Oh Socrates...

Socrates is obviously a very intelligent man. He knows his stuff! Yet some of his teaching methods ore helpful and others are not.

His helpful teaching methods are the way he explains everything. Although this could sometimes be seen as a vice, it usually helps the reader follow his argument, much the way it helped the men of Athens follow the argument in his time. The way he introduces his apology is very clear cut, and there is a formula he follows to explain what he is defending and why. He tells the men why he is there, he explains how he did nothing wrong, he goes onto explain how he will defend himself, and then he clarifies the accusations brought against him. This formula helps the reader understand where this wordy man is taking his long winded speech.

Which leads me to my next point – wordiness. Socrates is, next to Charles Dickens, the wordiest man I have ever read. Whether that is just how the Greek translates over, or if that is how he actually spoke, makes no difference to me. He uses big words, which shows his intelligence, but baffles the reader. He also talks for a very long time! It is sometimes hard to follow what he is saying later in the defense because it is so long winded. He also uses examples (which can be good) far too often. And they confuse the reader at times. For example when he uses the stories to, I assume, illustrate his point, it is a little off topic and thus jars the reader a bit.

Wordy or not, this man has made a great influence on humanity, and poses questions we all must encounter at some point. So I will suck it up and read his wordiness, and look on the bright side: I’m learning something.