Socrates Apology: A Comparative Analysis

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Texts from the past contain a lot of lessons that applied to the audience at the time and the lessons can be applied to today’s society as well. Throughout this English course there are many texts that display different themes and lessons that display things that can be applied to things of the past and present, but two texts that stood out to me were, the “Bhagavad-Gita” and “Socrates Apology.” These two texts are very interesting and insightful and they share the same central topic, which is what is the meaning of life and death and the “Allegory of the Cave” has the central topic of how an individual is affected by society. Although these texts have similar aspects and topic, they differentiate in how they approach the topic. Moreover, …show more content…
The “Bhagavad-Gita’s” social situation was how a person can manage to live a spiritual life, but not give up their social life or family. In contrast, “Socrates Apology’s” social situation was how can one man fight for himself against his accusers in a justly and apologetic manner. Both authors were able to display these different social dilemmas or situations in a clear way because the message they wanted to convey was seen through the characters and how they handled their situations. Next, the spiritual situation that the characters faced in the “Bhagavad-Gita” was how to have spiritual discipline. For example, Lord Krishna states, “When suffering does not disturb his mind, when his craving for pleasures has vanished, when attraction, fear, and anger are gone, he is called a sage whose though is sure” (Schmidt 144). This example from the text displays how Krishna was explaining to Arjuna that a wise man who is spiritually disciplined will not be phased by things of the world, but will stay focused on his beliefs and knowledge. He is wise if he does not let his desires distract him from what is right and his ignorance get in the way of what he knows is right. In comparison, the spiritual situation that Socrates brought to light was how people need to not worry about their social status or money but they must worry about their soul. He asked the question, “Are you not ashamed that you give your attention to acquiring as much money as possible, and similarly with reputation and honour, and give no attention to truth and understanding the perfection of your soul” (Schmidt 23)? Socrates challenged his accusers and audience to look at themselves spiritually before they judge him and his morals. Furthermore, when he says “understanding the perfection of your soul”, he is referring to their spiritual life needs. Lastly, the physical
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