Week 4 Blog 2

 Grace Leung

2/17/11

Western Civ

Do you think Socrates got what he deserved? Why didn't he accept exile?

            Socrates did not get what he deserved because he did not harm anyone. He was clearly speaking his mind and wanted to help make Athens a better society. He felt the way Athens was ruled, was unfair and wrong. This did not make it right for him to be convicted for a crime. Even though this would be the right of the first amendment in the United States, Athens did not have these rules making it hard for them to make a descision on what is right. Socrates was considered a rebel in this time era because the Athenians did not want change even though their society was corrupted and pulled apart. Socrates was not in any way trying to harm the Athenian people, but instead trying to explain to them how to improve their lives and maybe even stop follow the ancient rules. Socrates did not accept exile because he felt it was a sign of fear. Also there was no point in him fleeing because the other countries would not probably accept his theories as well. Socrates was a man with great teachings and ideas, but the Athenian people did not realize this because they were so used to their traditional ways. They will not realize how right Socrates ideas were till later.