What is socrates charged with

In his "Memorabilia," a collection of Socratic dialogues completed after BCE, Xenophon— philosopher, historian, soldier, and a student of Socrates—examined the charges against him. In addition, Xenophon reports that while acting as president of the popular assembly, Socrates followed his own principles instead of the will of the people.

The boule was the council whose job entailed providing an agenda for the ekklesia , the citizen assembly. If the boule didn't provide an item on the agenda, the ekklesia couldn't act on it; but if they did, the ekklesia was supposed to address it.

Socrates, said Xenophon, also disagreed with the citizenry who imagined that the gods are not all-knowing. Instead, Socrates thought the gods were omniscient, that the gods were aware of all the things that are said and done, and even things thought about by humans. A critical element that led to Socrates' death was his criminal heresy.

Said Xenophon:. Finally, by corrupting the young, Socrates was accused of encouraging his students down the path he had chosen—in particular, the one that led him into trouble with the radical democracy of the time, Socrates believed that the ballot box was a stupid way to elect representatives. Xenophon explains:. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile.

Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. Diogenes Laertius reports the charges as recorded in the now-lost document:. This indictment and affidavit is sworn by Meletus, the son of Meletus of Pitthos, against Socrates, the son of Sophroniscus of Alopece: Socrates is guilty of refusing to recognize the gods recognized by the state, and of introducing new divinities.

He is also guilty of corrupting the youth. The penalty demanded is death. The trial of Socrates took place over a nine-to-ten hour period in the People's Court , located in the agora , the civic center of Athens. The jury consisted of male citizens over the age of thirty, chosen by lot. Most of the jurors were probably farmers. The jurors sat on wooden benches separated from the large crowd of spectators--including a year-old pupil of Socrates named Plato--by some sort of barrier or railing.

Guilt Phase of Trial. The trial began in the morning with the reading of the formal charges against Socrates by a herald. The prosecution presented its case first. The three accusers, Meletus, Anytus, and Lycon, had a total of three hours, measured by a water clock, to present from an elevated stage their argument for guilt.

No record of the prosecution's argument against Socrates survives. Easily the best known and most influential of the three accusers, Anytus, is widely believed to have been the driving force behind the prosecution of Socrates. 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's 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. Anytus almost certainly disapproved of his son's relationship with Socrates. Adding to the displeasure of Anytus must have been the advice Socrates gave to his son. According to Xenophon, Socrates urged Anytus's son not to "continue in the servile occupation [tanning hides] that his father has provided for him. It is a matter of dispute among historians whether the accusers focused more attention on the alleged religious crimes, or the alleged political crimes, of Socrates.

Stone attaches far more significance to the political crimes, while other historians such as James A. Colaiaco, author of Socrates Against Athens , give more weight to the charge of impiety.

Stone argues that "Athenians were accustomed to hearing the gods treated disrespectfully in both the comic and tragic theatre. Stone concludes: "One could in the same city and in the same century worship Zeus as a promiscuous old rake, henpecked and cuckolded by Juno or as Justice deified. It was the political, not the philosophical or theological, views of Socrates which finally got him into trouble. Important support for Stone's conclusion comes from the earliest surviving reference to the trial of Socrates that does not come from one of his disciples.

In B. Heliaea Law Court, scene of the trial of Socrates. 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?

Since the Apology seems to give great weight to the charge of impiety--and relatively little weight to the association of Socrates with the Thirty Tyrants--Colaiaco assumes this must have been a fair reflection of the trial.

At the same time, Colaiaco recognizes that because of the association of Socrates with Critias "the prosecution could expect any Athenian jury to harbor hostile feelings toward the city's gadfly. Piety had, for Athenians, a broad meaning. It included not just respect for the gods, but also for the dead and ancestors. The impious individual was seen as a contaminant who, if not controlled or punished, might bring upon the city the wrath of the gods--Athena, Zeus, or Apollo--in the form of plague or sterility.

The ritualistic religion of Athens included no scripture, church, or priesthood. Rather, it required--in addition to belief in the gods-- observance of rites, prayers, and the offering of sacrifices. Any number of words and actions of Socrates may have contributed to his impiety charge.

Preoccupied with his moral instruction, he probably failed to attend important religious festivals. He may have stirred additional resentment by offering arguments against the collective, ritualistic view of religion shared by most Athenians or by contending that gods could not, as Athenians believed, behave immorally or whimsically.

Xenophon indicates that the impiety charge stemmed primarily from the contention of Socrates that he received divine communications a "voice" or a "sign" directing him to avoid politics and concentrate on his philosophic mission. A vague charge such as impiety invited jurors to project their many and varied grievances against Socrates. Dozens of accounts of the three-hour speech apologia by Socrates in his defense existed at one time. Only Plato's and Xenophon's accounts survive.

The two accounts agree on a key point. Socrates gave a defiant--decidedly un apologetic--speech. He seemed to invite condemnation and death. Plato's apology describes Socrates questioning his accuser, Meletus, about the impiety charge. Meletus accuses Socrates of believing the sun and moon not to be gods, but merely masses of stone.

Socrates responds not by specifically denying the charge of atheism, but by attacking Meletus for inconsistency: the charge against him accused him of believing in other gods, not in believing in no gods.

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 reminds them of his exemplary service as a hoplite in three battles. More importantly, he contends, he has battled for decades to save the souls of Athenians--pointing them in the direction of an examined, ethical life.

He reportedly says to his jurors if his teaching about the nature of virtue "corrupts the youth, I am a mischievous person. Stone is right, the most damaging accusation against Socrates concerned his association with Critias, the cruel leader of the Thirty Tyrants. 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.

He argues this act of disobedience--which might have led to his own execution, had not the Tyrants fallen from power--demonstrates his service as a good citizen of Athens. Unsurprisingly, his jurors did not see the funny side and passed the death sentence by a greater majority than that by which he had been convicted.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence. If you use this content on your site please link back to this page. The University's news digest summarises news from and about the University of Cambridge. Enter your email address, confirm you are happy to receive our emails and then select 'Subscribe'.

I wish to receive the University's news digest by email. The University of Cambridge will use your email address to send you our University news digest email. We are committed to protecting your personal information and being transparent about what information we hold. Please read our email privacy notice for details.

Postgraduate Why Cambridge? Postgraduate courses How to apply Fees and funding Frequently asked questions. International students Continuing education Executive and professional education Courses in education.

Annual reports Equality and diversity Media relations A global university. Events Public engagement Jobs Give to Cambridge.