What kind of play is Socrates on trial?

Socrates on Trial is a play depicting the life and death of the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates.

How big was the jury in Socrates on trial?

Socrates on Trial strongly encourages audience participation. During Socrates’ day, juries were much larger than they are today. Juries of several hundred, or even several thousand, were not uncommon. Large juries were thought to make it more difficult for jurors to be bribed. Athenian juries were also not quiet.

What was the scene of the preliminary hearing for Socrates?

Royal Stoa (scene of the preliminary hearing for Socrates) The preliminary hearing before the magistrate at the Royal Stoa began with the reading of the written charge by Meletus. Socrates answered the charge. The magistrate questioned both Meletus and Socrates, then gave both the accuser and defendant an opportunity to question each other.

Is there a record of the charges against Socrates?

The document containing the charges against Socrates survived until at least the second century C.E. Diogenes Laertius reports the charges as recorded in the now-lost document:

Who was more frightening in the trial of Socrates?

Critias, without question, was the more frightening of the two former pupils of Socrates. I.F. Stone, in his The Trial of Socrates, describes Critias (a cousin of Plato’s) as “the first Robespierre,” a cruel and inhumane man “determined to remake the city to his own antidemocratic mold whatever the human cost.”

Royal Stoa (scene of the preliminary hearing for Socrates) The preliminary hearing before the magistrate at the Royal Stoa began with the reading of the written charge by Meletus. Socrates answered the charge. The magistrate questioned both Meletus and Socrates, then gave both the accuser and defendant an opportunity to question each other.

The document containing the charges against Socrates survived until at least the second century C.E. Diogenes Laertius reports the charges as recorded in the now-lost document:

Why was Socrates sentenced to death by the dikasts?

The death sentence of Socrates was the legal consequence of asking politico-philosophic questions of his students, from which resulted the two accusations of moral corruption and of impiety. At trial, the majority of the dikasts (male-citizen jurors chosen by lot) voted to convict him of the two charges; then,…