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Essay on Why Didn't Socrates Escape From Prison?
Socrates did not use the trial against him to commit suicide but, after having been convicted and sentenced to death by the people of Athens, he saw no reason to go on living. This is why he refused to escape from prison. This is supported by quotes from Apology and Crito as well as what we know about Socrates in general.
The trial failed and Socrates’ defense was put together well and contained no untruths or stretched truths. Most of what he said was valid and fitting to his character. On several occasions he specifically attacked the man and his principles. On one occasion he said to the jury, “The man [Meletus] appears to me, gentlemen of the jury, highly insolent and uncontrolled. He seems to have made this deposition out of insolence, violence and youthful zeal”. Are these the words of a man who wanted to die at the hands of his accusers? He then went on to say, “I do not think, gentlemen of the jury, that it requires a prolonged defense to prove that I am not guilty of the charges in Meletus’ deposition” (Plato, Tredennick, Tarrant, 16). He obviously intended to prove himself innocent. The question is did he expect it to work?
On several occasions during the trial, Socrates asks that there not be a disturbance if he proceeds in his “usual manner.” One might wonder why he would use such a defense if he feared it might cause a disturbance. Surely this would be no way to save oneself from death. The simple answer to that is that he felt it was the only valid defense that he could consciously give. He said, “[Meletus] himself stood trial on a less dangerous charge, he begged and implored the jury with many tears...........
