Yike CaoPHIL 100Dr. Hass10/8/20133. For what reasons did Socrates refuse to escape from prison? Do you agree or disagree with his decision? Defend your answer. In 399 BC Socrates was sentenced to death for corrupting the youth of Athens. With this, authorities claimed that he was teaching young people to question what they were commonly taught about religion, gods and goddesses. This occurred at the end of the Peloponnesian War, which was believed to be a sign of Athena's (protector goddess of Athens) fury against her people. People at the time believed that Socrates' teachings would only anger her further and so they arrested Socrates and eventually sentenced him to death. In this essay I will explain the reasons why Socrates refused to escape from prison and why I think he should not have accepted the death penalty. After reading Plato's The Trial and Death of Socrates, it appears that Socrates was given a choice of punishment, but he refuses to take the accusations seriously and claims that he was not afraid of death and was therefore forced to drink the hemlock. Socrates accepted his punishment saying that no one knows what death is like, it could be better than this life and that in death his soul could be free among other great souls and there he could continue his questions and seek knowledge. Socrates claims that he is right to submit to his punishment. One reason he gives is that while he has this escape route, it wouldn't make much sense. He would not be able to continue his quest for knowledge in Thessaly since, first, he might face the same charges of corrupting youth there or the Athenian authorities could easily find him there. He thought that people would be more interested in how ... middle of paper ... you have the opportunity to continue living (even if your life will never be the same as before), and that life should be the most important and sacred thing. So in the eyes of the law he was right to submit to his punishment but it seems wrong to me that he chose death when he could have chosen life. Although many people might argue that Socrates should not have run away; Socrates was old and would have died anyway. He would rather become a martyr who highlights the problems of Athenian democracy than look like a coward and run away. In other words, Socrates' sacrifice was necessary to highlight the injustices in society at the time. But I still believe that Socrates should have at least fought for his life and not simply submitted to his punishment so easily. The end result could always be the same, or even better.