Execution-style

  
 I say The State , but meet one of the main-humans stage-managing the case against me:   (Anytus uh-n-ay t uhs *)  who, happens to be the wealthy son of an (decent) industry mogul  
 Which is   the reason   he’s risen to his present status of:  Powerful Politician 
   
 Preceding that vocation, Dad’s wheel-greasing was also integral in making him: General of a War Fleet   
 How did A-n-ai-t-us handle himself in the heat of battle ?  Well … 10 years ago, he was charged with: treason - for: failing to fire a shot when everyone was relying on him to complete his mission 
 But here’s the real beauty of money - he got off  -  coz ... :  he bribed the jury 
 Literally, the first human to ever do it.   A true visionary  
   
 Once the verdict was in,  i was given a chance, by, my learned friends, to: 

Beg  The Mercy of THE Court

 
 What punishment ought you get for your crimes, then, in your opinion? 
 I was meant to recant, say: exile. 

Give:  everyone a way out 
 But to hell with that.  I replied:  
 How ‘bout a small government-paid stipend,  in perpetuity … ?

 
 In recognition of my contribution to society … ? 
 Enough for meals at the community centre is fine.  I'm already seventy … so ….great deal financially for ya tax-funded ORG.entity 
   
 Our protagonists don’t go for that, as we’ve covered. Too intoxicated by their love affair with their own roiling malice 
   
 The end is, fittingly:   a poisoned chalice   -  hemlock   -  concocted by the resident alchemist  (Guesses) 
   
 The final scene? … :  eerily deja vu …  
 A secluded prison cell, in a cave, on a rocky outcrop.  Into which, a government actor enters, bearing a cup of: deadly condemnation 
   
 On the bright side …  i can still hear the sea’s timeless caress - then there’s the congregation of friends gathered - an intimacy - it feels like the way it was always meant to be 
 I’m ready to be set free: spiritually 
   
 With a steady hand, i accept the cup - crack one last joke with the alchemist:  Does the occasion call for a libation?  Ok if i pour a portion of the wine on the ground for the GODS?   How ‘bout it? 
 He says, straight-faced: No. The amount is bespoke. Scientifically calculated to do the job 
 Ohrr.  Pity.  Then here’s to my soul’s journey to infinity …  
 I lift the cup to my lips, drain it in one gulp 
   
 By so doing, i:  transcend death 
   
 Lurking from beyond the grave, I still play a foundational role in:   THE Golden Age of Philosophy 
 Schools of which’ll run fine as fountains of wisdom …for:  another 900 years after i’m bodily gone 
 Right up until the Dark Ages … & counting 
 
 
 (Guesses) 
   
   
   
   
 Ans: Socrates 
   
 * Anytus - born to money princeling - failed military leader charged with treason - jury briber - political elite - driving force in the case against Socrates 
 * Asclepius - Greek God of Medicine (son of Apollo) was a mortal who became immortalized as a God.  Gifted doctor in real life -  could reputedly resurrect the dead … (possible if you knew CPR) 
 At length Zeus, afraid that Asclepius might render all men immortal, slew him with a thunderbolt