Plato in Apology and Aeschylus in Eumenides Essay - 1

Plato in Apology and Aeschylus in Eumenides - Essay ExampleCharged with being an associate of the Thirty and with subverting the sentiment of Athenians, Socrates was brought to trial in 399 BCE. Platos Apology is his account of the proceedings against Socrates and, in particular, Socrates oratory at trial in his own defense.1 Thus, the Apology must be understood in the context of dramatic social changes taking place in capital of Greece, particularly, the restoration of the Athenian tradition of democratic rule, and a pogrom to drive from Athens any vestige of the radical thinking associated with the Thirty. So, when we speak of reactionary sentiment in Athens at the time of Socrates trial, we are speaking of the force of the newly-restored commonwealth to return the city-state to the tradition of democratic principles.2 Platos Apology and Aeschylus Eumenides both present the transition from an old order to a new one and, in different ways, embody the human condition of duality. Wh ereas in the Apology Socrates pleads his case by asking questions that probe the deeper recesses of the mind, Aeschylus presents us with characters who engage in spirited contestation and accusation. Thus, we are presented with two very different definitions of and perspectives on the subject of justice. Yet the entire spectrum of motivation toward and contemplation of justice is addressed in both. Let us first look at Aeschylus work. In Eumenides, the third in Aeschylus Oreseias trilogy, Apollo leads Orestes to kill his mother, Clytemnestra, who had previously killed her husband and Orestes father, Agamemnon.