Apology of Socrates

He thought he was the god's gift to Athens.

They thought he was a pest.

He thought their values were wrong.

They condemned him to death.


In 399 BC, Socrates defended himself before a jury of 501 Athenian citizens. Politicians, poets, orators, and craftsmen disliked him for exposing their ignorance of what matters most: how to be a good person and a good citizen. The prosecutors charged him with corrupting the youth and not believing in the city's gods. He tried to refute the charges, but the jury found him guilty and sentenced him to death. He was 70 years old.


Plato was there. A young man in his twenties, Plato admired Socrates greatly. After the trial, he wrote Socrates' Defense Speech, more commonly known as Apology of Socrates. It would become one of the most widely read books of all time.


Students and general readers need a modern version of Plato's Apology of Socrates at a low price. Using the updated Oxford Classical Text, John M. Armstrong has translated Plato's Greek into plain, 21st-century English, allowing Socrates' arguments to shine through.


Features:

• an up-to-date translation for today's readers

• a short introduction that explains Socrates' life and mission

• the description of Socrates' death from Plato's Phaedo

• notes with important background information

• an appendix on how to cite Plato in papers

• suggestions for further reading