Socrates' last words

Socrates lost the trial against Melatus and was found guilty of corrupting the minds of the youth in the Polis, and believing in Gods that were not the traditional Gods of the city. He was given several options for how he may serve his punishment. Socrates could either stop being a philosopher, leave the city, or be condemned to death. Given these three options it would seem obvious to choose either of the first two, however, Socrates decides that the only 'just' option is that of death. He explains his reasoning for this decision through a conversation with his friend Crito.
Crito had come to visit Socrates in jail and explained that he had a plan to get Socrates out of jail to save his life. Socrates refused the offer to leave stating that, "the most important thing isn't living, but living well" (The Trials of Socrates, 69). He believed he had lived well and that the act of running away would be cowardly and unjust. Life, according to Socrates, is best lived in the pursuit of what is 'just' and to stop being a philosopher would contrast this theory and make life worthless. Also, he argued that to abandon one's city would be foolish because the chances of survival outside of the polis at his old age would provide him with a much crueler form of death. The most important point that Socrates mentions is that he owes it to his city to die under the law system with which he has agreed to. Pretending to be the lawmakers of Athens, Socrates questions Crito, "What about the Laws dealing with the bringing up and educating of children, under which you were educated yourself? Didn't those of us Laws who regulate the area prescribe correctly when we ordered your father to educate you in the arts and physical training?" (The Trials of Socrates, 72). With this question Socrates argues that the laws of the city are responsible for the life he was given and that if he were to stop following those laws now by not accepting his fate then he would be doing an act of injustice. Therefore, the most 'just' course to follow is that of death by the city that created him.