In 399 B.C., Socrates, a seventy year old man, was brought He faced several accusations of different sorts. Initially, the court had pronounced Socrates guilty. However, because the law had no penalty ordained for his offense, itwas required of Socrates to propose his own penalty, or to take the one suggested by Meletos, the death penalty.When the time had come for Socrates to state his defense, he addressed each of the accusations made against him, one by one, in attempt to absolve himself from wrong doing. The first accusation Socrates chose to contest declared that he was a student of natural philosophy. This meant that Socrates was believed to be one who sought to replace mythical explanations of events in the physicaluniverse with rational and scientific explanations. A religious fundamentalist of the ancient world, on the other hand, adamantly opposed this idea. Meletos, the prosecutor of Socrates, was one of these religious fundamentalists who preferred the literal interpretations of Greek mythology over the logical ones. For example, Meletos would interpret a roll of thunder as an outburst of anger from the great god, Zeus, whereas Socrates would explain it meteorologically. Because of these conflicting interpretations, Socrates was charged with impiety against the gods of the city. Meletos declared that Socrates "sought things under the earth and up in the heavens, and made the weaker argument the stronger". To try to use scientific reason to explain any occurrence during this time period was disregarded, as it showed disrespect to the gods and to the Greek religion. Not only was Socrates condemned for this, but for, later, discussing his discoveries, thoughts, and beliefs with others, as well. Meletos declared that by doing this, Socrates was corrupting the religion of young boys who had never before been exposed to such ideas. When the court called upon the parents and kinsmen of those Socrates had supposedly c...
