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Lysander tightened his grip on the bronze voting token in the palm of his hand , listening to the murmurs ripple across the five hundred citizens assembled in the Athenian court . The afternoon heat beat down mercilessly upon the stone benches of the Agora , and the prosecution had just concluded its demand for the death penalty . According to long - standing custom , an accused man in this desperate hour would bring weeping children before the bench , tear his garments , and plead for the mercy of the city . What the jurors expected was a desperate plea for exile or a heavy fine . Instead , the elderly stonecutter stepped toward the water clock with an amused , steady gaze , wrapped in his customary frayed cloak . Rarely had any defendant addressed the democratic assembly with such tranquil defiance . Under no circumstances would Socrates renounce his daily questions in the market square , nor would he promise silence in exchange for his life . " If you ask me what penalty I truly deserve for dedicating my days to your moral awakening , " the old man declared , his voice carrying clearly over the assembly , " it is that the city should maintain me at public expense in the Prytaneion alongside our Olympic champions . " Seldom has an ancient court witnessed such sudden , stunned outrage . Not only did he reject the conventional gestures of remorse , but he also insisted that Athens owed him gratitude for exposing the ignorance of its magistrates . Lysander watched the elder politicians on the front benches flush with anger . It was his unyielding commitment to self - examination that unsettled the jury far more than the original charges of impiety . All Socrates sought from his fellow citizens was the courage to question their own assumptions , yet to the assembly , such relentless questioning sounded like dangerous rebellion . Little did his accusers realize that by condemning him , they were immortalizing his philosophy . Only when the bronze ballots clattered into the bronze urn did the inevitable outcome become certain : a majority had voted for the hemlock cup . As the guards escorted him toward the prison , Socrates turned toward the benches one final time without a trace of bitterness . Lysander looked down at the cast ballot in the dust , knowing that while the assembly had silenced a troublesome voice , history would judge the judges .
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