Work · Ancient Greek
Apology
Socrates' defense speech: the unexamined life is not worth living.
Introduction
Apologia is Greek for “defence speech”: the work presents, in Plato’s literary version, Socrates’ speeches before an Athenian jury in 399 BCE, where he was accused of impiety and of corrupting the young. Plato says that he was present. The text has three parts: the defence itself, Socrates’ counter-proposal after the guilty verdict, and his final words after the death sentence. Socrates explains his questioning of fellow citizens through the Delphic oracle, which declared no one wiser than him, and concludes that his wisdom lies in knowing that he does not know. Xenophon left a shorter account of the same trial.
Read the full text
- Wikisource (English)
- Wikisource (Greek)
- Wikisource (French)
- Wikisource (Polish)
- Wikisource (Latin)
- Project Gutenberg
Free full text, often an older edition or translation
Connections
Taken up in
- Republicc. 375 BCE · Plato
More works by Plato
As of November 2026 · Improve this page · How Agora is made