Reading of the Apology
...e path of an honest man and bears no fruitful bounty to the soul at its end. This is true, Socrates prophecies, because “it is not difficult to avoid death…it is much more difficult to avoid wickedness, for it runs faster than death” (43). By this statement, I feel Socrates is implying that one may attempt to dupe death but wickedness, being of a different more clever character, attempts to dupe us. Death is slow and easily fooled by man; wickedness, however, is quick, conniving, and can run circles around him. Socrates continues by avowing that he, “being slow and elderly, [was] caught by the slower pursuer” (43), as he did not try to avoid him. His accusers, on the other hand, “being clever and sharp” (43) were able to escape death, but were caught and “condemned by truth to wickedness and injustice” (43). Socrates asserts that his jurors were condemned by truth to such evils because they fabricated his sentence with disseat and prejudice; thus, tarnishing their souls, they were sentenced by truth to suffer the burden of a guilty conscience for the derision of their lives. Next, in order to elaborate on a topic he touched earlier in his speech, Socrates moves to address only those in the jury who voted for his guilt. He foretells that shortly after his death these men will meet with retribution that is much harder to bear than that which they faced in killing him. Socrates tells them that he realizes they sentenced him to death in order to “avoid giving an account of their own [lives]” (43). He challenged the very sentiments by which they lived, thus forcing them to claim their actions and further to justify them. When the men of his time were unable to do this they became aimless, lost in the meandering paths of life without value to light their way. They were frightened and, in order to sooth their fear, they chose to destroy its alleged creator, Socrates. However, as Socrates predicts, they have in fact only breathed new life into their fears, for Socrates held off many others who desired to question the conduct of the jurymen and now that they have taken his life, the others will come forth and carry on where he left off with newly found vigor. Socrates advises his audience of ill-fated jurors that is it not possible to “prevent [people] from reproaching you for not living in the right way” (43), moreover escaping such tests is not a good aspiration. He says this, I feel, because such tests may act as a confirmation that one is living rightly. Socrates concludes his address to the jurors with a piece of advice which may constitute his most valuable words in “The Apology.” He advises them that it is “best and easiest not to discredit others but to prepare oneself to be as good as possible” (44). With these words, I feel Socrates intends to tell his jurors not to waste their time criticizing the lives others lead, but rather spend it wisely ensuring that they themselves are leading their own lives in the best way they are able. Up until this point, all that Socrates has stated in “The Apology” has been analogous to his life as a philosopher, challenging the principals of his time. However, it is interesting to note here that his statement implying that one should not question the ways of others seems some what contradictory to his life style, for did he not spend the greater part of his life doing exactly that? Did he not wander the town square initiating many a conversation on the meaning of justice, virtue and the point of life? Was he not, by forcing his fellow countrymen to defend and in many cases reevaluate their principals, discrediting the way in which they chose to lead their lives? And is that not the very action he advises his jurors to avoid? Initially, I thought yes. However, if a closer look is given to the conversations Socrates had with his fellow townsmen, it seems that he essentially uses them as a tool to guide the way he leads his own life. The town’s people act as various interlocutors whom he engages in conversation, and through these conversations, he forms the principals which govern his own conduct. Ergo, Socrates does not set out to discredit the lives of others as he heeds his jury against; rather in challenging the ways of others he seeks understanding and in may cases helps them find it as well. Moreover, through the understanding of the way others lead their lives; Socrates is able to navigate the course of his own. With this fruitful piece of advice, Socrates then turns to address the members of the jury who voted for his innocents. He speaks to them as friends and, abiding by the philosophical grains of his nature, he attempts to explain to them the meaning of what has occurred. He first tries to console them by telling them that he is sure what has happened is right. He assures them that he knows this because his “divine sign” has not opposed him as it always does, “even in small matters, when he is about to do something wrong” (44). Socrates does not discuss his “divine sign” any further in “The Apology”, hence its meaning is some what obscure. He refers to it as his prophetic power as well, which implies that it provides him with some degree of insight into the future and guides him accordingly. My initial inclinations led me to believe that Socrates “divine sign” was his conscience, a sort of inner morality which provides him with direction from within. He also calls this sign his “familiar sign”, giving it a congenital and comfortable connotation which falls in line with this interpretation. Yet, in viewing Socrates’ sign as his conscience, I was led to wonder what the source of this inner advice was. Referring back to the reading, Socrates also titles his sign his “spiritual manifestation,” which gives it a sort of religious connotation. Moreover, such a religious interpretation is supported by the signs initial title as well, the divine sign. This train of thought allowed me to conclude that perhaps Socrates’ “divine sign” was advice from the gods; yet, his meditations on death and his essential charge of atheism caused me to second guess this interpretation as I had the first. Due to Socrates’ brief mention of the “divine sign,” I was unable to pin point its exact meaning. Non the less, after reassuring his fellow jurors that his senten...