Do you agree with the way Socrates handled his trial?

Answer 1

His greatest error was trying to use sophisticated arguments when the jurors were common people selected by ballot, who were never going to understand the types of arguments which were appropriate for his intellectual students.

We would therefore have to conclude that he knew he was for the high jump, and was using the trial as a teaching platform for the audience rather than trying to influence the jurors.

And after his conviction, when he gave his proposed punishment after the prosecution had proposed death, he gave a facetious alternative instead of saying banishment. The jury was required to select one or the other of the two proposed punishments - so by proposing he be rewarded rather than punished, he automatically acquiesced to the death proposal.

So we have to conclude that he wished to die rather than leave Athens to see his few remaining years out without the intellectual stimulation of subverting the youth of Athens to promote his aims of getting rid of democracy and changing the popular social system.

So in agreeing or disagreeing with the way he handled it, you have to work out whether you agree with his right to choose his own path, or whether you want to dictate to him what you would like him to have done and why your objectives are better than his.