More than 2000 years later, Socrates has been declared innocent.
The verdict came over the Labour Day long weekend at the Hellenic Museum, after holding a mock retrial of Socrates’ case with Australia’s best legal minds tackling the ins and outs of Athenian law and culture.
It was a boisterous affair, with the audience feeling compelled to voice their opinions and call out at the injustice, mimicking the ancient Athenian courts.
QCs Julian Burnside and Ronald Merkel led a very convincing case for the defence, while Greek Australian QC Nicholas Papas and Elizabeth King fought a tough battle for the prosecution.
Ultimately, it was the judges’ call, and amazingly Justice Lex Lasry, Justice Emilios Kyrou and Judge Felicity Hampel unanimously found Socrates to be not guilty. In keeping with the ancient tradition, the audience was also able to vote, and dropped a stone in the guilty and not guilty baskets. Fifty-six people thought Socrates should be found guilty, but overwhelmingly, the crowd voted to see him declared innocent, with 201 placing their stones in the not guilty basket.
While the retrial of Socrates isn’t a new idea – New York, Athens and Chicago have all hosted retrials- it was the first time the event included two actors that played Socrates and his accuser, Meletus.
Tony Nikolakopoulos took on the role of Socrates, and says including him in the trial humanises the whole process.
“From a creative point of view we are far more engaged when we can actually see the subject,” he told Neos Kosmos last week.
While the retrial was a one-off highlight for the museum, it also hosted a huge variety of events on the weekend.
It continued with its Summer Cinema program, showing the hugely popular and successful film Zorba the Greek.
It also premiered the play Taxithi, a musical performance chronicling the lives of various women who migrated from Greece to Australia during the 1950s and 1960s.
Written and performed by Helen Yotis Patterson, the sold-out performance captivated Greek Australian crowds, reminding them of their own migrant stories.
The Hellenic Museum will continue with its Summer Cinema program and will screen The Germans Strike Again (1948) on Saturday March 21.