Bryan Zhao on Plato's The Trial and Death of Socrates
This essay was written by Bryan, a New York City high school senior, as part of the Freedom and Citizenship summer seminar in 2023. To read more student writing, visit the students' Civic Digest.
At 10 o’clock in the morning, the entrance doors to the court opened up. The jury members of the court shuffled their ways to their arranged seats, grumbling quietly amongst themselves about the fact they were assigned jury duties. The defendant entered the court alongside their attorney, eyeing the jury stands. It wasn’t long till the judge sat down in their seat and lifted their gavel. "Court is now in session!" They stated this as they slammed the gavel on their desk. "Socrates Collin, you are here today on the accusation of [BLANK] and [BLANK]." Socrates looked at the judge as the judge proceeded with their speech. In a matter of minutes, the defense and prosecution were arguing, and statements and evidence were presented. While the defendant responded to each statement with more questions, it wasn’t long before it came to an end. The defendant was found guilty and he was recommended for the death penalty. However, at the very end, the defendant was given a verdict that was far less intense than death.
Why was that the case? The Socrates in The Trial and Death of Socrates by Plato received the death penalty instead of a verdict such as exile. The classroom Socrates was initially recommended the death penalty; however, he later was given a verdict far less intense than death. What was the difference between Socrates' two different vistas? The classroom Socrates had a defense attorney—someone who believed he was innocent—and that was the difference in comparison to the historical Socrates, who had nobody at the court to defend him but himself. Plato, his very own student, was there, but he didn’t exactly support or defend the teacher. I believe that this was due to the fact that Socrates' friends were all away when the trial occurred. As seen in the titled chapter Crito, his friend, Crito, returned to Athens after the trial and death sentence. The very reason he hadn’t received his sentence and been executed was due to the fact that the state gallery was in motion. Crito visited Socrates in prison. He was one of many people who was considered Socrates’s student, a person who had access to connections and wealth and was trying to help Socrates plan an escape from his death sentence. Which, at the very end, Socrates refused. If the historical Socrates had had the support of his friends at the trial, the trial would have been more just.
