Apology (Xenophon)

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Xenophon's Apology (in full Apology of Socrates to the jury) describes Socrates' state of mind at his trial and execution, and especially his view that it was better to die before senility set in than to escape execution by humbling himself before an unjust persecution. Specialists believe that Xenophon's interpretation of the trial was written in response to a widespread literary reaction following the trial, where Athenian public figures and authors used the theme of Socrates trial to state their views on his guilt. The main part of the text is a direct blow for blow rejection of a particular attack on Socrates' character by an opponent of Socrates. The text gives clear indication on the charges brought against Socrates by Anytus, and is often used on this point in comparison with Plato's version. Xenophon was away at the time, involved in the events of the march of the Ten Thousand. He cites Hermogenes, who witnessed the events, as his source for the factual elements of the trial.

Other than Plato's work, The Apology of Socrates, Xenophon's second-hand account is the only other surviving "eye-witness" account of the trial of Socrates. Even granting some bias in the work, it is of historical value on that point alone.

What separates Xenophon's Apology from Plato's version is that in the former, the Oracle at Delphi says that Socrates was supreme in moral virtues while in Plato's text, Socrates is named supreme in wisdom. This might show insight into whether Socrates considered himself morally superior in acknowledging that he knew nothing, or whether he saw his understanding of his own ignorance as a solely intellectual form of superiority.