crito plato

While , like Crito , the modern day audience can easily think of reasons Socrates ought to have escaped from prison , ultimately , the philosopher made the right choice

Socrates , having been accused of atheism , corrupting the youth and working to undermine the city of Athens , was condemned to death . Escape then , seems like a natural response . It would have allowed him to keep his life and possessions . Meanwhile , as Crito points out , it would have spared Socrates ' family the pain of losing him . Furthermore , it would have spared the reputation of his friends (Plato

, 360 B .C . They would not have been looked down on for doing nothing to save him . Escaping from prison would also have allowed Socrates to continue to spread his teachings . It would have allowed him to continue checking the presumed wisdom of others . All of these things seem to justify an escape attempt After all , when a person is already condemned to die , what have they got to lose

The answer in Socrates ' case is , a lot ' Socrates was already an old man when he stood trial . He had already had children and watched them train with their counterparts in school . At the age of seventy , he might not have had many years left to live at all . His choice , then , was to die , staying true to his teachings , or to repudiate the principles he had always taught and lived by

In short , Socrates had to choose whether or not a few days or a few years...