Socrates & Crito

8 Pages 2074 Words

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Socrates states that his agreement with the state is a life-long one. It began when his mother and father were married by the laws and gave birth to Socrates in Athens. Socrates grew up in the city of Athens and was nurtured and educated by the laws and by the city, and his parents were also taught to instruct Socrates and raise him. Because of these reasons, Socrates claims, the law would assert that Socrates is their servant. And as a result of this, the agreement between Socrates and Athens is one of “unequals.” Socrates gives the example of a father and son, or a master and servant, and so forth, to describe his relationship with Athens (i.e. Athens is the master and Socrates is the servant). He then follows this statement by claiming that if Socrates’ father was to beat him, would he beat his father in return? Or, if a master loathed his servant, could the servant return this hatred to the master? To Socrates and to Athens, the answer was obviously no. If the laws had undertaken to destroy Socrates, Socrates had no right to try and destroy the laws in exchange, because Socrates was less-than-equal to the laws. Socrates then claims that his relationship with the laws required him to revere the laws more than he reveres his father, mother, or ancestors, and the importance of this admiration and respect is more important to the Gods and to society than anything else.
Socrates says that the laws had given him an opportunity to react in two ways to ...