Plato's "Crito," begins with dialogue between Socrates and Crito which takes place in Socrate's prison cell, where he awaits execution. Crito had been watching Socrates for a long time and was amazed how peacefully he slept awaiting death. But Socrates replies that it would be odd to fear death at such an old age Crito has made arrangements to smuggle his friend Socrates out of prison to safety. But since Socrates is willing to wait for his execution, Crito presents many arguments to persuade him to escape. He first tell Socrates that he should not worry about the risk or the financial cost to his friends. The next two arguments state that if Socrates remained in prison, he would be helping his enemies in wrondoing him unjustly, and this would result in acting unjustly himself. Crito also mentioned that he would be abandoning his children and leaving them without a father.
Socrates replies to Crito that he should not worry about public opinion and to only listen to expert and wise advise. He tells Crito that if escaping from prison is just, he will go with Crito, if it is unjust, he must remain in prison and face death. Next, Socrates begins to tell about the Laws of Athens, which speaks to him and explain why it would be unjust for him to leave his cell. He believes that breaking one rule means breaking them all which would cause great harm since these laws provided for his upbringing and education. .
Socrates provides a very convincing argument of why he should not escape from the Athenian prison. He states that if he does as Crito suggests and escapes, it will not be justifiable nor true. Although his family and friends will be much happier if he escapes, he will not follow the justice or moral code of the state in which he was born and raised. Socrates also gives the idea that if he were to escape, his family and friends would be happy for him, but their fellow citizens and their state in which they reside would not.
