Plato, Apology of Socrates. Dramatic
date & place: court in Athens, 399 BCE. Composed: ca 390 BCE.
section number
17-18a: manner of speaking
& matter at issue.
18a-19a: first accusers &
present accusers
19b-24b: account of the first
accusers & how he made enemies by questioning Athenians at three levels:
21: oracle from Delphi, replied "that no one was wiser."
21b-22d: attempt to refute the oracle by way of "journeyings as if
they were labors" [22a, cf. Odysseus, Hercules]
(1) interrogates "one of our public men" [sc. Pericles]
(2) finds that "poets do not compose...with knowledge, but by inborn talent
and by inspiration."
(3) "Finally...craftsmen...same fault as the poets: each of them, because
of his success at his craft thought
himself very wise in other most important pursuits."
24b-28b: confutes present accusers
28b-d: Socrates compared
to Achilles: heroic willingness to die for what considers right (cf. Antigone)