The Trial and Death of Socrates remains a powerful document, partly because it is a true--perhaps in certain parts verbatim--account of the end of one of the greatest figures in history. In The Apology, Socrates defends himself before the Athenian court against charges of corrupting youth. Phaedo is the account, by a young man, of the actual last words and moments of Socrates. These are presented with scene-setting introductions to the historical situation.