The Apology Essay Research Paper The ApologyIn

The Apology Essay, Research Paper

The Apology

In The Apology by Plato, Socrates was giving his testimony before he was forced to commit suicide. He was trying to prove that death is better than living without one?s beliefs. He believed that he was innocent, going to a better place, and he was going to die anyway.

Socrates was an old man, in his seventies and not going to live much longer. He knew this and said it was okay if he died then because he was going to die anyway. He told the people of Athens that his suicide would eventually come back to haunt them because later people would see him as a wise man and they would say you people killed him. If they would just let him die of natural causes they would be better off. Socrates knew this and he told them so.

Socrates believed he was innocent of any wrong doings. He did not do anything wrong and so he was not worried about people thinking he was a guilty person. He said to the people who condemned him that he was not going to beg for his life because he was above that. He knew he was innocent and he did not feel that lowering himself to that level would do any good anyway.

Socrates was not scared of dying. He was actually looking forward to it. He knew that he was going to a better place than where he lived then. He told the people he would ask the great heroes of the past the questions that he wanted answered his whole life. He was happy about being able to live for eternity in heaven with past people like, Odysseus or Sisyphus.

In the end Socrates accepted his fate. He knew he was going to a better place, innocent and would die soon anyway and he was not scared of it. In the end Socrates comes to the conclusion that death was a better thing than having to live without his beliefs.