When Socrates was asked to propose his punishment , Socrates said that the government should give him free dinners for the rest of his life for all the good that he did for society . Socrates defended his role as a gadfly until the end : at his trial , when Socrates was asked to propose his own punishment , he suggests a wage paid by the government and free dinners for the rest of his life instead , to finance the time he spends as Athens ' benefactor .