Bonus:
Summary: Socrates humble brags and nonsequitars for a couple pages.
Commentary: I love when the translation used in T5FSOB is publicly available and still considered decent. Makes it much easier to grab and go. I'll be reading it side by side with the more modern and also popular Grube translation from here. Which one I prefer might effect what translation I use for other texts.
I'll be honest by saying I've never understood the public obsession with THE TRIAL OF SOCRATES! It's this crown jewel of every American gifted program, the cliché example of injustice, the litmus test for whether you're a cool philosopher dude. And it makes perfect sense that they killed him. Socrates was, as far as I can tell, some asshole who spends his day harassing everyone at the market like some kind of pre-social media debate influencer. "Wow, you didn't have a perfectly formed argument for your opinions when you went to buy wine at the market? What a moron!"
People make a big deal about the "corrupting the youth" part of the charges, but he's also accused of not believing in the city's gods, which he did do, and which carried the death penalty for other people. Add in the fact that he was associated with the recently overthrown Spartan puppet government, and I'm not saying we should execute people for being assholes and heretics, just that it doesn't really seem surprising that the Athenians chose to execute this particular asshole/heretic.
I mean, look at this:
I mean when they told you to be upon your guard, and not to let yourselves be deceived by the force of my eloquence. They ought to have been ashamed of saying this, because they were sure to be detected as soon as I opened my lips and displayed my deficiency; they certainly did appear to be most shameless in saying this, unless by the force of eloquence they mean the force of truth; for then I do indeed admit that I am eloquent.
Yes, Socrates, you're a terrible public speaker, but also totally truthful. This isn't a borderline self contradictory statement at all.
Then he goes and repeats himself for a paragraph or two without actually saying/proving much of anything. Then starts telling some rambly stories that're tangentially related to his actual argument. Seriously, he's literally one of those assholes that yells at random people on the quad while they're just trying to go to class.
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