Maura Callahan
PHIL-140-05
Apology Though Memo
January 25th, 2018 
Thought Memo 
“Socrates is guilty of wrongdoing in that he busies himself studying things in the sky and below the earth; he makes the worse into the stronger argument, and he teaches these same things to others,” (Plato, 24). 
Socrates begins his trial by telling the jury to think with open minds as he explains himself. At this point, the people who accused him have already defended their case against him. His accusers warn the jury because Socrates is a very skillful speaker and may try to deceive them. Within the passage above, Socrates is explaining the accusations the greek court system is stating that he is being tried for. He continues to use various different rhetoric skills to engage the jury. Socrates supports his argument by stating that the way he talks can be construed in a different way than he hoped. He believes that he is only speaking of the truth. Even though Socrates believes his words are harmless, his accusers(Meletus, Anytus, and Lycon) believe differently. This passage is the speech that Socrates spoke in the ancient greek court. Of course it is not word for word but it is as close as it gets. This passage is very significant to the overall reading because it shows a wise man being tried for things he has said. This seems comical because we live in a country where we can practice free speech. The people who accused him do not understand Socrates and that is the main reason why they are threatened by him because no one in ancient Greece has spoken in the ways he does. Socrates might make people question themselves, but he never meant any harm. Also, he his accused of not believing in the gods. This is also interesting because they have no physical proof of his believes. Today, we also are free to practice freedom of religion. This passage truly shows how the community of ancient Greece handled law and how Socrates can still manipulate an audience using the skills that he is tried against for practicing. This passage says to me that ancient Greece was threatened by the way intelligent people were different from the common citizen. They were afraid of the unknown. While Socrates was just curious about all things, he was put on trial for meaningless acts that would be considered normal in today’s society. Overall, this passage is important to “Apology” because it sets the tone of Socrates speech he gives the jury in his trial.