Socrates was charged with blasphemy for worshipping strange gods. Blasphemy is “ in religion, words or actions that display irreverence toward or contempt for God or that which is held sacred. Blasphemy is regarded as an offence against the community to varying degrees, depending on the extent of the identification of a religion with the society at large or the government.” (All ref

Socrates merely conversed with the youth. It is up to them to accept the ideas of Socrates and therefore he should not be punished for them. He was thought to have encouraged youthful followers to be anti-democratic and “indoctrinated them with his own contempt for democracy”. (Winspear and Silverberg) Socrates believed that not all individuals should be equal because most of the society lacked knowledge and that only those who are wise should rule all of Athens. Indeed he taught his students to challenge the norms. However, the charge of corrupting the youth in my opinion was wrong. Socrates “students” are not his full responsibility. The dictatorship led by Alcibiades and Critias should not place blame on Socrates but much rather on the individuals themselves. This is because they were acting on there own free will. They followed Socrates because they believed there was truth in his teachings, and therefore made the conscious choice to support dictatorship. Also, this charge of corrupting the youth should not be in question because of the general amnesty issued in 403, meaning Socrates should have acquitted all actions taken by the uprising. (Linder) It is one thing to teach ideas and another to force them upon a person. Socrates was a teacher and expressed his ideas. Not once had he pushed his students to agree with his teachings. Therefore Socrates should not bare responsibility

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