is that it is merely divine will, (Apology 20e-21a) it is hard not to interpret that Socrates truly does care for his city beyond the extent of his divine duty. For, another facet of Socrates’ relation to Athens which appears in in the tone of his speech, is that of a concerned citizen, who wants good for his polis. Socrates goes so far as to state “Indeed, men of Athens, I am far from making a defense now on my own behalf, as might be thought, but on yours, to prevent you from wrongdoing by mistreating the god’s gift to you by condemning me.” (Apology 30d-e) This seems to shows that he cares more for the moral solidity of Athens than his own defense. Which is a theme that appears a number of times throughout the Apology, giving us the sense that Socrates sees himself as a caring father-like figure of Athens. This, combined with Socrates love for his city, may suggest that he was not simply a man devoutly following the orders of the gods (though this certainly seems to be a major factor), but was
In his defense, Socrates focuses on his relationship to Athens as an asset to her prosperity. One of the ways he accomplishes this is by his skillful use of the Greek hero’s image. Using his and the hero’s common purpose, to educate, Socrates doubly reinforces his image as Athen’s benefactor, not her enemy as his accusers claim. The context of the trial allows us to see how Socrates addresses with the jury, therefore we do not have to solely take his word on his relationship with Athens, because we can see their interaction directly, which is, perhaps, even more revealing than his descriptions of