Arguement That Socrates Does Believe In Athenian Gods

5 Pages 1365 Words

Back in Socrates’ day, it was easy to be charged with crimes. Some of those charges may have a good reason behind it, others may be indicted for a foolish reason. One of the charges brought against Socrates was that he did believe in the same gods as the city of Athens. The only reason Socrates found himself facing the jurors was that several people in Athens disliked him because he seemed to be wiser than they were and he was able to embarrass them. It did not matter whether the accusation was true or not. The only way for Socrates to be found innocent was for to make a convincing enough plea, or “apology”, to appease the members of the jury. Although the verdict found him to be guity, Socrates should have been found innocent on the charge that he did not believe in the same gods as the city of Athens because he makes several references to different gods, he insists that he believes in daimonia, and he explains how it is impossible for him to believe in daimonic gods and not other gods.
Throughout his apology, Socrates often refers to several gods that others believe in and even swears his innocence to them. One of the first references he makes is when he explains that the reason he preaches his beliefs is because the gods wanted him to. Socrates makes it clear that he believes that he has to follow out the gods’ will when he says, “I have been ordered to practice this by the god, as I affirm, from divinations, and from dreams, and in every way that any divine allotment ever ordered a human being to practice anything at all” (86). By saying this, he shows his belief that the gods have a plan for every person and that what the gods want him to do is no worse from what they want others to do. This fact is easy for Socrates to prove because of what the Athenians believed. Because Socrates admitted that his path of life is really no different than the path of others, it shows that he believes the same gods that are...