Summary
Crito visits Socrates in prison before sunrise and is surprised to find him sleeping peacefully. He has been admitted by a guard whom he knows and has sat silently beside his friend rather than waking him. Socrates’ calmness appears remarkable because execution may be only days away.
Crito reports that the sacred ship is expected from Delos. Athenian religious custom prevents executions while the ship’s mission is underway, so its arrival will allow Socrates’ sentence to be carried out. Socrates believes it will arrive a day later than Crito expects because a dream has told him that he will reach fertile Phthia on the third day.
Crito urges immediate escape. He fears losing an irreplaceable friend, but he also worries that most people will think Socrates’ companions refused to spend money to save him. Socrates replies that the opinion of the many should not have such power. It would be better if crowds could produce the greatest good or evil, but they cannot make a person wise or foolish.
Crito answers that public opinion still matters because the majority can cause severe harm. He assures Socrates that the escape will not expose the helpers to great danger or expense. Informers can be bought, money is available from Crito and other friends, and people in Thessaly will welcome Socrates.
He adds that refusing escape assists Socrates’ enemies in achieving their purpose. He also calls it a betrayal of parental responsibility: Socrates could continue raising and educating his sons but instead appears willing to leave them. Crito fears that friends who fail to act decisively will be judged cowardly.
Socrates praises Crito’s concern but says enthusiasm is valuable only when guided by right judgement. They must examine the proposal rather than allow changed circumstances to overturn principles accepted throughout their lives.
He introduces an analogy with physical training. An athlete should heed a knowledgeable trainer rather than the praise or criticism of an unqualified crowd. Following ignorant opinion damages the body. In questions of justice and injustice, a person must likewise attend to informed judgement, because the part of the self improved by justice and harmed by injustice is more valuable than the body.
Crito objects that the many can put Socrates to death. Socrates accepts this power but refuses to treat it as moral expertise. The important aim is not merely to remain alive but to live well, which he identifies with living justly and honourably.
The two men therefore set aside questions of expense, reputation and children until they determine whether escape is right. Socrates asks Crito to confirm several principles: one must never willingly do wrong; wrongdoing is not justified by circumstances; and it is wrong to return injustice or injury for injustice or injury. Crito agrees.
Socrates then asks whether leaving prison without the city’s permission would violate a just agreement. To explore this, he imagines the Laws and the State confronting him during his escape. They ask whether his action is intended to destroy them, since legal judgements would lose force if private individuals could nullify them whenever they disagreed.
Socrates might answer that the city treated him unjustly. The Laws reply that the relationship was not an agreement that citizens would obey only favourable decisions. They describe themselves as responsible for the lawful marriages of his parents, his birth, upbringing and education.
The Laws compare their authority with that traditionally attributed to parents and masters. A citizen should show respect, use persuasion when correction is needed and avoid answering perceived injury with destructive retaliation. Athens also gives adults an opportunity to leave if they dislike its institutions. A citizen may take property and settle elsewhere rather than remain under an unwanted arrangement.
Socrates, however, stayed in Athens more consistently than almost anyone. He rarely travelled except on military service, expressed no preference for another city and raised his children as Athenians. During his trial he could have proposed exile but declared that he preferred death to banishment. His conduct therefore indicates acceptance of the civic relationship.
If he now escapes, the Laws argue, he will endanger his helpers through fines, loss of property or exile. In well-governed cities he will be regarded with suspicion as an enemy of law. Continuing to discuss virtue and justice would sound inconsistent after evading an agreement for personal advantage.
Life in disorderly Thessaly might be possible, but Socrates would become known for an undignified escape and dependence upon disguise or bribery. He would possess life at the expense of the way of life he had defended.
The Laws also answer the appeal to Socrates’ children. Taking them abroad may deprive them of Athenian citizenship and education. Leaving them behind means depending upon friends, but genuine friends will care for them whether Socrates is living elsewhere or has died.
They urge him to value justice before life, children or reputation. If he accepts the sentence, he departs as a person wronged by human beings rather than as someone who retaliated against law. If he escapes, he breaks agreements, harms the civic order and confirms accusations that his teaching undermines the city.
Socrates tells Crito that these words sound within him with overwhelming force, like music that prevents other voices from being heard. He invites a final objection, but Crito says he has nothing more to offer. Socrates concludes that they should follow the course indicated by the argument and remain in prison.