Socrates was sentenced to death for allegedly corrupting the youth in Athens, but was offered an opportunity to escape by Crito. Socrates refused to escape because he respected the laws and social contract of Athens, which had protected him and allowed him to live freely. Escaping would have contradicted his beliefs and been an immoral act that corrupted his soul. The nature of the social contract was that citizens received benefits like freedom of speech and protection from invaders in exchange for following the laws, even unjust ones.