In the spring of 399 B.C., Socrates confronted 500
Athenians, citizens, judges and jurors, in his trial initiated by the charges
leveled at him by Meletus, Anytos and Lycon. The trial began with a reading of
the formal charges: Socrates is guilty of crime in refusing to recognise the
gods acknowledged by the state, and importing strange divinities of his own; he
is further guilty of corrupting the young.
On May 2012, almost 2,500 years later, the trial of Socrates
was repeated. This time Socrates was acquitted in a historical trial which is
not a re-enactment but a modern perspective based on current legal framework
supplemented with ancient Greek elements and comical theatrics.
The Alexander S. Onassis Foundation found advocates for its
venture, top American and European judges and lawyers, who all examined the
trial material retrieved from ancient texts by Plato (Apology, Crito,
Euthyphro, Phaedo), Xenophon (Memorabilia) and Aristophanes (The Clouds), as
well as the corresponding Athenian law of that time.
The 2012 event took place in Athens ( the 2011 trial was in
New York), and you may see the relevant video ( also in English and French
languages, with concurrent translation), at : http://www.sgt.gr/en/programme/event/688
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