I believe that Socrates has defended himself cleverly, but he was unable to unequivocally prove that he is indeed innocent of the charges. He has provided some decent counterarguments, but they were not sufficient to overturn the charges. I will demonstrate this first through Meletus' charge that Socrates does not believe in the gods (Apol. 26c9-10). .
I am of the opinion that Socrates does not fully believe in our gods because he questioned the oracle of Delphi when he claimed, " ˜What ever is the god saying, and what riddle is he posing? For I am conscious that I am not at all wise?' " (Apol. 21b3-5). He then acted upon his doubt by searching for others who are wiser than himself (Apol. 21b10-21c2). This sort of questioning is threatening to our society, as Athens is fortified and built around the gods, and we should live in order to please them and avoid their wrath. To further confirm our decision that Socrates distrusts the authenticity of the gods, Socrates blatantly slung his beliefs in our faces in his final remarks when he said that, when he dies, it will either be "like a sleep in which the sleeper has no dream at all " (Apol. 40d1-2) or that he will arrive at Hades (Apol. 40e5-41a2). This shows that he is once again questioning the gods because he is not sure that he will enter Hades, while true followers of the gods should know that they are definitely going to enter Hades after death. This skepticism alone is worthy of death as his disrespect toward the gods could evoke the wrath of the gods and put our whole city of Athens in danger.
In regards to the charge that Socrates corrupts the youth (Apol. 24b8-9), Socrates gave a seemingly strong defense, but, under further inspection, his main counterargument lacks some crucial logic. He stated in his defense, "if I for my part am corrupting the young, and have already corrupted others, and if any of them, when they became older, had recognized that I ever counseled them badly in anything while they were young .
