Fall 2015

3 4 I n t e r p r e t a t i o n Volume 42 / Issue 1
and transmits this image to the entire city. Using this reputable defender,
Socrates reconciled himself to the rest of society. 6 In addition, based on
an analysis of the story of the Delphic oracle, Paul Vander Waerdt argues
that Socrates’s speech aimed at defending his reputation for his own justice,
“justice as benefaction.” To fulfill this aim, he based his defense speech on
a peculiar view of justice, intending to instruct the jury and leave a lasting
legacy after his death. This attitude is necessarily provocative owing to its
unconventional character. 7
Indeed, these considerations help us see Xenophon’s Apology in a different
light. However, they do not sufficiently explicate the way in which
Socrates’s speech enhanced his reputation among the audience at the trial.
Pangle emphasizes the function of megalēgoria in satisfying the high-minded
Hermogenes and compelling him to spread a favorable image of Socrates
after the trial. He does not provide a substantial analysis of the contents of
Socrates’s defense speech or the function of megalēgoria during the trial.
Vander Waerdt focuses on the story of the oracle—a small but significant
part of Socrates’s speech—to suggest that Socrates was making a case for his
own interpretation of justice. The present article aims to revise their views,
showing that Socrates’s boastful speech was primarily addressed to the public
in order to foster a good and widespread reputation, not to teach his theory of
justice. By changing his public image from “criminal” to “outstanding man of
virtue,” Socrates was able to mitigate the citizens’ hostility toward philosophy
and, to some degree, preserve its future in the city. Actually, some believed
his claim (14). 8 Even those who were not convinced were forced to pay attention
to Socrates’s virtue, and thus the focus was shifted away from Socrates’s
guilt and the indictment (14–15, 32). It was his rhetoric that reconciled philosophy
and the city, or at least brought the issue of his virtue by diverting
their attention from the indictment. The trial gave him a unique opportunity
to speak directly to the public. Megalēgoria was not used in a rational attempt
to persuade the public of his virtue, but rather as a tool by which he was able
to emotionally impress it upon them in a limited period of time. 9
6
Thomas L. Pangle, “On the Apology of Socrates to the Jury,” in Xenophon, ed. Bartlett, 19, 23–32.
7
Paul Vander Waerdt, “Socratic Justice and Self-Sufficiency: The Story of the Delphic Oracle in
Xenophon’s Apology of Socrates,” Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 11 (1993): 1–48.
8
Parenthetical references are to Xenophon’s Apology. I use the Oxford edition of Xenophon’s text
(Xenophontis Opera Omnia, vol. 2, ed. E. C. Marchant [Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1921]). All
translations are my own. I also refer to Andrew Patch’s translation in Xenophon, ed. Bartlett.
9
According to Plato, Socrates knew that it was impossible for him to persuade people of his innocence
or to eliminate the popular prejudice against him in a short time (Plato, Apology of Socrates