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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, (ut non supplex aut reus sed magister aut dominus videretur esse +judicum' (Cic. de Orat.); and the loose and desultory style is an imitation +of the 'accustomed manner' in which Socrates spoke in 'the agora and among +the tables of the money-changers.' The allusion in the Crito may, perhaps, +be adduced as a further evidence of the literal accuracy of some parts. +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. + +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 Phaedo. 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. + +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 Gorgias, 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. + +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. + +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. + +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, Phaedo, 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 minae. +Something of the 'accustomed irony,' which may perhaps be expected to sleep +in the ear of the multitude, is lurking here. + +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. + +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. + +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.' + +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. + +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. + +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.' + +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. + +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 minae; for which they will be excellent +securities. + +(He is condemned to death.) + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +... + +'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? + +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.) + +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. + +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. + +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 Phaedo; 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.) + +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 Phaedo), 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. + +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. + +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, e.g. 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. + + +APOLOGY + +by + +Plato + +Translated by Benjamin Jowett + + +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 is 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 minae.' 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +Come hither, Meletus, and let me ask a question of you. You think a great +deal about the improvement of youth? + +Yes, I do. + +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. + +The laws. + +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. + +The judges, Socrates, who are present in court. + +What, do you mean to say, Meletus, that they are able to instruct and +improve youth? + +Certainly they are. + +What, all of them, or some only and not others? + +All of them. + +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? + +Yes, they do. + +And the senators? + +Yes, the senators improve them. + +But perhaps the members of the assembly corrupt them?--or do they too +improve them? + +They improve them. + +Then every Athenian improves and elevates them; all with the exception of +myself; and I alone am their corrupter? Is that what you affirm? + +That is what I stoutly affirm. + +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. + +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? + +Certainly. + +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? + +Certainly not. + +And when you accuse me of corrupting and deteriorating the youth, do you +allege that I corrupt them intentionally or unintentionally? + +Intentionally, I say. + +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. + +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. + +Yes, that I say emphatically. + +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? + +I mean the latter--that you are a complete atheist. + +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? + +I assure you, judges, that he does not: for he says that the sun is stone, +and the moon earth. + +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? + +I swear by Zeus that you believe absolutely in none at all. + +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. + +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: + +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? + +He cannot. + +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? + +Certainly they are. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +... + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 minae, and they will be the +sureties. Let thirty minae be the penalty; for which sum they will be +ample security to you. + +... + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +The hour of departure has arrived, and we go our ways--I to die, and you to +live. Which is better God only knows. + + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of Apology, by Plato + |