Plato's apology

Can you imagine how much pressure a person must feel to know that the all-knowing oracle, a prophetic deity of wise counsel, proclaims you the wisest of all men? That is a big responsibility for one person to have. I would want to put her prophecy to the test, just to make sure she is right. That is exactly what happened to Socrates. His friend Chaerephon asked the oracle who was the wisest man and she replied Socrates. She thought Socrates was the wisest man because he humbly acknowledges that he does not know everything, that as a human he knows nothing. Socratic ignorance. This shook Socrates because he knew the oracle could not be wrong. He set out to prove her prophecy by questioning the wisest of Athenian men, mainly politicians, poets, and the craftsmen, on universal issues such as beauty and justice. At the end of their conversations, the men would wind up looking inept, lacking wisdom. This of course angered many people. In the end, Socrates was put to trial on charges of being a Sophist. He set out to prove he is not a Sophist by showing that everything he does is a complete contrast to the Sophist philosophy.
Socrates is not a Sophist. The first major contrast between both methods of philosophy is tha

In court, he took a Sophist approach to proving his innocence. He started of by stating that he is not an eloquent speaker and that he does not know anything, again his Socratic ignorance. He tried to portray an image of an innocent old man who lives for philosophy. They can see that he is poor; he gave up his material possessions in pursuit of wisdom. He did not need them in order to gain wisdom. A philosopher should not worry about material possessions because when they die all they will take with them is their knowledge. All the possessions get in the way. He also included his accusers in some dialogue to show that they accuse him of things they do not know anything about or even care about. Socrates also tried to build his character by comparing himself to ancient heroes like Achilles and Hercules when he fought in the Peloponnesian wars. When he brought himself up, he brought down the image of the Sophists.

It was Socrates’ wandering around Athens and asking these important men questions that got him in trouble. The first phase of Socrates’ accusation is his wandering. The Sophists went around offering their services. Socrates went around proving the oracle’s prophecy. The second phase of his accusation was when he concluded that the men were wrong. Socrates would ask them questions and prove that they were not the wisest of men. He was little by little shortening the list of wise men. By showing that the other men were wrong and not wise and proving the oracle’s prophecy right, he as making his argument stron