The “Mistrial” of the Century The trial of the Greek philosopher, Socrates, was one of the most controversial trials in recorded history. The outlandish accusations presented by Socrates accusers were cloaked in cleaver speech in order to plot the citizens of Athens against him. The just philosopher knows this, but rather than play the game of his accusers he speaks the truth and this eventually leads to his death. The 500 Athenian “judges” convict Socrates by a narrow margin of 280 to 220, but if I had been on the jury I would have voted him innocent. If I were a member of the Athenian jury I would have acquitted Socrates of the charges placed against him by Meletus, Anytus and Lycon.The Greek comic poet, Aristiphanes, portrayed Socrates as an atheist in his comedy Clouds, and by doing this many people presume Socrates to be guilty before the trial even begins. The first accusers of Socrates accuse him of being a natural scientist and a sophist. Socrates believed that it was more important for him to address the people who first accused him because they are the people who persecute him in the greatest amount. In his defense to the first charges against him Socrates says: Again I offer the many of u as witnesses, and I maintain that you should tell each other, those of you that have ever heard me conversing—and there are many such among you—tell each other, then if any of you ever heard me conversing about such things, either much or little, and from this you will recognize that the same holds true for other things that the many say about me. But in fact none of these things is so; and if you have heard from anyone that I attempt to educate human beings and make money from it, that is not true either (Plato 66)Socrates poverty is his biggest defense against the charge of being a sophist because the sophists were paid to teach, and if that were the case Socrates would not have been living i...
