Meletus (; fl. 5th–4th century BCE), a citizen of
Athens in the Classical Era, came from the
Pithus deme
In Ancient Greece, a deme or (, plural: ''demoi'', δήμοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Classical Athens, Athens and other city-states. Demes as simple subdivisions of land in the countryside existed in the 6th century BC and earlier, bu ...
and has become known for his prosecuting role in the
trial - and eventual execution - of the
philosopher Socrates
Socrates (; ; – 399 BC) was a Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and as among the first moral philosophers of the Ethics, ethical tradition ...
in 399 BCE.
Life
Little is known of Meletus' life beyond what is portrayed in the
Socratic literature, particularly
Plato
Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...
's dialogues, where he is named as the chief accuser of Socrates. In the ''
Euthyphro
''Euthyphro'' (; ), is a philosophical work by Plato written in the form of a Socratic dialogue set during the weeks before the trial of Socrates in 399 BC. In the dialogue, Socrates and Euthyphro attempt to establish a definition of '' piet ...
'', Plato describes Meletus as the youngest of the three prosecutors, having "a beak, and long straight hair, and a beard which is ill grown," and being unknown to Socrates prior to the prosecution.
[Plato, ''Euthyphro'', 2b] Meletus is also mentioned briefly in the ''
Theaetetus''. In Xenophon's
Hellenica
''Hellenica'' () simply means writings on Greek (Hellenic) subjects. Several histories of the 4th-century BC Greece have borne the conventional Latin title ''Hellenica'', of which very few survive.Murray, Oswyn, "Greek Historians", in John Boardma ...
, he is reported as one of the envoys that were sent to negotiate a truce with the Lacedaemonians during the war between the democratic rebels and the
Thirty Tyrants The Thirty Tyrants (, ''hoi triákonta týrannoi'') were an oligarchy that briefly ruled Classical Athens, Athens from 404 BC, 404 BCE to 403 BC, 403 BCE. Installed into power by the Sparta, Spartans after the Athenian surrender in the Peloponnesian ...
.
The later Greek historian
Diogenes Laërtius
Diogenes Laërtius ( ; , ; ) was a biographer of the Greek philosophers. Little is definitively known about his life, but his surviving book ''Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers'' is a principal source for the history of ancient Greek ph ...
reported that after the execution of Socrates "Athenians felt such remorse" that they executed Meletus and banished his associates from the city, at the incitement of a disciple of Socrates,
Antisthenes
Antisthenes (; , ; 446 366 BCE) was a Greek philosopher and a pupil of Socrates. Antisthenes first learned rhetoric under Gorgias before becoming an ardent disciple of Socrates. He adopted and developed the ethical side of Socrates' teachings, ...
. This claim is generally rejected as apocryphal by modern scholarship.
Trial of Socrates
During the first three hours of trial, Meletus and the other two accusers each stood in the law court in the center of Athens to deliver previously crafted speeches to the jury against Socrates. No record of Meletus' speech survives.
See also
*
List of speakers in Plato's dialogues
following is a list of the speakers found in the dialogues traditionally ascribed to Plato, including extensively quoted, indirect and conjured speakers. Dialogues, as well as Platonic ''Epistles'' and ''Epigrams'', in which these individuals app ...
References
{{reflist
Ancient Athenians
Socrates