A Rhetorical Analysis Of Socrates 'Apology'

In the Apologia (Apology), Plato retells the Greek philosopher Socrates speaks at his trial where he is charged with corrupting the youth of Athens and practicing Atheism. This famous rhetoric given by Socrates was however not an apology. An apologia comes from the greek word meaning defense, or a speech that is made to give a defense in one’s case. This is what accounts in his speech. Throughout his defense, Socrates did not rush into an argument using his emotions, but instead uses his logic and understanding of the situation to explain everything. He explains why he acts the way he did. The Oracle of Delphi proclaimed that Socrates was the wisest man in all the land, which is what caused Socrates to search for men to question on how much

Socrates would often question men in the market places. This earned him many admirers among the young men of Athens. However, many of the men he would converse with in the marketplace would ended up hating him because of how foolish he made them look.

Socrates received from the Apollo, his divine blessing and believed that if he stopped seeking truth that would a disgrace for Apollo calling him the wisest man in all the land. He says here that after he found out that he was proclaimed the wisest man by the Oracle of Delphi he had a duty to uphold to Apollo.

“When I heard the answer, I said to myself, What can the god mean? and what is the interpretation of this riddle? for I know that I have no wisdom, small or great. What can he mean when he says that I am the wisest of men? And yet he is a god and cannot lie; that would be against his nature. After a long consideration, I at last thought of a method of trying the question. I reflected that if I could only find a man wiser than myself, then I might go to the god with a refutation in my hand.” (Internet Classics Archive,

Socrates would have rather died than to abandon, what he felt was his duty to Apollo. Socrates suggest in this rhetoric that if the court ruled him to only give up philosophizing to the world, he would have no choice but to decline their offer. He believed that he only is guilty of pursuing the perfection of his soul and educating the citizens of Athens. In one passage, Socrates compared himself to a gadfly and then proceeds to compare the citizens of Athens to a lazy horse. He believed that he was constantly buzzing around his fellow citizens and waking them up from their slumber of laziness and lack of thought. He mentions that though his presence may be irritating to the state, it will become more productive thanks to his teachings and argumentative