Socrates must admit that the opinion of the majority is something that cannot be ignored, for they are capable of inflicting great harm on anyone who has incurred their disapproval. Hence, if Socrates cares about the reputation of his friend in the future, he will act in accordance with the request that that friend is now making of him. It will be supposed by those who are not familiar with the facts that Crito could have purchased the freedom of his friend by paying a certain amount of money but that he refused to do so. He gives as his reason that if Socrates refuses to escape and is then put to death, Crito will not only have lost a true friend who can never be replaced, but he will also be censured by many persons who will accuse him of failure to do what he could in order to save the life of a friend. However, he is convinced, because of a dream that he experienced that morning, that there will be a delay of one more day.Īt this point, Crito pleads with Socrates to take his advice and escape from prison. Socrates states that if such is the will of God, he is willing to die.
For this reason, Crito tells Socrates that tomorrow will be his last day alive. Crito reports that the ship is soon to arrive, for he has been told that it has left Sunium and is expected to be in Athens the next day. Socrates has been in prison for about a month, owing to the fact that no execution of a criminal would be allowed in the city until a certain ship has returned from the island of Delos. He adds that he is astonished to find that Socrates has been able to sleep so well and to remain calm and peaceful when the time for his execution is so close at hand. Crito explains that he has been waiting in the prison for some little time but has remained silent because he did not want to disturb Socrates' sleep. The dawn is just beginning to break, and Socrates has been sleeping soundly throughout the night. The dialog begins with Socrates asking Crito why he has arrived at so early an hour. The circumstances were such that he might easily have done so, and his friends were urging him to do it. In the Crito, particular attention is given to the reasons advanced by Socrates for refusing to escape from prison as a means of saving his own life. Like both the Euthyphro and the Apology, this dialog reveals something of the character of Socrates by describing the manner in which he faced difficult circumstances without being overcome by them.
The conversation takes place at an early hour on what proved to be the next-to-the-last day that Socrates remained alive. It is in the form of a dialog between Socrates and Crito, an elderly Athenian who for many years has been a devoted friend of Socrates and a firm believer in his ethical teachings. The Crito records the conversation that took place in the prison where Socrates was confined awaiting his execution.
0 kommentar(er)
