Socrates’ Philosophy as a Divine Service in Plato’s Apology

Abstract

The aim of the present paper is to discuss Socrates’ idea of philosophy as a service to the god. First the article investigates why Chaerephon went to Delphi and why he asked Pythia the famous question concerning Socrates. The investigation provides a basis for distinguishing two major periods in his activity. The one preceding the Delphic oracle consists in conducting inquiries in a group of closest friends. The one following the Delphic oracle consist in addressing a much larger audience. An analy¬sis of both periods suggests that the oracle from Delphi greatly affected Socrates’ relations with other Athenians. While the present article deals also with the issue of Socrates’ daimonion, it hypothesizes that the voice of daimonion and the voice of Pythia could be regarded as Apollo’s interventions.