All 27 Uses of
Plato
in
The Trial of Socrates, by Linder
- Finding an answer to the mystery of the trial of Socrates is complicated by the fact that the two surviving accounts of the defense (or apology) of Socrates both come from disciples of his, Plato and Xenophon.†
Plato = ancient Athenian philosopher who did much to influence Western thinking (428-347 BC)
- Historians suspect that Plato and Xenophon, intent on showing their master in a favorable light, failed to present in their accounts the most damning evidence against Socrates.†
- Plato, in his Symposium, describes Socrates and Aristophanes engaged in friendly conversation.†
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- I.F. Stone, in his The Trial of Socrates, describes Critias (a cousin of Plato's) as "the first Robespierre," a cruel and inhumane man "determined to remake the city to his own antidemocratic mold whatever the human cost."†
- The jurors sat on wooden benches separated from the large crowd of spectators—including a twenty-seven-year-old pupil of Socrates named Plato—by some sort of barrier or railing.†
- Plato's Meno offers a possible clues as to the animosity between Anytus, a politician coming from a family of tanners, and Socrates.†
- In the Meno, Plato reports that Socrates' argument that the great statesmen of Athenian history have nothing to offer in terms of an understanding of virtue enrages Anytus.†
- Plato quotes Anytus as warning Socrates: "Socrates, I think that you are too ready to speak evil of men: and, if you will take my advice, I would recommend you to be careful."†
- Plato quotes Socrates as saying, "I had a brief association with the son of Anytus, and I found him not lacking in spirit."†
- James Colaiaco's conclusion that impiety received more prosecutorial attention than did political sins rests on Plato's Apology.†
- Colaiaco sees Plato's famous account of the defense of Socrates as being—although far from a verbatim transcription of the words of Socrates—fairly representative of the major points of his defense.†
- He notes that Plato wrote the Apology within a few years of the trial and must have expected many of his readers to have firsthand knowledge of the trial.†
- Why, Colaiaco asks, would have Plato misrepresented the arguments of Socrates, or hid key elements of the prosecution's case, when his actions in doing so could so easily be exposed?†
- Only Plato's and Xenophon's accounts survive.†
- Plato's apology describes Socrates questioning his accuser, Meletus, about the impiety charge.†
- If Plato's account is accurate, Socrates could have been seen by jurors offering a smokescreen rather than a refutation of the charge of impiety.†
- Plato's Socrates provocatively tells his jury that he is a hero.†
- He tells the jury, according to Plato, he would rather be put to death than give up his soul-saving: "Men of Athens, I honor and love you; but I shall obey God rather than you, and while I have life and strength I shall never cease from the practice and teaching of philosophy."†
- If Plato's account is accurate, the jury knew that the only way to stop Socrates from lecturing about the moral weaknesses of Athenians was to kill him.†
- Socrates, in Plato's account, points to his refusal to comply with the Tyrants' order that he bring in Leon of Salamis for summary execution.†
- What is strikingly absent from the defense of Socrates, if Plato's and Xenophon's accounts are to be believed, is the plea for mercy typically made to Athenian juries.†
- On the contrary, Socrates—according to Plato—contends that the unmanly and pathetic practice of pleading for clemency disgraces the justice system of Athens.†
- According to Plato, Socrates asks the jury for free meals in the Prytaneum, a public dining hall in the center of Athens.†
- Plato and other supporters of Socrates upped the offer to thirty minae by agreeing to come up with silver of their own.†
- In Plato's Apology, the trial concludes with Socrates offering a few memorable words as court officials finished their necessary work.†
- It is likely that this last burst of eloquence comes from Plato, not Socrates.†
- If the accounts of Plato and Xenophon are reasonably accurate, Socrates sought not to persuade jurors, but rather to lecture and provoke them.†
Definition:
ancient Athenian philosopher who did much to influence Western thinking; pupil of Socrates; teacher of Aristotle (428-347 BC)
A memory trick to remember the relationships between Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, and Alexander the Great is to put them in reverse alphabetical order: Socrates taught Plato who taught Aristotle, who taught Alexander the Great.