As a juror, I would find Socrates guilty based on the reasons offered and the legal criteria taken into account.
Reasons provided by Meletus
Socrates commits a crime by exploring things beneath the earth and the heaven, corrupting them while believing he is making right out of them and imparting them to the young (29).
There were Athenian laws that determined what was wrong and what was acceptable, and Socrates breaks these norms, perhaps causing society corruption and infirmity.
Socrates is recorded as saying that he is simply giving back to the gods (23).
Euthyphro's perspective
Euthyphro is a juror who agrees that giving back to gods is not wrong, but it depends on which ways and how they affect the majority.
The moral values that contradict with the majority by virtual are considered to be unethical as demonstrated by the juror.
The only way Socrates should practice his philosophical inventions is by giving honor and reverence to his gods without challenging the rights of the majority and the Athenian laws (24).
Meletus indictment terms Socrates' practices as improvising and innovating religious beliefs accusing ignorance and corrupting the minds of the youth that might lead to conflict with the legal institutions.
Under the Athenian law, any citizen is allowed to press charges against the other that they feel they are doing wrong or guilty.
Socrates has moral rights of practicing his beliefs so long as they do not impact negatively on those of others.
In this case, the majority are seen to object to Socrates' philosophy, and it is evident enough that his acts are unethical.
Socrates is not ignorant of the impacts of his teaching to the young people as he states that they anger people when discussed with the youths.
He claims that those youths imitate him and try to cross-examine others and seems to boast about it without focusing on the implications of those teachings on the violations of the law as well as the moral principles of the majority.
To him, they have nothing to prove that he is the one who teaches them those philosophical narratives (36).
The legal and ethical obliviousness illustrates Socrates' disregard of the law and questionable moral standing.
Work Cited
Reeve, C. (2002). The trials of Socrates: Six classic texts: Plato, Aristophanes, Xenophon. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub. Co.
