certainly brought about his condemnation. There is ev-
ery reason to believe that if he had adopted a grovelling,
even a conciliatory tone, he would have been acquitted.
As it was, he was found guilty by a bare majority. The
law enacted that, when the charge was proved, those who
had brought the accusation should first propose the penalty
which they thought fitting; then the accused himself should
propose an alternative penalty. It was for the judges to de-
cide which of the two should be inflicted. The accusers of
Socrates proposed the death-penalty. Here again Socrates
might have escaped by proposing at once some petty pun-
ishment. This would have satisfied the people, who were
only anxious to score off the troublesome philosopher and
pedant. But Socrates proudly affirmed that, as he was
guilty of no crime, he deserved no punishment. To propose
a penalty would be to admit his guilt. Far from being a
guilty person, he considered himself in the light of a pub-
lic benefactor, and as such, if he were to get his deserts,
he proposed that he should be publicly honoured by be-
ing given a seat at the President’s table. Nevertheless, as
the law forced him to propose a penalty, he would, without
prejudice to his {137} plea of innocence, suggest a fine of
thirty minas. This conduct so exasperated the judges that
he was now condemned to death by a large majority, about
eighty of those who had previously voted for his acquittal
now voting for his execution.
Thirty days elapsed before he was executed, and these days
were spent in prison. His friends, who had free access to
him, urged him to escape. These things were possible in
Athens. Anaxagoras had apparently escaped with the help
of Pericles. A little silver in the hands of the jailguards
would probably have settled the matter. Socrates could
fly to Thessaly, where the law could not reach him, as
Anaxagoras had fled to Ionia. But Socrates steadily re-
fused, saying that to flee from death was cowardly, and
that one ought to obey the laws. The law had decreed his
death, and he must obey. After thirty days, therefore, the
poison cup was brought to him, and he drank it without
flinching. Here is Plato’s account of the death of Socrates,
which I quote from the “Phaedo.” In detail it cannot be con-
sidered historical, but we may well believe that the main
incidents as well as the picture it gives us of the bearing
and demeanour of the philosopher in his last moments, are
accurate representations of the facts.“He rose and went into a chamber to bathe, and Crito
followed him, but he directed us to wait for him. We
waited, therefore, conversing among ourselves about what
had been said, and considering it again, and sometimes
speaking about our calamity, how severe it would be to
us, sincerely thinking that, like those who are deprived of
a father, we should pass the rest of our lives as orphans.
When he had bathed and his {138} children were brought
to him, for he had two little sons and one grown up, and
the women belonging to his family were come, having con-
versed with them in the presence of Crito, and given them
such injunctions as he wished, he directed the women and
children to go away, and then returned to us. And it was
now near sunset; for he spent a considerable time within.
But when he came from bathing he sat down and did not
speak much afterwards: then the officer of the Eleven came