The Types of Socrates
In The Trials of Socrates, we are shown different view points of the Greek philosopher, Socrates. However, none of these views come directly from the philosopher. Socrates had never published anything during his lifetime, therefore all his beliefs are recounted second hand. This is unreliable as it becomes ambiguous whether or not these views being written down are purely Socrates’ thoughts or if the authors bias has trickled into argument. These differing accounts have created multiplicities of the great philosopher and it becomes difficult to pin point what is true and what is not. When Socrates is charged with impiety and the corruption of youth, his innocence seems to differ whether or not one is reading through the perspective of Plato or Aristophanes. In The Apology Socrates is accused with impiety, however in this account of the philosopher, he vehemently denies his guilt and defends himself. Meletus states that Socrates does not believe in the gods, yet when questioned further by Socrates, he contradicts himself by saying Socrates worships other gods, which is quickly pointed out by Socrates. However, he never quite states his true stance on the gods, never denouncing them nor accepting them. Nonetheless where did his alleged impiety begin? The philosopher explicitly names the playwright in his defence and renounces his portrayal, calling it a “baseless character.” (Plato 19d) Therefore it is quite possible that Aristophanes caricature had a hand in the Socrates impiety charge. Impiety within Clouds runs rampant throughout the play. When Socrates is first introduced, he almost immediately sets to work, attempting to crush Strepsiades attachment to Zeus. He offers in exchange the schools own deities, the Clouds. Strepsiades accepts the opportunity to speak with the Clouds (Aristophanes, 252-253) and is initiated. Aristophanes was trying to provoke a hostile reaction out of his audience, as he highlights Strepsiades flexible piety. This scene also raises a point that Socrates could be potentially dangerous within his community. If enough people have a similar mindset as Strepsiades, with the exposure to Socrates school could lead to a religious upheaval within society. Whereas alone, they would pose a smaller threat. After an impressive performance by the Clouds, Strepsiades is still unable to believe that the goddesses are the only sort of gods and asks about Zeus, but Socrates dismisses the idea with a show of impiety. He attacks the possibility of Zeus by offering other explanations for rain, thunder and lightning. For his first explanation, Socrates reasons when it rains there are always Clouds, but it never rains without Clouds. The conclusion is not explicit, but is assumed that Clouds are needed for rain but Zeus is not needed for rain. Socrates uses the correlation of Clouds and rain to question if Zeus has the ability or is even needed to produce rainfall. This may not be a direct explanation for why Zeus does not exist, but it does dismiss the god from his traditional ascribed powers. Next Socrates explains the thunder, which are “just the Clouds rocking in the sky.” (Aristophanes, 275) He goes on with a more detailed explanation afterwards, stating that …show more content…
Pheidippides and Strepsiades could have been prime examples, but unfortunately they are fictional and hold no actual evidence against Socrates.
Pheidippides corruption may be thought as corruption of youth by Aristophanes, but is dismissed by Plato’s Socrates. This Socrates states that “I cannot justly be held responsible for the good or bad conduct of these people, as I never promised to teach them anything and have not done so” (Plato, 33a-33b). What Socrates means by this is that he is not a teacher. People choose to come listen to him and he allows them to. He doesn’t accept any sort of payment in exchange. Therefore, he is free from any responsibility of the actions of a “student.”
Socrates is an enigmatic figure; who’s true opinion come in fragments to us through other authors. It’s difficult to pin down his true likeness while sifting through the bias. However, through these biases leaves figures of Socrates, each one not quite like the other. The figures give us a sort of rounded look at the philosopher’s trial, through the eyes of his followers and the eyes of his rivals allowing us to peer into the trial with both sides of the
In The Trials of Socrates, we are shown different view points of the Greek philosopher, Socrates. However, none of these views come directly from the philosopher. Socrates had never published anything during his lifetime, therefore all his beliefs are recounted second hand. This is unreliable as it becomes ambiguous whether or not these views being written down are purely Socrates’ thoughts or if the authors bias has trickled into argument. These differing accounts have created multiplicities of the great philosopher and it becomes difficult to pin point what is true and what is not. When Socrates is charged with impiety and the corruption of youth, his innocence seems to differ whether or not one is reading through the perspective of Plato or Aristophanes. In The Apology Socrates is accused with impiety, however in this account of the philosopher, he vehemently denies his guilt and defends himself. Meletus states that Socrates does not believe in the gods, yet when questioned further by Socrates, he contradicts himself by saying Socrates worships other gods, which is quickly pointed out by Socrates. However, he never quite states his true stance on the gods, never denouncing them nor accepting them. Nonetheless where did his alleged impiety begin? The philosopher explicitly names the playwright in his defence and renounces his portrayal, calling it a “baseless character.” (Plato 19d) Therefore it is quite possible that Aristophanes caricature had a hand in the Socrates impiety charge. Impiety within Clouds runs rampant throughout the play. When Socrates is first introduced, he almost immediately sets to work, attempting to crush Strepsiades attachment to Zeus. He offers in exchange the schools own deities, the Clouds. Strepsiades accepts the opportunity to speak with the Clouds (Aristophanes, 252-253) and is initiated. Aristophanes was trying to provoke a hostile reaction out of his audience, as he highlights Strepsiades flexible piety. This scene also raises a point that Socrates could be potentially dangerous within his community. If enough people have a similar mindset as Strepsiades, with the exposure to Socrates school could lead to a religious upheaval within society. Whereas alone, they would pose a smaller threat. After an impressive performance by the Clouds, Strepsiades is still unable to believe that the goddesses are the only sort of gods and asks about Zeus, but Socrates dismisses the idea with a show of impiety. He attacks the possibility of Zeus by offering other explanations for rain, thunder and lightning. For his first explanation, Socrates reasons when it rains there are always Clouds, but it never rains without Clouds. The conclusion is not explicit, but is assumed that Clouds are needed for rain but Zeus is not needed for rain. Socrates uses the correlation of Clouds and rain to question if Zeus has the ability or is even needed to produce rainfall. This may not be a direct explanation for why Zeus does not exist, but it does dismiss the god from his traditional ascribed powers. Next Socrates explains the thunder, which are “just the Clouds rocking in the sky.” (Aristophanes, 275) He goes on with a more detailed explanation afterwards, stating that …show more content…
Pheidippides and Strepsiades could have been prime examples, but unfortunately they are fictional and hold no actual evidence against Socrates.
Pheidippides corruption may be thought as corruption of youth by Aristophanes, but is dismissed by Plato’s Socrates. This Socrates states that “I cannot justly be held responsible for the good or bad conduct of these people, as I never promised to teach them anything and have not done so” (Plato, 33a-33b). What Socrates means by this is that he is not a teacher. People choose to come listen to him and he allows them to. He doesn’t accept any sort of payment in exchange. Therefore, he is free from any responsibility of the actions of a “student.”
Socrates is an enigmatic figure; who’s true opinion come in fragments to us through other authors. It’s difficult to pin down his true likeness while sifting through the bias. However, through these biases leaves figures of Socrates, each one not quite like the other. The figures give us a sort of rounded look at the philosopher’s trial, through the eyes of his followers and the eyes of his rivals allowing us to peer into the trial with both sides of the