Comparison between Crito and ApologiaFor these two articles that we read in Plato's Crito and Apologia, we could know that Socrates is a long-lasting and imaginative person, because he presents us with a mass of contradictions: Very eloquent men, yet he never wrote a word; the ugliest and yet the most profoundly attractive; ignorant but wise; unjustly convicted, but unwilling to avoid his unjust execution. Behind these puzzles lies a less often explored contradiction: Socrates is at once the most Athenian, the most local, the citizenly, and the patriotic of philosophers; yet the most selfish of Athenians. Exploring that contradiction between Socrates, the loyal Athenian citizen, and Socrates, the philosophical critic of Athenian society, will help position Plato's Socrates in an Athenian legal and historical context; it allows us to bring together Socrates, the literary character, and Athens, the democratic city that tried and executed him. Furthermore, these help us understand Plato's presentation of the strange legal and ethical drama. Plato's Apology is an account of the speech. Socrates participates in the trial in which he is accused of not having recognized the gods recognized by the state, of having invented new gods and of having corrupted the youth of Athens. For the most part, Socrates speaks very simply and colloquially. Explain that he has no experience with the courts and that he will instead speak in the way he is accustomed to, with honesty and frankness. Socrates then proceeds to interrogate Meletus, the man primarily responsible for bringing Socrates before the jury. He harshly attacks Meletus for wasting the court's time with such absurd accusations. He then argues that if he corrupted the youth he did so unknowingly since Socrates believes that one never deliberately acts wrongly. If Socrates neither corrupted the youth nor did so unknowingly, he should not be put on trial in either case. The other accusation is that of impiety. This is the moment when Socrates finds an inconsistency in Meletus' belief that Socrates is impious. If he did not believe in any gods then it would be inconsistent to say that he believed in spiritual things, since gods are a form of spiritual thing. He continues to fight the charges, often asking and answering his own questions as if he were talking to one of his friends. He says that once a man has found his passion in life, it would be wrong of him to consider the life or death risk that passion might entail.