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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of +the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have +to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. + +Title: Apology + Also known as “The Death of Socrates” + +Author: Plato + +Translator: Benjamin Jowett + +Release Date: February, 1999 [EBook #1656] +[Most recently updated: October 4, 2020] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK APOLOGY *** + + + + +Produced by Sue Asscher, and David Widger + + + + + + +</pre> + +<h1>Apology</h1> + +<h2>by Plato</h2> + +<h3>Translated by Benjamin Jowett</h3> + +<hr /> + +<h2>Contents</h2> + +<table summary="" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto"> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap01">INTRODUCTION</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap02">APOLOGY</a></td> +</tr> + +</table> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap01"></a>INTRODUCTION.</h2> + +<p> +In what relation the “Apology” of Plato stands to the real defence +of Socrates, there are no means of determining. It certainly agrees in tone and +character with the description of Xenophon, who says in the +“Memorabilia” that Socrates might have been acquitted “if in +any moderate degree he would have conciliated the favour of the dicasts;” +and who informs us in another passage, on the testimony of Hermogenes, the +friend of Socrates, that he had no wish to live; and that the divine sign +refused to allow him to prepare a defence, and also that Socrates himself +declared this to be unnecessary, on the ground that all his life long he had +been preparing against that hour. For the speech breathes throughout a spirit +of defiance, “<i>ut non supplex aut reus sed magister aut dominus +videretur esse judicum</i>” (Cic. “de Orat.” i. 54); and the +loose and desultory style is an imitation of the “accustomed +manner” in which Socrates spoke in “the <i>agora</i> and among the +tables of the money-changers.” The allusion in the “Crito” +(45 B) may, perhaps, be adduced as a further evidence of the literal accuracy +of some parts (37 C, D). But in the main it must be regarded as the ideal of +Socrates, according to Plato’s conception of him, appearing in the +greatest and most public scene of his life, and in the height of his triumph, +when he is weakest, and yet his mastery over mankind is greatest, and his +habitual irony acquires a new meaning and a sort of tragic pathos in the face +of death. The facts of his life are summed up, and the features of his +character are brought out as if by accident in the course of the defence. The +conversational manner, the seeming want of arrangement, the ironical +simplicity, are found to result in a perfect work of art, which is the portrait +of Socrates. +</p> + +<p> +Yet some of the topics may have been actually used by Socrates; and the +recollection of his very words may have rung in the ears of his disciple. The +“Apology” of Plato may be compared generally with those speeches of +Thucydides in which he has embodied his conception of the lofty character and +policy of the great Pericles, and which at the same time furnish a commentary +on the situation of affairs from the point of view of the historian. So in the +“Apology” there is an ideal rather than a literal truth; much is +said which was not said, and is only Plato’s view of the situation. Plato +was not, like Xenophon, a chronicler of facts; he does not appear in any of his +writings to have aimed at literal accuracy. He is not therefore to be +supplemented from the Memorabilia and Symposium of Xenophon, who belongs to an +entirely different class of writers. The Apology of Plato is not the report of +what Socrates said, but an elaborate composition, quite as much so in fact as +one of the Dialogues. And we may perhaps even indulge in the fancy that the +actual defence of Socrates was as much greater than the Platonic defence as the +master was greater than the disciple. But in any case, some of the words used +by him must have been remembered, and some of the facts recorded must have +actually occurred. It is significant that Plato is said to have been present at +the defence (Apol.), as he is also said to have been absent at the last scene +in the “Phædo”. Is it fanciful to suppose that he meant to give the +stamp of authenticity to the one and not to the other?—especially when we +consider that these two passages are the only ones in which Plato makes mention +of himself. The circumstance that Plato was to be one of his sureties for the +payment of the fine which he proposed has the appearance of truth. More +suspicious is the statement that Socrates received the first impulse to his +favourite calling of cross-examining the world from the Oracle of Delphi; for +he must already have been famous before Chaerephon went to consult the Oracle +(Riddell), and the story is of a kind which is very likely to have been +invented. On the whole we arrive at the conclusion that the +“Apology” is true to the character of Socrates, but we cannot show +that any single sentence in it was actually spoken by him. It breathes the +spirit of Socrates, but has been cast anew in the mould of Plato. +</p> + +<p> +There is not much in the other Dialogues which can be compared with the +“Apology”. The same recollection of his master may have been +present to the mind of Plato when depicting the sufferings of the Just in the +“Republic”. The “Crito” may also be regarded as a sort +of appendage to the “Apology”, in which Socrates, who has defied +the judges, is nevertheless represented as scrupulously obedient to the laws. +The idealization of the sufferer is carried still further in the +“Georgias”, in which the thesis is maintained, that “to +suffer is better than to do evil;” and the art of rhetoric is described +as only useful for the purpose of self-accusation. The parallelisms which occur +in the so-called “Apology” of Xenophon are not worth noticing, +because the writing in which they are contained is manifestly spurious. The +statements of the “Memorabilia” respecting the trial and death of +Socrates agree generally with Plato; but they have lost the flavour of Socratic +irony in the narrative of Xenophon. +</p> + +<p> +The “Apology” or Platonic defence of Socrates is divided into three +parts: 1st. The defence properly so called; 2nd. The shorter address in +mitigation of the penalty; 3rd. The last words of prophetic rebuke and +exhortation. +</p> + +<p> +The first part commences with an apology for his colloquial style; he is, as he +has always been, the enemy of rhetoric, and knows of no rhetoric but truth; he +will not falsify his character by making a speech. Then he proceeds to divide +his accusers into two classes; first, there is the nameless +accuser—public opinion. All the world from their earliest years had heard +that he was a corrupter of youth, and had seen him caricatured in the +“Clouds” of Aristophanes. Secondly, there are the professed +accusers, who are but the mouth-piece of the others. The accusations of both +might be summed up in a formula. The first say, “Socrates is an evil-doer +and a curious person, searching into things under the earth and above the +heaven; and making the worse appear the better cause, and teaching all this to +others.” The second, “Socrates is an evil-doer and corrupter of the +youth, who does not receive the gods whom the state receives, but introduces +other new divinities.” These last words appear to have been the actual +indictment (compare Xen. Mem.); and the previous formula, which is a summary of +public opinion, assumes the same legal style. +</p> + +<p> +The answer begins by clearing up a confusion. In the representations of the +Comic poets, and in the opinion of the multitude, he had been identified with +the teachers of physical science and with the Sophists. But this was an error. +For both of them he professes a respect in the open court, which contrasts with +his manner of speaking about them in other places. (Compare for Anaxagoras, +Phædo, Laws; for the Sophists, Meno, Republic, Tim., Theaet., Soph., etc.) But +at the same time he shows that he is not one of them. Of natural philosophy he +knows nothing; not that he despises such pursuits, but the fact is that he is +ignorant of them, and never says a word about them. Nor is he paid for giving +instruction—that is another mistaken notion:—he has nothing to +teach. But he commends Evenus for teaching virtue at such a +“moderate” rate as five minæ. Something of the “accustomed +irony,” which may perhaps be expected to sleep in the ear of the +multitude, is lurking here. +</p> + +<p> +He then goes on to explain the reason why he is in such an evil name. That had +arisen out of a peculiar mission which he had taken upon himself. The +enthusiastic Chaerephon (probably in anticipation of the answer which he +received) had gone to Delphi and asked the oracle if there was any man wiser +than Socrates; and the answer was, that there was no man wiser. What could be +the meaning of this—that he who knew nothing, and knew that he knew +nothing, should be declared by the oracle to be the wisest of men? Reflecting +upon the answer, he determined to refute it by finding “a wiser;” +and first he went to the politicians, and then to the poets, and then to the +craftsmen, but always with the same result—he found that they knew +nothing, or hardly anything more than himself; and that the little advantage +which in some cases they possessed was more than counter-balanced by their +conceit of knowledge. He knew nothing, and knew that he knew nothing: they knew +little or nothing, and imagined that they knew all things. Thus he had passed +his life as a sort of missionary in detecting the pretended wisdom of mankind; +and this occupation had quite absorbed him and taken him away both from public +and private affairs. Young men of the richer sort had made a pastime of the +same pursuit, “which was not unamusing.” And hence bitter enmities +had arisen; the professors of knowledge had revenged themselves by calling him +a villainous corrupter of youth, and by repeating the commonplaces about +atheism and materialism and sophistry, which are the stock-accusations against +all philosophers when there is nothing else to be said of them. +</p> + +<p> +The second accusation he meets by interrogating Meletus, who is present and can +be interrogated. “If he is the corrupter, who is the improver of the +citizens?” (Compare Meno.) “All men everywhere.” But how +absurd, how contrary to analogy is this! How inconceivable too, that he should +make the citizens worse when he has to live with them. This surely cannot be +intentional; and if unintentional, he ought to have been instructed by Meletus, +and not accused in the court. +</p> + +<p> +But there is another part of the indictment which says that he teaches men not +to receive the gods whom the city receives, and has other new gods. “Is +that the way in which he is supposed to corrupt the youth?” “Yes, +it is.” “Has he only new gods, or none at all?” “None +at all.” “What, not even the sun and moon?” “No; why, +he says that the sun is a stone, and the moon earth.” That, replies +Socrates, is the old confusion about Anaxagoras; the Athenian people are not so +ignorant as to attribute to the influence of Socrates notions which have found +their way into the drama, and may be learned at the theatre. Socrates +undertakes to show that Meletus (rather unjustifiably) has been compounding a +riddle in this part of the indictment: “There are no gods, but Socrates +believes in the existence of the sons of gods, which is absurd.” +</p> + +<p> +Leaving Meletus, who has had enough words spent upon him, he returns to the +original accusation. The question may be asked, Why will he persist in +following a profession which leads him to death? Why?—because he must +remain at his post where the god has placed him, as he remained at Potidaea, +and Amphipolis, and Delium, where the generals placed him. Besides, he is not +so overwise as to imagine that he knows whether death is a good or an evil; and +he is certain that desertion of his duty is an evil. Anytus is quite right in +saying that they should never have indicted him if they meant to let him go. +For he will certainly obey God rather than man; and will continue to preach to +all men of all ages the necessity of virtue and improvement; and if they refuse +to listen to him he will still persevere and reprove them. This is his way of +corrupting the youth, which he will not cease to follow in obedience to the +god, even if a thousand deaths await him. +</p> + +<p> +He is desirous that they should let him live—not for his own sake, but +for theirs; because he is their heaven-sent friend (and they will never have +such another), or, as he may be ludicrously described, he is the gadfly who +stirs the generous steed into motion. Why then has he never taken part in +public affairs? Because the familiar divine voice has hindered him; if he had +been a public man, and had fought for the right, as he would certainly have +fought against the many, he would not have lived, and could therefore have done +no good. Twice in public matters he has risked his life for the sake of +justice—once at the trial of the generals; and again in resistance to the +tyrannical commands of the Thirty. +</p> + +<p> +But, though not a public man, he has passed his days in instructing the +citizens without fee or reward—this was his mission. Whether his +disciples have turned out well or ill, he cannot justly be charged with the +result, for he never promised to teach them anything. They might come if they +liked, and they might stay away if they liked: and they did come, because they +found an amusement in hearing the pretenders to wisdom detected. If they have +been corrupted, their elder relatives (if not themselves) might surely come +into court and witness against him, and there is an opportunity still for them +to appear. But their fathers and brothers all appear in court (including +“this” Plato), to witness on his behalf; and if their relatives are +corrupted, at least they are uncorrupted; “and they are my witnesses. For +they know that I am speaking the truth, and that Meletus is lying.” +</p> + +<p> +This is about all that he has to say. He will not entreat the judges to spare +his life; neither will he present a spectacle of weeping children, although he, +too, is not made of “rock or oak.” Some of the judges themselves +may have complied with this practice on similar occasions, and he trusts that +they will not be angry with him for not following their example. But he feels +that such conduct brings discredit on the name of Athens: he feels too, that +the judge has sworn not to give away justice; and he cannot be guilty of the +impiety of asking the judge to break his oath, when he is himself being tried +for impiety. +</p> + +<p> +As he expected, and probably intended, he is convicted. And now the tone of the +speech, instead of being more conciliatory, becomes more lofty and commanding. +Anytus proposes death as the penalty: and what counter-proposition shall he +make? He, the benefactor of the Athenian people, whose whole life has been +spent in doing them good, should at least have the Olympic victor’s +reward of maintenance in the Prytaneum. Or why should he propose any +counter-penalty when he does not know whether death, which Anytus proposes, is +a good or an evil? And he is certain that imprisonment is an evil, exile is an +evil. Loss of money might be an evil, but then he has none to give; perhaps he +can make up a mina. Let that be the penalty, or, if his friends wish, thirty +minæ; for which they will be excellent securities. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +[<i>He is condemned to death.</i>] +</p> + +<p> +He is an old man already, and the Athenians will gain nothing but disgrace by +depriving him of a few years of life. Perhaps he could have escaped, if he had +chosen to throw down his arms and entreat for his life. But he does not at all +repent of the manner of his defence; he would rather die in his own fashion +than live in theirs. For the penalty of unrighteousness is swifter than death; +that penalty has already overtaken his accusers as death will soon overtake +him. +</p> + +<p> +And now, as one who is about to die, he will prophesy to them. They have put +him to death in order to escape the necessity of giving an account of their +lives. But his death “will be the seed” of many disciples who will +convince them of their evil ways, and will come forth to reprove them in +harsher terms, because they are younger and more inconsiderate. +</p> + +<p> +He would like to say a few words, while there is time, to those who would have +acquitted him. He wishes them to know that the divine sign never interrupted +him in the course of his defence; the reason of which, as he conjectures, is +that the death to which he is going is a good and not an evil. For either death +is a long sleep, the best of sleeps, or a journey to another world in which the +souls of the dead are gathered together, and in which there may be a hope of +seeing the heroes of old—in which, too, there are just judges; and as all +are immortal, there can be no fear of any one suffering death for his opinions. +</p> + +<p> +Nothing evil can happen to the good man either in life or death, and his own +death has been permitted by the gods, because it was better for him to depart; +and therefore he forgives his judges because they have done him no harm, +although they never meant to do him any good. +</p> + +<p> +He has a last request to make to them—that they will trouble his sons as +he has troubled them, if they appear to prefer riches to virtue, or to think +themselves something when they are nothing. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +“Few persons will be found to wish that Socrates should have defended +himself otherwise,”—if, as we must add, his defence was that with +which Plato has provided him. But leaving this question, which does not admit +of a precise solution, we may go on to ask what was the impression which Plato +in the “Apology” intended to give of the character and conduct of +his master in the last great scene? Did he intend to represent him (1) as +employing sophistries; (2) as designedly irritating the judges? Or are these +sophistries to be regarded as belonging to the age in which he lived and to his +personal character, and this apparent haughtiness as flowing from the natural +elevation of his position? +</p> + +<p> +For example, when he says that it is absurd to suppose that one man is the +corrupter and all the rest of the world the improvers of the youth; or, when he +argues that he never could have corrupted the men with whom he had to live; or, +when he proves his belief in the gods because he believes in the sons of gods, +is he serious or jesting? It may be observed that these sophisms all occur in +his cross-examination of Meletus, who is easily foiled and mastered in the +hands of the great dialectician. Perhaps he regarded these answers as good +enough for his accuser, of whom he makes very light. Also there is a touch of +irony in them, which takes them out of the category of sophistry. (Compare +Euthyph.) +</p> + +<p> +That the manner in which he defends himself about the lives of his disciples is +not satisfactory, can hardly be denied. Fresh in the memory of the Athenians, +and detestable as they deserved to be to the newly restored democracy, were the +names of Alcibiades, Critias, Charmides. It is obviously not a sufficient +answer that Socrates had never professed to teach them anything, and is +therefore not justly chargeable with their crimes. Yet the defence, when taken +out of this ironical form, is doubtless sound: that his teaching had nothing to +do with their evil lives. Here, then, the sophistry is rather in form than in +substance, though we might desire that to such a serious charge Socrates had +given a more serious answer. +</p> + +<p> +Truly characteristic of Socrates is another point in his answer, which may also +be regarded as sophistical. He says that “if he has corrupted the youth, +he must have corrupted them involuntarily.” But if, as Socrates argues, +all evil is involuntary, then all criminals ought to be admonished and not +punished. In these words the Socratic doctrine of the involuntariness of evil +is clearly intended to be conveyed. Here again, as in the former instance, the +defence of Socrates is untrue practically, but may be true in some ideal or +transcendental sense. The commonplace reply, that if he had been guilty of +corrupting the youth their relations would surely have witnessed against him, +with which he concludes this part of his defence, is more satisfactory. +</p> + +<p> +Again, when Socrates argues that he must believe in the gods because he +believes in the sons of gods, we must remember that this is a refutation not of +the original indictment, which is consistent enough—“Socrates does +not receive the gods whom the city receives, and has other new +divinities”—but of the interpretation put upon the words by +Meletus, who has affirmed that he is a downright atheist. To this Socrates +fairly answers, in accordance with the ideas of the time, that a downright +atheist cannot believe in the sons of gods or in divine things. The notion that +demons or lesser divinities are the sons of gods is not to be regarded as +ironical or sceptical. He is arguing “ad hominem” according to the +notions of mythology current in his age. Yet he abstains from saying that he +believed in the gods whom the State approved. He does not defend himself, as +Xenophon has defended him, by appealing to his practice of religion. Probably +he neither wholly believed, nor disbelieved, in the existence of the popular +gods; he had no means of knowing about them. According to Plato (compare Phædo; +Symp.), as well as Xenophon (Memor.), he was punctual in the performance of the +least religious duties; and he must have believed in his own oracular sign, of +which he seemed to have an internal witness. But the existence of Apollo or +Zeus, or the other gods whom the State approves, would have appeared to him +both uncertain and unimportant in comparison of the duty of self-examination, +and of those principles of truth and right which he deemed to be the foundation +of religion. (Compare Phaedr.; Euthyph.; Republic.) +</p> + +<p> +The second question, whether Plato meant to represent Socrates as braving or +irritating his judges, must also be answered in the negative. His irony, his +superiority, his audacity, “regarding not the person of man,” +necessarily flow out of the loftiness of his situation. He is not acting a part +upon a great occasion, but he is what he has been all his life long, “a +king of men.” He would rather not appear insolent, if he could avoid it +(ouch os authadizomenos touto lego). Neither is he desirous of hastening his +own end, for life and death are simply indifferent to him. But such a defence +as would be acceptable to his judges and might procure an acquittal, it is not +in his nature to make. He will not say or do anything that might pervert the +course of justice; he cannot have his tongue bound even “in the throat of +death.” With his accusers he will only fence and play, as he had fenced +with other “improvers of youth,” answering the Sophist according to +his sophistry all his life long. He is serious when he is speaking of his own +mission, which seems to distinguish him from all other reformers of mankind, +and originates in an accident. The dedication of himself to the improvement of +his fellow-citizens is not so remarkable as the ironical spirit in which he +goes about doing good only in vindication of the credit of the oracle, and in +the vain hope of finding a wiser man than himself. Yet this singular and almost +accidental character of his mission agrees with the divine sign which, +according to our notions, is equally accidental and irrational, and is +nevertheless accepted by him as the guiding principle of his life. Socrates is +nowhere represented to us as a freethinker or sceptic. There is no reason to +doubt his sincerity when he speculates on the possibility of seeing and knowing +the heroes of the Trojan war in another world. On the other hand, his hope of +immortality is uncertain;—he also conceives of death as a long sleep (in +this respect differing from the Phædo), and at last falls back on resignation +to the divine will, and the certainty that no evil can happen to the good man +either in life or death. His absolute truthfulness seems to hinder him from +asserting positively more than this; and he makes no attempt to veil his +ignorance in mythology and figures of speech. The gentleness of the first part +of the speech contrasts with the aggravated, almost threatening, tone of the +conclusion. He characteristically remarks that he will not speak as a +rhetorician, that is to say, he will not make a regular defence such as Lysias +or one of the orators might have composed for him, or, according to some +accounts, did compose for him. But he first procures himself a hearing by +conciliatory words. He does not attack the Sophists; for they were open to the +same charges as himself; they were equally ridiculed by the Comic poets, and +almost equally hateful to Anytus and Meletus. Yet incidentally the antagonism +between Socrates and the Sophists is allowed to appear. He is poor and they are +rich; his profession that he teaches nothing is opposed to their readiness to +teach all things; his talking in the marketplace to their private instructions; +his tarry-at-home life to their wandering from city to city. The tone which he +assumes towards them is one of real friendliness, but also of concealed irony. +Towards Anaxagoras, who had disappointed him in his hopes of learning about +mind and nature, he shows a less kindly feeling, which is also the feeling of +Plato in other passages (Laws). But Anaxagoras had been dead thirty years, and +was beyond the reach of persecution. +</p> + +<p> +It has been remarked that the prophecy of a new generation of teachers who +would rebuke and exhort the Athenian people in harsher and more violent terms +was, as far as we know, never fulfilled. No inference can be drawn from this +circumstance as to the probability of the words attributed to him having been +actually uttered. They express the aspiration of the first martyr of +philosophy, that he would leave behind him many followers, accompanied by the +not unnatural feeling that they would be fiercer and more inconsiderate in +their words when emancipated from his control. +</p> + +<p> +The above remarks must be understood as applying with any degree of certainty +to the Platonic Socrates only. For, although these or similar words may have +been spoken by Socrates himself, we cannot exclude the possibility, that like +so much else, <i>e.g.</i> the wisdom of Critias, the poem of Solon, the virtues +of Charmides, they may have been due only to the imagination of Plato. The +arguments of those who maintain that the Apology was composed during the +process, resting on no evidence, do not require a serious refutation. Nor are +the reasonings of Schleiermacher, who argues that the Platonic defence is an +exact or nearly exact reproduction of the words of Socrates, partly because +Plato would not have been guilty of the impiety of altering them, and also +because many points of the defence might have been improved and strengthened, +at all more conclusive. (See English Translation.) What effect the death of +Socrates produced on the mind of Plato, we cannot certainly determine; nor can +we say how he would or must have written under the circumstances. We observe +that the enmity of Aristophanes to Socrates does not prevent Plato from +introducing them together in the Symposium engaged in friendly intercourse. Nor +is there any trace in the Dialogues of an attempt to make Anytus or Meletus +personally odious in the eyes of the Athenian public. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap02"></a>APOLOGY</h2> + +<p> +How you, O Athenians, have been affected by my accusers, I cannot tell; but I +know that they almost made me forget who I was—so persuasively did they +speak; and yet they have hardly uttered a word of truth. But of the many +falsehoods told by them, there was one which quite amazed me;—I mean when +they said that you should be upon your guard and not allow yourselves to be +deceived by the force of my eloquence. To say this, when they were certain to +be detected as soon as I opened my lips and proved myself to be anything but a +great speaker, did indeed appear to me most shameless—unless by the force +of eloquence they mean the force of truth; for if such is their meaning, I +admit that I am eloquent. But in how different a way from theirs! Well, as I +was saying, they have scarcely spoken the truth at all; but from me you shall +hear the whole truth: not, however, delivered after their manner in a set +oration duly ornamented with words and phrases. No, by heaven! but I shall use +the words and arguments which occur to me at the moment; for I am confident in +the justice of my cause (Or, I am certain that I am right in taking this +course.): at my time of life I ought not to be appearing before you, O men of +Athens, in the character of a juvenile orator—let no one expect it of me. +And I must beg of you to grant me a favour:—If I defend myself in my +accustomed manner, and you hear me using the words which I have been in the +habit of using in the agora, at the tables of the money-changers, or anywhere +else, I would ask you not to be surprised, and not to interrupt me on this +account. For I am more than seventy years of age, and appearing now for the +first time in a court of law, I am quite a stranger to the language of the +place; and therefore I would have you regard me as if I were really a stranger, +whom you would excuse if he spoke in his native tongue, and after the fashion +of his country:—Am I making an unfair request of you? Never mind the +manner, which may or may not be good; but think only of the truth of my words, +and give heed to that: let the speaker speak truly and the judge decide justly. +</p> + +<p> +And first, I have to reply to the older charges and to my first accusers, and +then I will go on to the later ones. For of old I have had many accusers, who +have accused me falsely to you during many years; and I am more afraid of them +than of Anytus and his associates, who are dangerous, too, in their own way. +But far more dangerous are the others, who began when you were children, and +took possession of your minds with their falsehoods, telling of one Socrates, a +wise man, who speculated about the heaven above, and searched into the earth +beneath, and made the worse appear the better cause. The disseminators of this +tale are the accusers whom I dread; for their hearers are apt to fancy that +such enquirers do not believe in the existence of the gods. And they are many, +and their charges against me are of ancient date, and they were made by them in +the days when you were more impressible than you are now—in childhood, or +it may have been in youth—and the cause when heard went by default, for +there was none to answer. And hardest of all, I do not know and cannot tell the +names of my accusers; unless in the chance case of a Comic poet. All who from +envy and malice have persuaded you—some of them having first convinced +themselves—all this class of men are most difficult to deal with; for I +cannot have them up here, and cross-examine them, and therefore I must simply +fight with shadows in my own defence, and argue when there is no one who +answers. I will ask you then to assume with me, as I was saying, that my +opponents are of two kinds; one recent, the other ancient: and I hope that you +will see the propriety of my answering the latter first, for these accusations +you heard long before the others, and much oftener. +</p> + +<p> +Well, then, I must make my defence, and endeavour to clear away in a short +time, a slander which has lasted a long time. May I succeed, if to succeed be +for my good and yours, or likely to avail me in my cause! The task is not an +easy one; I quite understand the nature of it. And so leaving the event with +God, in obedience to the law I will now make my defence. +</p> + +<p> +I will begin at the beginning, and ask what is the accusation which has given +rise to the slander of me, and in fact has encouraged Meletus to proof this +charge against me. Well, what do the slanderers say? They shall be my +prosecutors, and I will sum up their words in an affidavit: “Socrates is +an evil-doer, and a curious person, who searches into things under the earth +and in heaven, and he makes the worse appear the better cause; and he teaches +the aforesaid doctrines to others.” Such is the nature of the accusation: +it is just what you have yourselves seen in the comedy of Aristophanes +(Aristoph., Clouds.), who has introduced a man whom he calls Socrates, going +about and saying that he walks in air, and talking a deal of nonsense +concerning matters of which I do not pretend to know either much or +little—not that I mean to speak disparagingly of any one who is a student +of natural philosophy. I should be very sorry if Meletus could bring so grave a +charge against me. But the simple truth is, O Athenians, that I have nothing to +do with physical speculations. Very many of those here present are witnesses to +the truth of this, and to them I appeal. Speak then, you who have heard me, and +tell your neighbours whether any of you have ever known me hold forth in few +words or in many upon such matters...You hear their answer. And from what they +say of this part of the charge you will be able to judge of the truth of the +rest. +</p> + +<p> +As little foundation is there for the report that I am a teacher, and take +money; this accusation has no more truth in it than the other. Although, if a +man were really able to instruct mankind, to receive money for giving +instruction would, in my opinion, be an honour to him. There is Gorgias of +Leontium, and Prodicus of Ceos, and Hippias of Elis, who go the round of the +cities, and are able to persuade the young men to leave their own citizens by +whom they might be taught for nothing, and come to them whom they not only pay, +but are thankful if they may be allowed to pay them. There is at this time a +Parian philosopher residing in Athens, of whom I have heard; and I came to hear +of him in this way:—I came across a man who has spent a world of money on +the Sophists, Callias, the son of Hipponicus, and knowing that he had sons, I +asked him: “Callias,” I said, “if your two sons were foals or +calves, there would be no difficulty in finding some one to put over them; we +should hire a trainer of horses, or a farmer probably, who would improve and +perfect them in their own proper virtue and excellence; but as they are human +beings, whom are you thinking of placing over them? Is there any one who +understands human and political virtue? You must have thought about the matter, +for you have sons; is there any one?” “There is,” he said. +“Who is he?” said I; “and of what country? and what does he +charge?” “Evenus the Parian,” he replied; “he is the +man, and his charge is five minæ.” Happy is Evenus, I said to myself, if +he really has this wisdom, and teaches at such a moderate charge. Had I the +same, I should have been very proud and conceited; but the truth is that I have +no knowledge of the kind. +</p> + +<p> +I dare say, Athenians, that some one among you will reply, “Yes, +Socrates, but what is the origin of these accusations which are brought against +you; there must have been something strange which you have been doing? All +these rumours and this talk about you would never have arisen if you had been +like other men: tell us, then, what is the cause of them, for we should be +sorry to judge hastily of you.” Now I regard this as a fair challenge, +and I will endeavour to explain to you the reason why I am called wise and have +such an evil fame. Please to attend then. And although some of you may think +that I am joking, I declare that I will tell you the entire truth. Men of +Athens, this reputation of mine has come of a certain sort of wisdom which I +possess. If you ask me what kind of wisdom, I reply, wisdom such as may perhaps +be attained by man, for to that extent I am inclined to believe that I am wise; +whereas the persons of whom I was speaking have a superhuman wisdom which I may +fail to describe, because I have it not myself; and he who says that I have, +speaks falsely, and is taking away my character. And here, O men of Athens, I +must beg you not to interrupt me, even if I seem to say something extravagant. +For the word which I will speak is not mine. I will refer you to a witness who +is worthy of credit; that witness shall be the God of Delphi—he will tell +you about my wisdom, if I have any, and of what sort it is. You must have known +Chaerephon; he was early a friend of mine, and also a friend of yours, for he +shared in the recent exile of the people, and returned with you. Well, +Chaerephon, as you know, was very impetuous in all his doings, and he went to +Delphi and boldly asked the oracle to tell him whether—as I was saying, I +must beg you not to interrupt—he asked the oracle to tell him whether +anyone was wiser than I was, and the Pythian prophetess answered, that there +was no man wiser. Chaerephon is dead himself; but his brother, who is in court, +will confirm the truth of what I am saying. +</p> + +<p> +Why do I mention this? Because I am going to explain to you why I have such an +evil name. When I heard the answer, I said to myself, What can the god mean? +and what is the interpretation of his riddle? for I know that I have no wisdom, +small or great. What then can he mean when he says that I am the wisest of men? +And yet he is a god, and cannot lie; that would be against his nature. After +long consideration, I thought of a method of trying the question. I reflected +that if I could only find a man wiser than myself, then I might go to the god +with a refutation in my hand. I should say to him, “Here is a man who is +wiser than I am; but you said that I was the wisest.” Accordingly I went +to one who had the reputation of wisdom, and observed him—his name I need +not mention; he was a politician whom I selected for examination—and the +result was as follows: When I began to talk with him, I could not help thinking +that he was not really wise, although he was thought wise by many, and still +wiser by himself; and thereupon I tried to explain to him that he thought +himself wise, but was not really wise; and the consequence was that he hated +me, and his enmity was shared by several who were present and heard me. So I +left him, saying to myself, as I went away: Well, although I do not suppose +that either of us knows anything really beautiful and good, I am better off +than he is,—for he knows nothing, and thinks that he knows; I neither +know nor think that I know. In this latter particular, then, I seem to have +slightly the advantage of him. Then I went to another who had still higher +pretensions to wisdom, and my conclusion was exactly the same. Whereupon I made +another enemy of him, and of many others besides him. +</p> + +<p> +Then I went to one man after another, being not unconscious of the enmity which +I provoked, and I lamented and feared this: but necessity was laid upon +me,—the word of God, I thought, ought to be considered first. And I said +to myself, Go I must to all who appear to know, and find out the meaning of the +oracle. And I swear to you, Athenians, by the dog I swear!—for I must +tell you the truth—the result of my mission was just this: I found that +the men most in repute were all but the most foolish; and that others less +esteemed were really wiser and better. I will tell you the tale of my +wanderings and of the “Herculean” labours, as I may call them, +which I endured only to find at last the oracle irrefutable. After the +politicians, I went to the poets; tragic, dithyrambic, and all sorts. And +there, I said to myself, you will be instantly detected; now you will find out +that you are more ignorant than they are. Accordingly, I took them some of the +most elaborate passages in their own writings, and asked what was the meaning +of them—thinking that they would teach me something. Will you believe me? +I am almost ashamed to confess the truth, but I must say that there is hardly a +person present who would not have talked better about their poetry than they +did themselves. Then I knew that not by wisdom do poets write poetry, but by a +sort of genius and inspiration; they are like diviners or soothsayers who also +say many fine things, but do not understand the meaning of them. The poets +appeared to me to be much in the same case; and I further observed that upon +the strength of their poetry they believed themselves to be the wisest of men +in other things in which they were not wise. So I departed, conceiving myself +to be superior to them for the same reason that I was superior to the +politicians. +</p> + +<p> +At last I went to the artisans. I was conscious that I knew nothing at all, as +I may say, and I was sure that they knew many fine things; and here I was not +mistaken, for they did know many things of which I was ignorant, and in this +they certainly were wiser than I was. But I observed that even the good +artisans fell into the same error as the poets;—because they were good +workmen they thought that they also knew all sorts of high matters, and this +defect in them overshadowed their wisdom; and therefore I asked myself on +behalf of the oracle, whether I would like to be as I was, neither having their +knowledge nor their ignorance, or like them in both; and I made answer to +myself and to the oracle that I was better off as I was. +</p> + +<p> +This inquisition has led to my having many enemies of the worst and most +dangerous kind, and has given occasion also to many calumnies. And I am called +wise, for my hearers always imagine that I myself possess the wisdom which I +find wanting in others: but the truth is, O men of Athens, that God only is +wise; and by his answer he intends to show that the wisdom of men is worth +little or nothing; he is not speaking of Socrates, he is only using my name by +way of illustration, as if he said, He, O men, is the wisest, who, like +Socrates, knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing. And so I go about +the world, obedient to the god, and search and make enquiry into the wisdom of +any one, whether citizen or stranger, who appears to be wise; and if he is not +wise, then in vindication of the oracle I show him that he is not wise; and my +occupation quite absorbs me, and I have no time to give either to any public +matter of interest or to any concern of my own, but I am in utter poverty by +reason of my devotion to the god. +</p> + +<p> +There is another thing:—young men of the richer classes, who have not +much to do, come about me of their own accord; they like to hear the pretenders +examined, and they often imitate me, and proceed to examine others; there are +plenty of persons, as they quickly discover, who think that they know +something, but really know little or nothing; and then those who are examined +by them instead of being angry with themselves are angry with me: This +confounded Socrates, they say; this villainous misleader of youth!—and +then if somebody asks them, Why, what evil does he practise or teach? they do +not know, and cannot tell; but in order that they may not appear to be at a +loss, they repeat the ready-made charges which are used against all +philosophers about teaching things up in the clouds and under the earth, and +having no gods, and making the worse appear the better cause; for they do not +like to confess that their pretence of knowledge has been detected—which +is the truth; and as they are numerous and ambitious and energetic, and are +drawn up in battle array and have persuasive tongues, they have filled your +ears with their loud and inveterate calumnies. And this is the reason why my +three accusers, Meletus and Anytus and Lycon, have set upon me; Meletus, who +has a quarrel with me on behalf of the poets; Anytus, on behalf of the +craftsmen and politicians; Lycon, on behalf of the rhetoricians: and as I said +at the beginning, I cannot expect to get rid of such a mass of calumny all in a +moment. And this, O men of Athens, is the truth and the whole truth; I have +concealed nothing, I have dissembled nothing. And yet, I know that my plainness +of speech makes them hate me, and what is their hatred but a proof that I am +speaking the truth?—Hence has arisen the prejudice against me; and this +is the reason of it, as you will find out either in this or in any future +enquiry. +</p> + +<p> +I have said enough in my defence against the first class of my accusers; I turn +to the second class. They are headed by Meletus, that good man and true lover +of his country, as he calls himself. Against these, too, I must try to make a +defence:—Let their affidavit be read: it contains something of this kind: +It says that Socrates is a doer of evil, who corrupts the youth; and who does +not believe in the gods of the state, but has other new divinities of his own. +Such is the charge; and now let us examine the particular counts. He says that +I am a doer of evil, and corrupt the youth; but I say, O men of Athens, that +Meletus is a doer of evil, in that he pretends to be in earnest when he is only +in jest, and is so eager to bring men to trial from a pretended zeal and +interest about matters in which he really never had the smallest interest. And +the truth of this I will endeavour to prove to you. +</p> + +<p> +Come hither, Meletus, and let me ask a question of you. You think a great deal +about the improvement of youth? +</p> + +<p> +Yes, I do. +</p> + +<p> +Tell the judges, then, who is their improver; for you must know, as you have +taken the pains to discover their corrupter, and are citing and accusing me +before them. Speak, then, and tell the judges who their improver +is.—Observe, Meletus, that you are silent, and have nothing to say. But +is not this rather disgraceful, and a very considerable proof of what I was +saying, that you have no interest in the matter? Speak up, friend, and tell us +who their improver is. +</p> + +<p> +The laws. +</p> + +<p> +But that, my good sir, is not my meaning. I want to know who the person is, +who, in the first place, knows the laws. +</p> + +<p> +The judges, Socrates, who are present in court. +</p> + +<p> +What, do you mean to say, Meletus, that they are able to instruct and improve +youth? +</p> + +<p> +Certainly they are. +</p> + +<p> +What, all of them, or some only and not others? +</p> + +<p> +All of them. +</p> + +<p> +By the goddess Here, that is good news! There are plenty of improvers, then. +And what do you say of the audience,—do they improve them? +</p> + +<p> +Yes, they do. +</p> + +<p> +And the senators? +</p> + +<p> +Yes, the senators improve them. +</p> + +<p> +But perhaps the members of the assembly corrupt them?—or do they too +improve them? +</p> + +<p> +They improve them. +</p> + +<p> +Then every Athenian improves and elevates them; all with the exception of +myself; and I alone am their corrupter? Is that what you affirm? +</p> + +<p> +That is what I stoutly affirm. +</p> + +<p> +I am very unfortunate if you are right. But suppose I ask you a question: How +about horses? Does one man do them harm and all the world good? Is not the +exact opposite the truth? One man is able to do them good, or at least not +many;—the trainer of horses, that is to say, does them good, and others +who have to do with them rather injure them? Is not that true, Meletus, of +horses, or of any other animals? Most assuredly it is; whether you and Anytus +say yes or no. Happy indeed would be the condition of youth if they had one +corrupter only, and all the rest of the world were their improvers. But you, +Meletus, have sufficiently shown that you never had a thought about the young: +your carelessness is seen in your not caring about the very things which you +bring against me. +</p> + +<p> +And now, Meletus, I will ask you another question—by Zeus I will: Which +is better, to live among bad citizens, or among good ones? Answer, friend, I +say; the question is one which may be easily answered. Do not the good do their +neighbours good, and the bad do them evil? +</p> + +<p> +Certainly. +</p> + +<p> +And is there anyone who would rather be injured than benefited by those who +live with him? Answer, my good friend, the law requires you to +answer—does any one like to be injured? +</p> + +<p> +Certainly not. +</p> + +<p> +And when you accuse me of corrupting and deteriorating the youth, do you allege +that I corrupt them intentionally or unintentionally? +</p> + +<p> +Intentionally, I say. +</p> + +<p> +But you have just admitted that the good do their neighbours good, and the evil +do them evil. Now, is that a truth which your superior wisdom has recognized +thus early in life, and am I, at my age, in such darkness and ignorance as not +to know that if a man with whom I have to live is corrupted by me, I am very +likely to be harmed by him; and yet I corrupt him, and intentionally, +too—so you say, although neither I nor any other human being is ever +likely to be convinced by you. But either I do not corrupt them, or I corrupt +them unintentionally; and on either view of the case you lie. If my offence is +unintentional, the law has no cognizance of unintentional offences: you ought +to have taken me privately, and warned and admonished me; for if I had been +better advised, I should have left off doing what I only did +unintentionally—no doubt I should; but you would have nothing to say to +me and refused to teach me. And now you bring me up in this court, which is a +place not of instruction, but of punishment. +</p> + +<p> +It will be very clear to you, Athenians, as I was saying, that Meletus has no +care at all, great or small, about the matter. But still I should like to know, +Meletus, in what I am affirmed to corrupt the young. I suppose you mean, as I +infer from your indictment, that I teach them not to acknowledge the gods which +the state acknowledges, but some other new divinities or spiritual agencies in +their stead. These are the lessons by which I corrupt the youth, as you say. +</p> + +<p> +Yes, that I say emphatically. +</p> + +<p> +Then, by the gods, Meletus, of whom we are speaking, tell me and the court, in +somewhat plainer terms, what you mean! for I do not as yet understand whether +you affirm that I teach other men to acknowledge some gods, and therefore that +I do believe in gods, and am not an entire atheist—this you do not lay to +my charge,—but only you say that they are not the same gods which the +city recognizes—the charge is that they are different gods. Or, do you +mean that I am an atheist simply, and a teacher of atheism? +</p> + +<p> +I mean the latter—that you are a complete atheist. +</p> + +<p> +What an extraordinary statement! Why do you think so, Meletus? Do you mean that +I do not believe in the godhead of the sun or moon, like other men? +</p> + +<p> +I assure you, judges, that he does not: for he says that the sun is stone, and +the moon earth. +</p> + +<p> +Friend Meletus, you think that you are accusing Anaxagoras: and you have but a +bad opinion of the judges, if you fancy them illiterate to such a degree as not +to know that these doctrines are found in the books of Anaxagoras the +Clazomenian, which are full of them. And so, forsooth, the youth are said to be +taught them by Socrates, when there are not unfrequently exhibitions of them at +the theatre (Probably in allusion to Aristophanes who caricatured, and to +Euripides who borrowed the notions of Anaxagoras, as well as to other dramatic +poets.) (price of admission one drachma at the most); and they might pay their +money, and laugh at Socrates if he pretends to father these extraordinary +views. And so, Meletus, you really think that I do not believe in any god? +</p> + +<p> +I swear by Zeus that you believe absolutely in none at all. +</p> + +<p> +Nobody will believe you, Meletus, and I am pretty sure that you do not believe +yourself. I cannot help thinking, men of Athens, that Meletus is reckless and +impudent, and that he has written this indictment in a spirit of mere +wantonness and youthful bravado. Has he not compounded a riddle, thinking to +try me? He said to himself:—I shall see whether the wise Socrates will +discover my facetious contradiction, or whether I shall be able to deceive him +and the rest of them. For he certainly does appear to me to contradict himself +in the indictment as much as if he said that Socrates is guilty of not +believing in the gods, and yet of believing in them—but this is not like +a person who is in earnest. +</p> + +<p> +I should like you, O men of Athens, to join me in examining what I conceive to +be his inconsistency; and do you, Meletus, answer. And I must remind the +audience of my request that they would not make a disturbance if I speak in my +accustomed manner: +</p> + +<p> +Did ever man, Meletus, believe in the existence of human things, and not of +human beings?...I wish, men of Athens, that he would answer, and not be always +trying to get up an interruption. Did ever any man believe in horsemanship, and +not in horses? or in flute-playing, and not in flute-players? No, my friend; I +will answer to you and to the court, as you refuse to answer for yourself. +There is no man who ever did. But now please to answer the next question: Can a +man believe in spiritual and divine agencies, and not in spirits or demigods? +</p> + +<p> +He cannot. +</p> + +<p> +How lucky I am to have extracted that answer, by the assistance of the court! +But then you swear in the indictment that I teach and believe in divine or +spiritual agencies (new or old, no matter for that); at any rate, I believe in +spiritual agencies,—so you say and swear in the affidavit; and yet if I +believe in divine beings, how can I help believing in spirits or +demigods;—must I not? To be sure I must; and therefore I may assume that +your silence gives consent. Now what are spirits or demigods? Are they not +either gods or the sons of gods? +</p> + +<p> +Certainly they are. +</p> + +<p> +But this is what I call the facetious riddle invented by you: the demigods or +spirits are gods, and you say first that I do not believe in gods, and then +again that I do believe in gods; that is, if I believe in demigods. For if the +demigods are the illegitimate sons of gods, whether by the nymphs or by any +other mothers, of whom they are said to be the sons—what human being will +ever believe that there are no gods if they are the sons of gods? You might as +well affirm the existence of mules, and deny that of horses and asses. Such +nonsense, Meletus, could only have been intended by you to make trial of me. +You have put this into the indictment because you had nothing real of which to +accuse me. But no one who has a particle of understanding will ever be +convinced by you that the same men can believe in divine and superhuman things, +and yet not believe that there are gods and demigods and heroes. +</p> + +<p> +I have said enough in answer to the charge of Meletus: any elaborate defence is +unnecessary, but I know only too well how many are the enmities which I have +incurred, and this is what will be my destruction if I am destroyed;—not +Meletus, nor yet Anytus, but the envy and detraction of the world, which has +been the death of many good men, and will probably be the death of many more; +there is no danger of my being the last of them. +</p> + +<p> +Some one will say: And are you not ashamed, Socrates, of a course of life which +is likely to bring you to an untimely end? To him I may fairly answer: There +you are mistaken: a man who is good for anything ought not to calculate the +chance of living or dying; he ought only to consider whether in doing anything +he is doing right or wrong—acting the part of a good man or of a bad. +Whereas, upon your view, the heroes who fell at Troy were not good for much, +and the son of Thetis above all, who altogether despised danger in comparison +with disgrace; and when he was so eager to slay Hector, his goddess mother said +to him, that if he avenged his companion Patroclus, and slew Hector, he would +die himself—“Fate,” she said, in these or the like words, +“waits for you next after Hector;” he, receiving this warning, +utterly despised danger and death, and instead of fearing them, feared rather +to live in dishonour, and not to avenge his friend. “Let me die +forthwith,” he replies, “and be avenged of my enemy, rather than +abide here by the beaked ships, a laughing-stock and a burden of the +earth.” Had Achilles any thought of death and danger? For wherever a +man’s place is, whether the place which he has chosen or that in which he +has been placed by a commander, there he ought to remain in the hour of danger; +he should not think of death or of anything but of disgrace. And this, O men of +Athens, is a true saying. +</p> + +<p> +Strange, indeed, would be my conduct, O men of Athens, if I who, when I was +ordered by the generals whom you chose to command me at Potidaea and Amphipolis +and Delium, remained where they placed me, like any other man, facing +death—if now, when, as I conceive and imagine, God orders me to fulfil +the philosopher’s mission of searching into myself and other men, I were +to desert my post through fear of death, or any other fear; that would indeed +be strange, and I might justly be arraigned in court for denying the existence +of the gods, if I disobeyed the oracle because I was afraid of death, fancying +that I was wise when I was not wise. For the fear of death is indeed the +pretence of wisdom, and not real wisdom, being a pretence of knowing the +unknown; and no one knows whether death, which men in their fear apprehend to +be the greatest evil, may not be the greatest good. Is not this ignorance of a +disgraceful sort, the ignorance which is the conceit that a man knows what he +does not know? And in this respect only I believe myself to differ from men in +general, and may perhaps claim to be wiser than they are:—that whereas I +know but little of the world below, I do not suppose that I know: but I do know +that injustice and disobedience to a better, whether God or man, is evil and +dishonourable, and I will never fear or avoid a possible good rather than a +certain evil. And therefore if you let me go now, and are not convinced by +Anytus, who said that since I had been prosecuted I must be put to death; (or +if not that I ought never to have been prosecuted at all); and that if I escape +now, your sons will all be utterly ruined by listening to my words—if you +say to me, Socrates, this time we will not mind Anytus, and you shall be let +off, but upon one condition, that you are not to enquire and speculate in this +way any more, and that if you are caught doing so again you shall die;—if +this was the condition on which you let me go, I should reply: Men of Athens, I +honour and love you; but I shall obey God rather than you, and while I have +life and strength I shall never cease from the practice and teaching of +philosophy, exhorting any one whom I meet and saying to him after my manner: +You, my friend,—a citizen of the great and mighty and wise city of +Athens,—are you not ashamed of heaping up the greatest amount of money +and honour and reputation, and caring so little about wisdom and truth and the +greatest improvement of the soul, which you never regard or heed at all? And if +the person with whom I am arguing, says: Yes, but I do care; then I do not +leave him or let him go at once; but I proceed to interrogate and examine and +cross-examine him, and if I think that he has no virtue in him, but only says +that he has, I reproach him with undervaluing the greater, and overvaluing the +less. And I shall repeat the same words to every one whom I meet, young and +old, citizen and alien, but especially to the citizens, inasmuch as they are my +brethren. For know that this is the command of God; and I believe that no +greater good has ever happened in the state than my service to the God. For I +do nothing but go about persuading you all, old and young alike, not to take +thought for your persons or your properties, but first and chiefly to care +about the greatest improvement of the soul. I tell you that virtue is not given +by money, but that from virtue comes money and every other good of man, public +as well as private. This is my teaching, and if this is the doctrine which +corrupts the youth, I am a mischievous person. But if any one says that this is +not my teaching, he is speaking an untruth. Wherefore, O men of Athens, I say +to you, do as Anytus bids or not as Anytus bids, and either acquit me or not; +but whichever you do, understand that I shall never alter my ways, not even if +I have to die many times. +</p> + +<p> +Men of Athens, do not interrupt, but hear me; there was an understanding +between us that you should hear me to the end: I have something more to say, at +which you may be inclined to cry out; but I believe that to hear me will be +good for you, and therefore I beg that you will not cry out. I would have you +know, that if you kill such an one as I am, you will injure yourselves more +than you will injure me. Nothing will injure me, not Meletus nor yet +Anytus—they cannot, for a bad man is not permitted to injure a better +than himself. I do not deny that Anytus may, perhaps, kill him, or drive him +into exile, or deprive him of civil rights; and he may imagine, and others may +imagine, that he is inflicting a great injury upon him: but there I do not +agree. For the evil of doing as he is doing—the evil of unjustly taking +away the life of another—is greater far. +</p> + +<p> +And now, Athenians, I am not going to argue for my own sake, as you may think, +but for yours, that you may not sin against the God by condemning me, who am +his gift to you. For if you kill me you will not easily find a successor to me, +who, if I may use such a ludicrous figure of speech, am a sort of gadfly, given +to the state by God; and the state is a great and noble steed who is tardy in +his motions owing to his very size, and requires to be stirred into life. I am +that gadfly which God has attached to the state, and all day long and in all +places am always fastening upon you, arousing and persuading and reproaching +you. You will not easily find another like me, and therefore I would advise you +to spare me. I dare say that you may feel out of temper (like a person who is +suddenly awakened from sleep), and you think that you might easily strike me +dead as Anytus advises, and then you would sleep on for the remainder of your +lives, unless God in his care of you sent you another gadfly. When I say that I +am given to you by God, the proof of my mission is this:—if I had been +like other men, I should not have neglected all my own concerns or patiently +seen the neglect of them during all these years, and have been doing yours, +coming to you individually like a father or elder brother, exhorting you to +regard virtue; such conduct, I say, would be unlike human nature. If I had +gained anything, or if my exhortations had been paid, there would have been +some sense in my doing so; but now, as you will perceive, not even the +impudence of my accusers dares to say that I have ever exacted or sought pay of +any one; of that they have no witness. And I have a sufficient witness to the +truth of what I say—my poverty. +</p> + +<p> +Some one may wonder why I go about in private giving advice and busying myself +with the concerns of others, but do not venture to come forward in public and +advise the state. I will tell you why. You have heard me speak at sundry times +and in divers places of an oracle or sign which comes to me, and is the +divinity which Meletus ridicules in the indictment. This sign, which is a kind +of voice, first began to come to me when I was a child; it always forbids but +never commands me to do anything which I am going to do. This is what deters me +from being a politician. And rightly, as I think. For I am certain, O men of +Athens, that if I had engaged in politics, I should have perished long ago, and +done no good either to you or to myself. And do not be offended at my telling +you the truth: for the truth is, that no man who goes to war with you or any +other multitude, honestly striving against the many lawless and unrighteous +deeds which are done in a state, will save his life; he who will fight for the +right, if he would live even for a brief space, must have a private station and +not a public one. +</p> + +<p> +I can give you convincing evidence of what I say, not words only, but what you +value far more—actions. Let me relate to you a passage of my own life +which will prove to you that I should never have yielded to injustice from any +fear of death, and that “as I should have refused to yield” I must +have died at once. I will tell you a tale of the courts, not very interesting +perhaps, but nevertheless true. The only office of state which I ever held, O +men of Athens, was that of senator: the tribe Antiochis, which is my tribe, had +the presidency at the trial of the generals who had not taken up the bodies of +the slain after the battle of Arginusae; and you proposed to try them in a +body, contrary to law, as you all thought afterwards; but at the time I was the +only one of the Prytanes who was opposed to the illegality, and I gave my vote +against you; and when the orators threatened to impeach and arrest me, and you +called and shouted, I made up my mind that I would run the risk, having law and +justice with me, rather than take part in your injustice because I feared +imprisonment and death. This happened in the days of the democracy. But when +the oligarchy of the Thirty was in power, they sent for me and four others into +the rotunda, and bade us bring Leon the Salaminian from Salamis, as they wanted +to put him to death. This was a specimen of the sort of commands which they +were always giving with the view of implicating as many as possible in their +crimes; and then I showed, not in word only but in deed, that, if I may be +allowed to use such an expression, I cared not a straw for death, and that my +great and only care was lest I should do an unrighteous or unholy thing. For +the strong arm of that oppressive power did not frighten me into doing wrong; +and when we came out of the rotunda the other four went to Salamis and fetched +Leon, but I went quietly home. For which I might have lost my life, had not the +power of the Thirty shortly afterwards come to an end. And many will witness to +my words. +</p> + +<p> +Now do you really imagine that I could have survived all these years, if I had +led a public life, supposing that like a good man I had always maintained the +right and had made justice, as I ought, the first thing? No indeed, men of +Athens, neither I nor any other man. But I have been always the same in all my +actions, public as well as private, and never have I yielded any base +compliance to those who are slanderously termed my disciples, or to any other. +Not that I have any regular disciples. But if any one likes to come and hear me +while I am pursuing my mission, whether he be young or old, he is not excluded. +Nor do I converse only with those who pay; but any one, whether he be rich or +poor, may ask and answer me and listen to my words; and whether he turns out to +be a bad man or a good one, neither result can be justly imputed to me; for I +never taught or professed to teach him anything. And if any one says that he +has ever learned or heard anything from me in private which all the world has +not heard, let me tell you that he is lying. +</p> + +<p> +But I shall be asked, Why do people delight in continually conversing with you? +I have told you already, Athenians, the whole truth about this matter: they +like to hear the cross-examination of the pretenders to wisdom; there is +amusement in it. Now this duty of cross-examining other men has been imposed +upon me by God; and has been signified to me by oracles, visions, and in every +way in which the will of divine power was ever intimated to any one. This is +true, O Athenians, or, if not true, would be soon refuted. If I am or have been +corrupting the youth, those of them who are now grown up and have become +sensible that I gave them bad advice in the days of their youth should come +forward as accusers, and take their revenge; or if they do not like to come +themselves, some of their relatives, fathers, brothers, or other kinsmen, +should say what evil their families have suffered at my hands. Now is their +time. Many of them I see in the court. There is Crito, who is of the same age +and of the same deme with myself, and there is Critobulus his son, whom I also +see. Then again there is Lysanias of Sphettus, who is the father of +Aeschines—he is present; and also there is Antiphon of Cephisus, who is +the father of Epigenes; and there are the brothers of several who have +associated with me. There is Nicostratus the son of Theosdotides, and the +brother of Theodotus (now Theodotus himself is dead, and therefore he, at any +rate, will not seek to stop him); and there is Paralus the son of Demodocus, +who had a brother Theages; and Adeimantus the son of Ariston, whose brother +Plato is present; and Aeantodorus, who is the brother of Apollodorus, whom I +also see. I might mention a great many others, some of whom Meletus should have +produced as witnesses in the course of his speech; and let him still produce +them, if he has forgotten—I will make way for him. And let him say, if he +has any testimony of the sort which he can produce. Nay, Athenians, the very +opposite is the truth. For all these are ready to witness on behalf of the +corrupter, of the injurer of their kindred, as Meletus and Anytus call me; not +the corrupted youth only—there might have been a motive for +that—but their uncorrupted elder relatives. Why should they too support +me with their testimony? Why, indeed, except for the sake of truth and justice, +and because they know that I am speaking the truth, and that Meletus is a liar. +</p> + +<p> +Well, Athenians, this and the like of this is all the defence which I have to +offer. Yet a word more. Perhaps there may be some one who is offended at me, +when he calls to mind how he himself on a similar, or even a less serious +occasion, prayed and entreated the judges with many tears, and how he produced +his children in court, which was a moving spectacle, together with a host of +relations and friends; whereas I, who am probably in danger of my life, will do +none of these things. The contrast may occur to his mind, and he may be set +against me, and vote in anger because he is displeased at me on this account. +Now if there be such a person among you,—mind, I do not say that there +is,—to him I may fairly reply: My friend, I am a man, and like other men, +a creature of flesh and blood, and not “of wood or stone,” as Homer +says; and I have a family, yes, and sons, O Athenians, three in number, one +almost a man, and two others who are still young; and yet I will not bring any +of them hither in order to petition you for an acquittal. And why not? Not from +any self-assertion or want of respect for you. Whether I am or am not afraid of +death is another question, of which I will not now speak. But, having regard to +public opinion, I feel that such conduct would be discreditable to myself, and +to you, and to the whole state. One who has reached my years, and who has a +name for wisdom, ought not to demean himself. Whether this opinion of me be +deserved or not, at any rate the world has decided that Socrates is in some way +superior to other men. And if those among you who are said to be superior in +wisdom and courage, and any other virtue, demean themselves in this way, how +shameful is their conduct! I have seen men of reputation, when they have been +condemned, behaving in the strangest manner: they seemed to fancy that they +were going to suffer something dreadful if they died, and that they could be +immortal if you only allowed them to live; and I think that such are a +dishonour to the state, and that any stranger coming in would have said of them +that the most eminent men of Athens, to whom the Athenians themselves give +honour and command, are no better than women. And I say that these things ought +not to be done by those of us who have a reputation; and if they are done, you +ought not to permit them; you ought rather to show that you are far more +disposed to condemn the man who gets up a doleful scene and makes the city +ridiculous, than him who holds his peace. +</p> + +<p> +But, setting aside the question of public opinion, there seems to be something +wrong in asking a favour of a judge, and thus procuring an acquittal, instead +of informing and convincing him. For his duty is, not to make a present of +justice, but to give judgment; and he has sworn that he will judge according to +the laws, and not according to his own good pleasure; and we ought not to +encourage you, nor should you allow yourselves to be encouraged, in this habit +of perjury—there can be no piety in that. Do not then require me to do +what I consider dishonourable and impious and wrong, especially now, when I am +being tried for impiety on the indictment of Meletus. For if, O men of Athens, +by force of persuasion and entreaty I could overpower your oaths, then I should +be teaching you to believe that there are no gods, and in defending should +simply convict myself of the charge of not believing in them. But that is not +so—far otherwise. For I do believe that there are gods, and in a sense +higher than that in which any of my accusers believe in them. And to you and to +God I commit my cause, to be determined by you as is best for you and me. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +There are many reasons why I am not grieved, O men of Athens, at the vote of +condemnation. I expected it, and am only surprised that the votes are so nearly +equal; for I had thought that the majority against me would have been far +larger; but now, had thirty votes gone over to the other side, I should have +been acquitted. And I may say, I think, that I have escaped Meletus. I may say +more; for without the assistance of Anytus and Lycon, any one may see that he +would not have had a fifth part of the votes, as the law requires, in which +case he would have incurred a fine of a thousand drachmae. +</p> + +<p> +And so he proposes death as the penalty. And what shall I propose on my part, O +men of Athens? Clearly that which is my due. And what is my due? What return +shall be made to the man who has never had the wit to be idle during his whole +life; but has been careless of what the many care for—wealth, and family +interests, and military offices, and speaking in the assembly, and +magistracies, and plots, and parties. Reflecting that I was really too honest a +man to be a politician and live, I did not go where I could do no good to you +or to myself; but where I could do the greatest good privately to every one of +you, thither I went, and sought to persuade every man among you that he must +look to himself, and seek virtue and wisdom before he looks to his private +interests, and look to the state before he looks to the interests of the state; +and that this should be the order which he observes in all his actions. What +shall be done to such an one? Doubtless some good thing, O men of Athens, if he +has his reward; and the good should be of a kind suitable to him. What would be +a reward suitable to a poor man who is your benefactor, and who desires leisure +that he may instruct you? There can be no reward so fitting as maintenance in +the Prytaneum, O men of Athens, a reward which he deserves far more than the +citizen who has won the prize at Olympia in the horse or chariot race, whether +the chariots were drawn by two horses or by many. For I am in want, and he has +enough; and he only gives you the appearance of happiness, and I give you the +reality. And if I am to estimate the penalty fairly, I should say that +maintenance in the Prytaneum is the just return. +</p> + +<p> +Perhaps you think that I am braving you in what I am saying now, as in what I +said before about the tears and prayers. But this is not so. I speak rather +because I am convinced that I never intentionally wronged any one, although I +cannot convince you—the time has been too short; if there were a law at +Athens, as there is in other cities, that a capital cause should not be decided +in one day, then I believe that I should have convinced you. But I cannot in a +moment refute great slanders; and, as I am convinced that I never wronged +another, I will assuredly not wrong myself. I will not say of myself that I +deserve any evil, or propose any penalty. Why should I? because I am afraid of +the penalty of death which Meletus proposes? When I do not know whether death +is a good or an evil, why should I propose a penalty which would certainly be +an evil? Shall I say imprisonment? And why should I live in prison, and be the +slave of the magistrates of the year—of the Eleven? Or shall the penalty +be a fine, and imprisonment until the fine is paid? There is the same +objection. I should have to lie in prison, for money I have none, and cannot +pay. And if I say exile (and this may possibly be the penalty which you will +affix), I must indeed be blinded by the love of life, if I am so irrational as +to expect that when you, who are my own citizens, cannot endure my discourses +and words, and have found them so grievous and odious that you will have no +more of them, others are likely to endure me. No indeed, men of Athens, that is +not very likely. And what a life should I lead, at my age, wandering from city +to city, ever changing my place of exile, and always being driven out! For I am +quite sure that wherever I go, there, as here, the young men will flock to me; +and if I drive them away, their elders will drive me out at their request; and +if I let them come, their fathers and friends will drive me out for their +sakes. +</p> + +<p> +Some one will say: Yes, Socrates, but cannot you hold your tongue, and then you +may go into a foreign city, and no one will interfere with you? Now I have +great difficulty in making you understand my answer to this. For if I tell you +that to do as you say would be a disobedience to the God, and therefore that I +cannot hold my tongue, you will not believe that I am serious; and if I say +again that daily to discourse about virtue, and of those other things about +which you hear me examining myself and others, is the greatest good of man, and +that the unexamined life is not worth living, you are still less likely to +believe me. Yet I say what is true, although a thing of which it is hard for me +to persuade you. Also, I have never been accustomed to think that I deserve to +suffer any harm. Had I money I might have estimated the offence at what I was +able to pay, and not have been much the worse. But I have none, and therefore I +must ask you to proportion the fine to my means. Well, perhaps I could afford a +mina, and therefore I propose that penalty: Plato, Crito, Critobulus, and +Apollodorus, my friends here, bid me say thirty minæ, and they will be the +sureties. Let thirty minæ be the penalty; for which sum they will be ample +security to you. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +Not much time will be gained, O Athenians, in return for the evil name which +you will get from the detractors of the city, who will say that you killed +Socrates, a wise man; for they will call me wise, even although I am not wise, +when they want to reproach you. If you had waited a little while, your desire +would have been fulfilled in the course of nature. For I am far advanced in +years, as you may perceive, and not far from death. I am speaking now not to +all of you, but only to those who have condemned me to death. And I have +another thing to say to them: you think that I was convicted because I had no +words of the sort which would have procured my acquittal—I mean, if I had +thought fit to leave nothing undone or unsaid. Not so; the deficiency which led +to my conviction was not of words—certainly not. But I had not the +boldness or impudence or inclination to address you as you would have liked me +to do, weeping and wailing and lamenting, and saying and doing many things +which you have been accustomed to hear from others, and which, as I maintain, +are unworthy of me. I thought at the time that I ought not to do anything +common or mean when in danger: nor do I now repent of the style of my defence; +I would rather die having spoken after my manner, than speak in your manner and +live. For neither in war nor yet at law ought I or any man to use every way of +escaping death. Often in battle there can be no doubt that if a man will throw +away his arms, and fall on his knees before his pursuers, he may escape death; +and in other dangers there are other ways of escaping death, if a man is +willing to say and do anything. The difficulty, my friends, is not to avoid +death, but to avoid unrighteousness; for that runs faster than death. I am old +and move slowly, and the slower runner has overtaken me, and my accusers are +keen and quick, and the faster runner, who is unrighteousness, has overtaken +them. And now I depart hence condemned by you to suffer the penalty of +death,—they too go their ways condemned by the truth to suffer the +penalty of villainy and wrong; and I must abide by my award—let them +abide by theirs. I suppose that these things may be regarded as +fated,—and I think that they are well. +</p> + +<p> +And now, O men who have condemned me, I would fain prophesy to you; for I am +about to die, and in the hour of death men are gifted with prophetic power. And +I prophesy to you who are my murderers, that immediately after my departure +punishment far heavier than you have inflicted on me will surely await you. Me +you have killed because you wanted to escape the accuser, and not to give an +account of your lives. But that will not be as you suppose: far otherwise. For +I say that there will be more accusers of you than there are now; accusers whom +hitherto I have restrained: and as they are younger they will be more +inconsiderate with you, and you will be more offended at them. If you think +that by killing men you can prevent some one from censuring your evil lives, +you are mistaken; that is not a way of escape which is either possible or +honourable; the easiest and the noblest way is not to be disabling others, but +to be improving yourselves. This is the prophecy which I utter before my +departure to the judges who have condemned me. +</p> + +<p> +Friends, who would have acquitted me, I would like also to talk with you about +the thing which has come to pass, while the magistrates are busy, and before I +go to the place at which I must die. Stay then a little, for we may as well +talk with one another while there is time. You are my friends, and I should +like to show you the meaning of this event which has happened to me. O my +judges—for you I may truly call judges—I should like to tell you of +a wonderful circumstance. Hitherto the divine faculty of which the internal +oracle is the source has constantly been in the habit of opposing me even about +trifles, if I was going to make a slip or error in any matter; and now as you +see there has come upon me that which may be thought, and is generally believed +to be, the last and worst evil. But the oracle made no sign of opposition, +either when I was leaving my house in the morning, or when I was on my way to +the court, or while I was speaking, at anything which I was going to say; and +yet I have often been stopped in the middle of a speech, but now in nothing I +either said or did touching the matter in hand has the oracle opposed me. What +do I take to be the explanation of this silence? I will tell you. It is an +intimation that what has happened to me is a good, and that those of us who +think that death is an evil are in error. For the customary sign would surely +have opposed me had I been going to evil and not to good. +</p> + +<p> +Let us reflect in another way, and we shall see that there is great reason to +hope that death is a good; for one of two things—either death is a state +of nothingness and utter unconsciousness, or, as men say, there is a change and +migration of the soul from this world to another. Now if you suppose that there +is no consciousness, but a sleep like the sleep of him who is undisturbed even +by dreams, death will be an unspeakable gain. For if a person were to select +the night in which his sleep was undisturbed even by dreams, and were to +compare with this the other days and nights of his life, and then were to tell +us how many days and nights he had passed in the course of his life better and +more pleasantly than this one, I think that any man, I will not say a private +man, but even the great king will not find many such days or nights, when +compared with the others. Now if death be of such a nature, I say that to die +is gain; for eternity is then only a single night. But if death is the journey +to another place, and there, as men say, all the dead abide, what good, O my +friends and judges, can be greater than this? If indeed when the pilgrim +arrives in the world below, he is delivered from the professors of justice in +this world, and finds the true judges who are said to give judgment there, +Minos and Rhadamanthus and Aeacus and Triptolemus, and other sons of God who +were righteous in their own life, that pilgrimage will be worth making. What +would not a man give if he might converse with Orpheus and Musaeus and Hesiod +and Homer? Nay, if this be true, let me die again and again. I myself, too, +shall have a wonderful interest in there meeting and conversing with Palamedes, +and Ajax the son of Telamon, and any other ancient hero who has suffered death +through an unjust judgment; and there will be no small pleasure, as I think, in +comparing my own sufferings with theirs. Above all, I shall then be able to +continue my search into true and false knowledge; as in this world, so also in +the next; and I shall find out who is wise, and who pretends to be wise, and is +not. What would not a man give, O judges, to be able to examine the leader of +the great Trojan expedition; or Odysseus or Sisyphus, or numberless others, men +and women too! What infinite delight would there be in conversing with them and +asking them questions! In another world they do not put a man to death for +asking questions: assuredly not. For besides being happier than we are, they +will be immortal, if what is said is true. +</p> + +<p> +Wherefore, O judges, be of good cheer about death, and know of a certainty, +that no evil can happen to a good man, either in life or after death. He and +his are not neglected by the gods; nor has my own approaching end happened by +mere chance. But I see clearly that the time had arrived when it was better for +me to die and be released from trouble; wherefore the oracle gave no sign. For +which reason, also, I am not angry with my condemners, or with my accusers; +they have done me no harm, although they did not mean to do me any good; and +for this I may gently blame them. +</p> + +<p> +Still I have a favour to ask of them. When my sons are grown up, I would ask +you, O my friends, to punish them; and I would have you trouble them, as I have +troubled you, if they seem to care about riches, or anything, more than about +virtue; or if they pretend to be something when they are really +nothing,—then reprove them, as I have reproved you, for not caring about +that for which they ought to care, and thinking that they are something when +they are really nothing. And if you do this, both I and my sons will have +received justice at your hands. +</p> + +<p> +The hour of departure has arrived, and we go our ways—I to die, and you +to live. Which is better God only knows. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Apology, by Plato + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK APOLOGY *** + +***** This file should be named 1656-h.htm or 1656-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/5/1656/ + +Produced by Sue Asscher, and David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +concept and trademark. 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