Socrates, the ancient Greek philosopher. After a lifetime of seeking the truth
and educating his countrymen, Socrates faced a trial for crimes against the
city-state of Athens, his hometown. His accusers provided him with plenty of
opportunity to simply leave, and avoid the trouble.^118 But the great sage had
already considered and rejected this course of action. His companion
Hermogenes observed him at this time discussing “any and every subject”^119
other than his trial, and asked him why he appeared so unconcerned. Socrates
first answered that he had been preparing his whole life to defend himself,^120
but then said something more mysterious and significant: When he attempted
specifically to consider strategies that would produce acquittal “by fair means
or foul”^121 —or even when merely considering his potential actions at the
trial^122 —he found himself interrupted by his divine sign: his internal spirit,
voice or daemon. Socrates discussed this voice at the trial itself.^123 He said
that one of the factors distinguishing him from other men^124 was his absolute
willingness to listen to its warnings—to stop speaking and cease acting when
it objected. The Gods themselves had deemed him wise above other men, not
least for this reason, according to the Delphic Oracle herself, held to be a
reliable judge of such things.”^125
Because his ever-reliable internal voice objected to fleeing (or even to
defending himself) Socrates radically altered his view of the significance of
his trial. He began to consider that it might be a blessing, rather than a curse.
He told Hermogenes of his realization that the spirit to whom he had always
listened might be offering him a way out of life, in a manner “easiest but also
the least irksome to one’s friends,”^126 with “sound body and a spirit capable
of showing kindliness”^127 and absent the “throes of illness” and vexations of
extreme old age.^128 Socrates’ decision to accept his fate allowed him to put
away mortal terror in the face of death itself, prior to and during the trial,
after the sentence was handed down,^129 and even later, during his
execution.^130 He saw that his life had been so rich and full that he could let it
go, gracefully. He was given the opportunity to put his affairs in order. He
saw that he could escape the terrible slow degeneration of the advancing
years. He came to understand all that was happening to him as a gift from the
gods. He was not therefore required to defend himself against his accusers—
at least not with the aim of pronouncing his innocence, and escaping his fate.