Arguement That Socrates Does Believe In Athenian Gods

Throughout his apology, Socrates often refers to several gods that others believe in and even swears his innocence to them. One of the first references he makes is when he explains that the reason he preaches his beliefs is because t

Socrates then takes it one step further by proving that that even if daimons are only children of gods, it still means that he must believe in gods. By believing in the children of gods, one must believe in gods in order for the children to exist. It is foolish to believe in children of mules and not believe in mules, and by only believing in the children would be the same concept. Thus, Socrates explained that since he believes in daimons, who are either gods or children of the gods, it would be absurd to think that he does not believe in the same gods as the city of Athens.

Also, Socrates proves to the jury that Meletus does not even have a valid argument in accusing Socrates. Socrates asks Meletus what he is accusing him of and Meletus says that he does not think Socrates believes in any gods at all. Meletus has changed his accusation against Socrates, and Socrates explains this by saying that the original accusation is that he believes in different gods than the city of Athens. In order to convince the jury, Socrates tells Meletus that he is accusing him of “not believing in gods, but believing in gods” (77). To this argument, Meletus has no response. While still questioning Meletus, Socrates makes an obvious point about his belief in daimonia. Meletus unintentionally and indirectly admits that he has made a false accusation against Socrates. It seems, however, that the jury does not catch this mistake. First, Meletus says that he thinks Socrates does not believe in any gods. However, this point changes the more Socrates questions him because he later says that it is true that if Socrates believs in daimons he has to believe in gods. After Socrates asks him several questions, Meletus finally agrees that Socrates does indeed believe in daimonia. By getting Meletus to admit that he agrees about Socrates’ belief in daimons, he then continues to prove that daimons are gods.

Throughout all of Socrates arguments and points proving that he does indeed believe in at least some of the same

Some topics in this essay:
, Meletus Socrates, Throughout Socrates, Socrates Socrates, Hades Socrates, believe gods, Athens Otherwise, city athens, gods city athens, daimons gods, gods city, gods socrates, believe gods city, gods children, meletus socrates, Socrates Meletus, socrates believe, gods gods, impossible believe, socrates believe gods, socrates found innocent, believe gods socrates,