Fall 2015

4 2 I n t e r p r e t a t i o n Volume 42 / Issue 1
promote his public reputation by demonstrating his virtuous life; as a result,
he accepted the death penalty.
Why does the issue of death appear more important than the demonstration
of virtue? The answer has to do with the nature of Hermogenes’s
question and his view of death. First, as we discussed, Socrates’s defense of
death was a direct answer to Hermogenes’s question regarding Socrates’s failure
to plan his speech; that is, Socrates did not prepare his speech, because
death was acceptable to him. Second, and more fundamentally, the choice of
topic seemed necessary for Socrates in order to converse with Hermogenes
or people like him. It appeared unreasonable to them that Socrates would
allow himself to be killed by fellow citizens as a result of his boastfulness.
Thus, Socrates skillfully chose the topic and means of persuasion in order
to eradicate their belief that death is always bad. In other words, Socrates
wanted to show them the goodness of death in order that they might accept
the reasonableness of the megalēgoria that led to his death. As a result, Hermogenes
was persuaded.
On the other hand, as it has been argued in this section, Socrates did not
hide his main aim, that is, the demonstration of virtue by megalēgoria. However,
it is not easy to see how Socrates achieved his aim, for how could a man
who intentionally allowed himself to be found guilty of a capital crime establish
a good reputation? In order to understand Xenophon’s Apology, we must
consider the way in which Socrates promoted his reputation by megalēgoria
even while being sentenced to death.
4. The Rhetoric and Achievement of
Socrates’s Official Speech
Hermogenes then described Socrates’s speech, showing what he had accomplished
at the trial. Pangle observes that Socrates’s boastful speech was
primarily addressed to Hermogenes, who, inspired by his companion’s
resoluteness, was expected to transmit to the public his favorable memory
of Socrates. In contrast, let us analyze the effect of Socrates’s rhetoric on the
jury and the public. Hermogenes, who had been persuaded in advance that
death was good for Socrates, would have rationalized Socrates’s boastful
speech and not been vexed by it. But the jury and the general audience were
vexed by Socrates’s boastful attitude (9 and 14–15), and this provocation had
a peculiar effect: to impress his virtue, and to secure his good reputation.
How did megalēgoria contribute to this achievement?