ence on his pupils that he was. Socrates was a master of good speaking. He thought that one should not be part of a community or city, but he or she should be separate from society. Throughout the trial, Socrates acted as though he wanted to lose the case as far as I can understand. He went out of his way to antagonize the jury, making comments that associated himself with certain people and ideas that were offensive to the jury. He attacked the beliefs held by the jury, knowing that they held them dearly. He wanted to die. He wanted the death penalty. The second part of the trial in Athens involved arguments over the penalty, which was also voted on by the jury. It is here that Socrates makes extreme suggestions in order to be sure that they voted for the death penalty. The jury had two choices for a penalty. One suggested by the prosecution and one given by the defense. Obviously the prosecution decided on the death penalty, while Socrates, according to the writings of Plato, originally made what could have been considered a vulgar suggestion. He wanted to be named a hero and be given free meals for the remainder of his life at the Prytaneum, the city hall and a place of honor. After changing his penalty once before, he eventually settled on a fine of 30 minas r, which would have been a reasonable option, had he not done the damage with his original suggestion. The jury decided to give Socrates the death penalty, with about 360 jurists voting for this means of action as Plato said in his writings. This was the result of Socrates own defense to die as a result of the trial. In regards to the accusations concerning Socrates beliefs in the gods of Athens, Socrates had forced Meletus to call him an atheist. Atheism was not illegal in Athens, and definitely not punishable by law according to my studying. However Socrates does not even attempt to press this issue. This was not the major focus of the trial. It was more of a ...
