Apology (Xenophon)
Encyclopedia
Xenophon
Xenophon
Xenophon , son of Gryllus, of the deme Erchia of Athens, also known as Xenophon of Athens, was a Greek historian, soldier, mercenary, philosopher and a contemporary and admirer of Socrates...

's Apology (in full Apology of Socrates to the jury describes Socrates
Socrates
Socrates was a classical Greek Athenian philosopher. Credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of later classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon, and the plays of his contemporary ...

' state of mind at his trial and execution, and especially his view that it was better to die before senility set in than to escape execution by humbling himself before an unjust persecution. Specialists believe that Xenophon's interpretation of the trial was written in response to a widespread literary reaction following the trial, where Athenian public figures and authors used the theme of Socrates's trial to state their views on his guilt. The main part of the text is a direct blow for blow rejection of a particular attack on Socrates' character by an opponent of Socrates. The text gives clear indication on the charges brought against Socrates by Anytus
Anytus
Anytus , son of Anthemion, was one of the prosecutors of Socrates. An unsubstantiated legend has it that he was banished from Athens after the public felt guilty about having Socrates executed. We know that he was one of the leading supporters of the democratic forces in Athens...

, and is often used on this point in comparison with Plato
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...

's version. Xenophon was away at the time, involved in the events of the march of the Ten Thousand
Anabasis (Xenophon)
Anabasis is the most famous work, in seven books, of the Greek professional soldier and writer Xenophon. The journey it narrates is his best known accomplishment and "one of the great adventures in human history," as Will Durant expressed the common assessment.- The account :Xenophon accompanied...

. He cites Hermogenes
Hermogenes (philosopher)
Hermogenes was a son of Hipponicus, and a brother of the wealthy Callias. He is introduced by Plato in his dialogue Cratylus as one of the interlocutors, and maintains that all the words of a language were formed by an agreement of people among themselves...

 as his source for the factual elements of the trial. It is probable that Hermogenes had indeed witnessed the trial; for, though Plato's Apology does not mention his presence, Plato's Phaedo
Phaedo
Plato's Phaedo is one of the great dialogues of his middle period, along with the Republic and the Symposium. The Phaedo, which depicts the death of Socrates, is also Plato's seventh and last dialogue to detail the philosopher's final days .In the dialogue, Socrates...

lists Hermogenes among those who were present at Socrates' death.

Evidently, Xenophon had written his Apology after a number of other accounts of the trial had been published; for he presents his as being the only one of them that made Socrates' "boastful manner of speaking (megalēgoria)" at the trial understandable (Apology 1-2). Other than Plato's Apology of Socrates
Apology (Plato)
The Apology of Socrates is Plato's version of the speech given by Socrates as he unsuccessfully defended himself in 399 BC against the charges of "corrupting the young, and by not believing in the gods in whom the city believes, but in other daimonia that are novel"...

, Xenophon's second-hand account is the only other surviving "eye-witness" account of the trial of Socrates. Even granting some bias in the work, it is of historical value on that point alone.

One thing that distinguishes Xenophon's account from Plato's is that in the former, the Oracle at Delphi claimed no one was "more free, more just, or more sound of mind" than Socrates (Apology 14), while in Plato's text the claim was only that no one was "wiser" (Apology 21a). Some scholars have suggested that what accounts for the difference is that Xenophon wished to avoid the explicit attribution of "wisdom", a term which, to the average Athenian, would suggest that Socrates indeed was properly characterized as an atheistic natural philosopher as Aristophanes had done. However, Xenophon's Socrates does claim to be "wise" in the sense that "from the time when I began to understand spoken words [I] have never left off seeking after and learning every good thing that I could" (Apology 16).

Another difference is that in Xenophon's Apology Socrates' "divine sign" (daimonion) is described as giving positive indications as to what should be done (12), while Plato's Socrates consistently and explicitly describes the sign as "turn[ing] me away from something I am about to do" but "never encourag[ing] me to do anything" (Apology 31d).

A further difference between Plato and Xenophon is that whereas Plato has Socrates finally suggest a thirty-mina
Mina (unit)
The mina is an ancient Near Eastern unit of weight equivalent to 60 shekels. The mina, like the shekel, was also a unit of currency; in ancient Greece it was equal to 100 drachmae. In the first century AD, it amounted to about a fourth of the wages earned annually by an agricultural worker...

 penalty for himself (Apology 38b), the Xenophon/Hermogenes version says that he refused to suggest any and refused to allow his friends to do so, claiming that to do otherwise would imply guilt (Apology 23).

Finally, whereas Socrates' willingness to face the death penalty is in Plato's Apology explained by Socrates' unwavering commitment to his divinely appointed mission to keep philosophizing at all costs (29c-30c), it is explained in the Xenophon/Hermogenes version by the claim that it is better for him to die now than to face the pains and limitations of advanced old age (Apology 6-8, 27, and 32).

The final "chapter" of Xenophon's Memorabilia
Memorabilia (Xenophon)
Memorabilia is a collection of Socratic dialogues by Xenophon, a student of Socrates...

 (4.8.1-4.8.8) contains some of the same material - some of it almost word for word - as the beginning sections of his Apology (1-8). This has led some scholars to suspect that Xenophon's Apology was the original conclusion to the Memorabilia; given our limited evidence, however, this cannot be known with certainty.

See also

  • Trial of Socrates
    Trial of Socrates
    The Trial of Socrates refers to the trial and the subsequent execution of the classical Athenian philosopher Socrates in 399 BC. Socrates was tried on the basis of two notoriously ambiguous charges: corrupting the youth and impiety...

  • The Apology of Socrates by Plato
    Apology (Plato)
    The Apology of Socrates is Plato's version of the speech given by Socrates as he unsuccessfully defended himself in 399 BC against the charges of "corrupting the young, and by not believing in the gods in whom the city believes, but in other daimonia that are novel"...

  • Socrates
    Socrates
    Socrates was a classical Greek Athenian philosopher. Credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of later classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon, and the plays of his contemporary ...

  • Xenophon
    Xenophon
    Xenophon , son of Gryllus, of the deme Erchia of Athens, also known as Xenophon of Athens, was a Greek historian, soldier, mercenary, philosopher and a contemporary and admirer of Socrates...


External links

  • Project Gutenberg
    Project Gutenberg
    Project Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks". Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books...

    : English translation of Xenophon's Apology:
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