Apologyのあらすじ

The 7 key ideas

1. Key idea 1 · free to read

   Plain truth matters more than polished speech

   Socrates opens by saying that his accusers spoke so persuasively that he almost forgot who he was. Then he names their boldest falsehood. They warned the jury to beware of his power with words, as if he were a gifted orator. He answers that he has no such gift, unless they mean the power of truth. In that sense alone, he says, he is eloquent.

   He promises a very different kind of speech. He will not give a set piece dressed up in neat phrases. He will use whatever words come to him in the moment, because he trusts that his cause is just. He is more than seventy years old, and this is his first time in a court of law. He asks the jurors to treat him as a stranger who speaks in his own manner.

   Look at what he does here. He splits the courtroom into two duties. The speaker must speak the truth, and the judge must decide justly. The polish, the performance, and the appeal to feeling he sets aside as beside the point. This standard shapes the whole speech. It explains why he later refuses to weep, to beg, or to parade his children before the jury.

   Speak plainly and truthfully, and ask others to judge your words by their truth, not their polish.

2. 2

   Old slanders do more harm than new charges

   Before he meets the formal charge, Socrates turns to a danger he fears more than the men who brought him to court.

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3. 3

   Wisdom begins with knowing what you do not know

   If Socrates has never studied nature or taken fees, why does he have such a name?

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4. 4

   Careful questions can expose a weak accusation

   Now Socrates turns to the formal charge.

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5. 5

   Duty to do right outweighs the fear of death

   Socrates expects someone to ask whether he is ashamed of a way of life that may end it early.

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6. 6

   Integrity shows in what you refuse to do

   Someone may wonder why Socrates gives private advice but never speaks in the assembly.

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7. 7

   Death need not be an evil to fear

   After the jury finds him guilty, Socrates says he is not distressed.

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