Athens, Greece, was one of the most influential cities for Western culture the world had ever seen. At the forefront of the Athens curriculum are three names: Sophocles, Plato and Aristotle. Each of these three great philosophers had different ideas about life, wisdom, and God's role in everyday affairs, but each significantly influenced Western thought and culture. Sophocles, the first of these philosophers to live, was put to death by the state around 400 BC for charges of corruption of youth and impiety brought against him. He was found guilty and sentenced to death by a group of his moles (vii). However, Sophocles did not commit the crimes that the "plaintiffs" claimed to have committed, thus making a generally just punishment unjust, making his execution the actual crime committed. To examine whether Sophocles violated the laws he was accused of, the charges brought against him must first be examined. The problem with examining these charges is that Sophocles' and Meletus' versions differ. In essence the accusations boil down to two things: corruption of the Athenian youth and impiety. Meletus claims to know “how young people are corrupted and who corrupts them” according to Sophocles in Euthyphro (2c, 3-4). The claim is that Sophocles is jeopardizing the future of Athens by indoctrinating the city's future leaders with his "crazy ideas." Obviously, the city's current leaders want to stay in power and run the city the way they want. This leads them to try to crush any possible rebellion or drastic change before it takes place. Logically, the place to stop all this is with the leader of the group, who they consider Sophocles. This charge of youth corruption, which... middle of paper... is, technically, an appropriate punishment for this crime. Athenian officials had to take drastic measures to ensure the success and continued blessing of their city, and crimes such as these could not be tolerated for fear of how the gods would react. The only problem with this punishment is that it was awarded in error. Sophocles had not violated any of these crimes, and the fact that they had made an example of him was lost in the debate over his true guilt. Sophocles cared so deeply about Athens as a whole and its continued well-being that instead of easily escaping prison and/or its punishment, he chose to accept the consequences and respect the authority of the city officials in order to maintain the integrity of the legal system in his beloved. city. This attitude is the exact opposite of the attitude he was accused of having towards Athens.