WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.600 --> 00:00:05.759 Part two of the Apology of Socrates by Plato, translated 2 00:00:05.799 --> 00:00:11.160 by Benjamin Jowett. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. 3 00:00:12.560 --> 00:00:19.039 Part two strange, indeed would be my conduct domen of Athens, 4 00:00:19.519 --> 00:00:22.559 if I, who, when I was ordered by the generals 5 00:00:22.640 --> 00:00:27.719 whom you chose to command me at potidier, Amphipolis and Delium, 6 00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:31.879 remained where they placed me like any other man facing death. 7 00:00:32.280 --> 00:00:37.079 If now, when as I conceive and imagine, God orders 8 00:00:37.119 --> 00:00:41.399 me to fulfill the philosopher's mission of searching into myself 9 00:00:41.439 --> 00:00:45.119 and other men, I were to desert my post through 10 00:00:45.320 --> 00:00:48.799 fear of death or any other fear, that would indeed 11 00:00:48.880 --> 00:00:53.119 be strange, and I might justly be arraigned in court 12 00:00:53.479 --> 00:00:57.399 for denying the existence of the gods if I disobeyed 13 00:00:57.399 --> 00:01:01.960 the oracle because I was afraid of death, fancying that 14 00:01:02.039 --> 00:01:06.400 I was wise when I was not wise. For the 15 00:01:06.439 --> 00:01:09.560 fear of death is indeed the pretense of wisdom, and 16 00:01:09.640 --> 00:01:13.159 not real wisdom, being a pretense of knowing the unknown. 17 00:01:14.000 --> 00:01:18.040 And no one knows whether death, which men in their 18 00:01:18.120 --> 00:01:22.000 fear apprehend to be the greatest evil, may not be 19 00:01:22.200 --> 00:01:27.640 the greatest good. Is not this ignorance of a disgraceful sort, 20 00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:31.079 the ignorance, which is the conceit that a man knows 21 00:01:31.159 --> 00:01:36.439 what he does not know. And in this respect only 22 00:01:37.000 --> 00:01:40.799 I believe myself to differ from men in general, and 23 00:01:41.079 --> 00:01:44.400 may perhaps claim to be wiser than they are. That, 24 00:01:45.040 --> 00:01:48.159 whereas I know but little of the world below, I 25 00:01:48.439 --> 00:01:52.079 do not suppose that I know. But I do know 26 00:01:52.280 --> 00:01:57.239 that injustice and disobedience to a better, whether God or man, 27 00:01:57.400 --> 00:02:01.439 is evil and dishonorable. And I will never fear or 28 00:02:01.480 --> 00:02:06.879 avoid a possible good rather than a certain evil. And therefore, 29 00:02:07.319 --> 00:02:09.680 if you will let me go now, and are not 30 00:02:09.759 --> 00:02:13.840 convinced by Annis who said that since I had been prosecuted, 31 00:02:13.919 --> 00:02:17.000 I must be put to death, or if not, that 32 00:02:17.159 --> 00:02:20.719 I ought never to have been prosecuted at all, and 33 00:02:20.800 --> 00:02:24.159 that if I escape now, your sons will all be 34 00:02:24.360 --> 00:02:28.039 utterly ruined by listening to my words. If you say 35 00:02:28.039 --> 00:02:32.560 to me, Socrates, this time we will not mind aneitis, 36 00:02:32.960 --> 00:02:36.400 and you shall be let off, but upon one condition 37 00:02:37.199 --> 00:02:40.800 that you are not to inquire and speculate in this 38 00:02:40.879 --> 00:02:44.159 way any more, and that if you are caught doing 39 00:02:44.240 --> 00:02:50.080 so again, you shall die. If this was the condition 40 00:02:50.319 --> 00:02:54.319 on which you let me go, I should reply men 41 00:02:54.400 --> 00:02:58.120 of Athens. I honor and love you, and I shall 42 00:02:58.120 --> 00:03:01.680 obey God rather than you. And while I have life 43 00:03:01.759 --> 00:03:04.879 and strength, I shall never cease from the practice and 44 00:03:04.960 --> 00:03:09.479 teaching of philosophy, exhorting any one whom I meet, and 45 00:03:09.680 --> 00:03:13.360 saying to him, after my manner, you are my friend, 46 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:16.879 a citizen of the great and mighty and wise city 47 00:03:16.919 --> 00:03:21.360 of Athens. Are you not ashamed of heaping up the 48 00:03:21.400 --> 00:03:25.719 greatest amount of money and honor and reputation, and carrying 49 00:03:25.879 --> 00:03:29.360 so little about wisdom and truth and the greatest improvement 50 00:03:29.360 --> 00:03:32.680 of the soul, which you never regard or heed at all. 51 00:03:33.759 --> 00:03:37.080 And if the person with whom I am arguing says, yes, 52 00:03:37.280 --> 00:03:40.680 but I do care, then I do not leave him 53 00:03:40.759 --> 00:03:43.719 or let him go at once. But I proceed to 54 00:03:43.840 --> 00:03:48.599 interrogate and examine and cross examine him. And if I 55 00:03:48.639 --> 00:03:50.960 think that he has no virtue in him, but only 56 00:03:51.039 --> 00:03:55.000 says that he has, I reproach him with undervaluing the 57 00:03:55.039 --> 00:04:00.199 greater and overvaluing the less. And I shall repeat the 58 00:04:00.240 --> 00:04:04.439 same words to every one whom I meet, young and old, 59 00:04:04.599 --> 00:04:09.800 citizen and alien, but especially to the citizens, inasmuch as 60 00:04:09.840 --> 00:04:14.240 they are my brethren. For know that this is the 61 00:04:14.280 --> 00:04:18.279 command of God, and I believe that no greater good 62 00:04:18.360 --> 00:04:21.879 has ever happened in the state than my service to 63 00:04:21.959 --> 00:04:25.759 the God. For I do nothing but go about persuading you, 64 00:04:25.879 --> 00:04:29.480 all old and young alike, not to take thought for 65 00:04:29.519 --> 00:04:33.680 your persons or your properties, but first and chiefly, to 66 00:04:33.800 --> 00:04:38.879 care about the greatest improvement of the soul. I tell 67 00:04:38.959 --> 00:04:43.079 you that virtue is not given by money, but that 68 00:04:43.199 --> 00:04:46.920 from virtue comes money and every other good of man, 69 00:04:47.279 --> 00:04:51.360 public as well as private. This is my teaching. And 70 00:04:51.439 --> 00:04:55.120 if this is the doctrine which corrupts the youth, I 71 00:04:55.160 --> 00:04:59.639 am a mischievous person. But if anyone says that this 72 00:04:59.720 --> 00:05:04.680 is not my teaching, he is speaking an untruth. Wherefore, o, 73 00:05:04.879 --> 00:05:08.199 men of Athens, I say to you, do as Anitis bids, 74 00:05:08.279 --> 00:05:11.680 or not as Anitis bids, and either acquit me or not. 75 00:05:12.240 --> 00:05:16.759 But whichever you do, understand that I shall never alter 76 00:05:16.920 --> 00:05:20.720 my ways, not even if I have to die. Many 77 00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:26.000 times men of Athens do not interrupt, but hear me. 78 00:05:26.639 --> 00:05:30.120 There was an understanding between us that you should hear 79 00:05:30.240 --> 00:05:34.439 me to the end. I have something more to say 80 00:05:34.959 --> 00:05:38.000 at which you may be inclined to cry out. But 81 00:05:38.079 --> 00:05:40.800 I believe that to hear me will be good for you, 82 00:05:41.480 --> 00:05:45.079 And therefore I beg that you will not cry out. 83 00:05:46.079 --> 00:05:48.879 I would have you know that if you kill such 84 00:05:48.920 --> 00:05:52.519 a one as I am, you will injure yourselves more 85 00:05:52.600 --> 00:05:57.360 than you will injure me. Nothing will injure me, not melitus, 86 00:05:57.399 --> 00:06:01.399 nor yet aneitis. They cannot, for a bad man is 87 00:06:01.480 --> 00:06:05.279 not persuaded to injure a better than himself. I do 88 00:06:05.319 --> 00:06:09.160 not deny that Annetis may perhaps kill him, or dry 89 00:06:09.240 --> 00:06:13.360 him into exile, or deprive him of civil rights. And 90 00:06:13.480 --> 00:06:16.839 he may imagine, and others may imagine, that he is 91 00:06:16.959 --> 00:06:21.560 inflicting a great injury upon him. But there I do 92 00:06:21.639 --> 00:06:25.680 not agree. For the evil of doing as he is doing. 93 00:06:26.199 --> 00:06:29.240 The evil of unjustly taking away the life of another 94 00:06:30.040 --> 00:06:36.800 is greater far and now, Athenians, I am not going 95 00:06:36.839 --> 00:06:39.399 to argue for my own sake, as you may think, 96 00:06:39.839 --> 00:06:43.079 but for yours, that you may not sin against the 97 00:06:43.120 --> 00:06:46.160 God by condemning me, who am His gift to you. 98 00:06:47.360 --> 00:06:50.879 For if you kill me, you will not easily find 99 00:06:50.920 --> 00:06:54.079 a successor to me. Who, if I may use such 100 00:06:54.120 --> 00:06:58.000 a ludicrous figure of speech, it may sort of gadfly 101 00:06:58.680 --> 00:07:01.439 given to the state by God God. And the state 102 00:07:01.720 --> 00:07:05.120 is a great and noble steed who is tardy in 103 00:07:05.160 --> 00:07:08.720 his motions owing to his very size, and requires to 104 00:07:08.759 --> 00:07:13.399 be stirred into life. I am that gat fly which 105 00:07:13.480 --> 00:07:17.360 God has attached to the state, and all day long, 106 00:07:17.519 --> 00:07:22.279 and in all places, am always fastening upon you, arousing 107 00:07:22.360 --> 00:07:26.879 and persuading and reproaching you. You will not easily find 108 00:07:26.879 --> 00:07:30.240 another like me, and therefore I would advise you to 109 00:07:30.279 --> 00:07:34.079 spare me. I dare say that you may feel out 110 00:07:34.120 --> 00:07:37.680 of temper, like a person who has suddenly awakened from sleep, 111 00:07:38.040 --> 00:07:41.000 and you think that you might easily strike me dead, 112 00:07:41.120 --> 00:07:44.560 as the Knight dis advises, and then you would sleep 113 00:07:44.600 --> 00:07:48.240 on for the remainder of your lives, unless God, in 114 00:07:48.319 --> 00:07:52.759 his care of you, sent you another gatfly. When I 115 00:07:52.839 --> 00:07:55.399 say that I am given to you by God, the 116 00:07:55.439 --> 00:07:59.199 proof of my mission is this. If I had been 117 00:07:59.519 --> 00:08:03.040 like other men, I should not have neglected all my 118 00:08:03.240 --> 00:08:07.199 own concerns or patiently seen the neglect of them during 119 00:08:07.240 --> 00:08:11.720 all these years, and have been doing yours, coming to 120 00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:15.920 you individually like a father or elder brother, exhorting you 121 00:08:16.079 --> 00:08:19.879 to regard virtue. Such conduct, I say, would be unlike 122 00:08:19.959 --> 00:08:23.879 human nature. If I had gained anything, or if my 123 00:08:24.040 --> 00:08:28.199 exhortations had been paid, there would have been some sense 124 00:08:28.279 --> 00:08:32.279 in my doing so. But now, as you perceive, not 125 00:08:32.519 --> 00:08:36.720 even the impudence of my accusers dares to say that 126 00:08:36.840 --> 00:08:39.759 I have ever exacted or sought pay of any one, 127 00:08:40.320 --> 00:08:44.159 or that they have no witnesses. And I have a 128 00:08:44.200 --> 00:08:48.600 sufficient witness to the truth of what I say my poverty. 129 00:08:50.159 --> 00:08:53.360 Some one may wonder why I go about in private 130 00:08:53.759 --> 00:08:57.480 giving advice and busying myself with the concerns of others, 131 00:08:57.960 --> 00:09:00.480 but do not venture to come forward in public and 132 00:09:00.600 --> 00:09:04.720 advise the state. I will tell you why you have 133 00:09:04.799 --> 00:09:08.480 heard me speak at sundry times and in divers places 134 00:09:08.919 --> 00:09:12.279 of an oracle or sign which comes to me, and 135 00:09:12.559 --> 00:09:18.120 is the divinity which Melitus ridicules in the indictment. This sign, 136 00:09:18.360 --> 00:09:22.000 which is a kind of voice, first began to come 137 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:25.799 to me when I was a child. It always forbids, 138 00:09:25.919 --> 00:09:28.759 but never commands me to do anything which I am 139 00:09:28.840 --> 00:09:32.960 going to do. This is what deters me from being 140 00:09:33.000 --> 00:09:37.320 a politician. And rightly as I think, for I am certain, 141 00:09:37.480 --> 00:09:41.600 o men of Athens, that if I had engaged in politics, 142 00:09:41.720 --> 00:09:45.559 I should have perished long ago and done no good 143 00:09:45.600 --> 00:09:49.039 either to you or to myself. And do not be 144 00:09:49.159 --> 00:09:52.320 offended at my telling you the truth. What the truth 145 00:09:52.440 --> 00:09:54.679 is that no man who goes to war with you 146 00:09:55.000 --> 00:09:59.399 or any other multitude, honestly striving against the many lawless 147 00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:02.039 and unru righteous deeds which are done in a state, 148 00:10:02.639 --> 00:10:05.720 will save his life. He who would fight for the right, 149 00:10:06.200 --> 00:10:09.200 if he would live even for a brief space, must 150 00:10:09.279 --> 00:10:14.519 have a private station, and not a public one. I 151 00:10:14.559 --> 00:10:18.039 can give you convincing evidence of what I say, not 152 00:10:18.200 --> 00:10:24.039 words only, but what you value far more actions. Let 153 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:26.720 me relate to you a passage of my own life, 154 00:10:27.120 --> 00:10:29.600 which will prove to you that I should never have 155 00:10:29.799 --> 00:10:33.960 yielded to injustice from any fear of death, and that 156 00:10:34.120 --> 00:10:37.759 as I should have refused to yield, I must have 157 00:10:37.960 --> 00:10:41.519 died at once. I will tell you a tale of 158 00:10:41.559 --> 00:10:47.440 the courts, not very interesting, perhaps, but nevertheless true. The 159 00:10:47.480 --> 00:10:50.159 only office of the state which I ever held, o 160 00:10:50.360 --> 00:10:55.639 men of Athens, was that of senator. The tribe Antiochus, 161 00:10:55.679 --> 00:10:58.919 which is my tribe, had the presidency at the trial 162 00:10:58.960 --> 00:11:01.960 of the generals who had not taken up the bodies 163 00:11:01.960 --> 00:11:05.120 of the slain after the Battle of Argenouse, and you 164 00:11:05.240 --> 00:11:09.000 proposed to try them in a body contrary to law, 165 00:11:09.120 --> 00:11:12.559 as you all thought afterwards but at the time I 166 00:11:12.799 --> 00:11:16.879 was the only one of the pratanas who was opposed 167 00:11:17.000 --> 00:11:20.159 to the illegality, and I gave my vote against you. 168 00:11:20.879 --> 00:11:23.679 And when the orators threatened to impeach and arrest me, 169 00:11:24.039 --> 00:11:27.440 and you called and shouted, I made up my mind 170 00:11:27.840 --> 00:11:31.519 that I would run the risk having law and justice 171 00:11:31.559 --> 00:11:34.799 with me, rather than take part in your injustice, because 172 00:11:34.840 --> 00:11:38.720 I feared imprisonment and death. This happened in the days 173 00:11:38.759 --> 00:11:42.240 of the democracy. But when the oligarchy of the thirty 174 00:11:42.399 --> 00:11:45.360 was in power, they sent for me and four others 175 00:11:45.399 --> 00:11:49.399 into the rotunda and bade us bring Leon the Salomonian 176 00:11:49.600 --> 00:11:52.759 from Salamis, as they wanted to put him to death. 177 00:11:53.720 --> 00:11:56.639 This was a specimen of the sort of commands which 178 00:11:56.679 --> 00:12:00.200 they were always giving with the view of implicating as 179 00:12:00.240 --> 00:12:04.559 many as possible in their crimes. And then I showed, 180 00:12:04.879 --> 00:12:08.600 not in word only, but indeed, that if I may 181 00:12:08.600 --> 00:12:11.799 be allowed to use such an expression, I cared not 182 00:12:12.159 --> 00:12:16.039 a straw for death, and that my great and only 183 00:12:16.120 --> 00:12:19.879 care was lest I should do an unrighteous or unholy thing. 184 00:12:20.840 --> 00:12:24.200 For the strong arm of that oppressive power did not 185 00:12:24.360 --> 00:12:27.960 frighten me into doing wrong. And when we came out 186 00:12:27.960 --> 00:12:31.480 of thee Rotunda. The other four went to Sulemnus and 187 00:12:31.559 --> 00:12:36.600 fetched leon. But I went quietly home, for which I 188 00:12:36.720 --> 00:12:39.279 might have lost my life, had not the power of 189 00:12:39.320 --> 00:12:43.279 the thirty shortly afterwards come to an end. And many 190 00:12:43.399 --> 00:12:48.200 will witness to my words. Now, do you really imagine 191 00:12:48.320 --> 00:12:51.960 that I could have survived all these years if I 192 00:12:52.000 --> 00:12:55.080 had led a public life, supposing that, like a good man, 193 00:12:55.639 --> 00:12:58.759 I had always maintained the right and had made justice 194 00:12:58.799 --> 00:13:02.840 as I ought the first thing? No, indeed, men of Athens, 195 00:13:03.440 --> 00:13:07.679 neither I nor any other man. But I have been 196 00:13:07.840 --> 00:13:11.679 always the same in all my actions, public as well 197 00:13:11.679 --> 00:13:15.759 as private, And never have I yielded any base compliance 198 00:13:15.879 --> 00:13:19.960 to those who are slanderously termed my disciples, or to 199 00:13:20.039 --> 00:13:24.159 any other not that I have any regular disciples. But 200 00:13:24.279 --> 00:13:26.840 if any one likes to come and hear me while 201 00:13:26.879 --> 00:13:30.639 I am pursuing my mission, whether he be young or old, 202 00:13:30.840 --> 00:13:34.799 he is not excluded. Nor do I converse only with 203 00:13:34.879 --> 00:13:38.279 those who pay me. But any one, whether he be 204 00:13:38.440 --> 00:13:41.600 rich or poor, may ask and answer me and listen 205 00:13:41.639 --> 00:13:44.879 to my words. And whether he turns out to be 206 00:13:44.960 --> 00:13:48.480 a bad man or a good one, neither result can 207 00:13:48.559 --> 00:13:52.879 be justly imputed to me. For I never taught or 208 00:13:53.000 --> 00:13:57.159 professed to teach him anything. And if any one says 209 00:13:57.240 --> 00:14:00.080 that he has ever learned or heard anything from me 210 00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:03.720 in private, which all the world has not heard, let 211 00:14:03.720 --> 00:14:09.240 me tell you that he is lying. But I shall 212 00:14:09.279 --> 00:14:14.600 be asked, why do people delight in continually conversing with you. 213 00:14:15.639 --> 00:14:19.120 I have told you already, Athenians, the whole truth about 214 00:14:19.120 --> 00:14:23.120 this matter. They like to hear the cross examination of 215 00:14:23.200 --> 00:14:28.120 the pretenders to wisdom. There is amusement in it. Now. 216 00:14:28.360 --> 00:14:32.720 This duty of cross examining other men has been imposed 217 00:14:32.840 --> 00:14:35.960 upon me by God, and has been signified to me 218 00:14:36.080 --> 00:14:40.000 by oracles, visions, and in every way in which the 219 00:14:40.039 --> 00:14:43.440 will of divine power was ever intimated to any one. 220 00:14:44.279 --> 00:14:48.360 This is true, O Athenians, or if not true, would 221 00:14:48.399 --> 00:14:52.559 be soon refuted. If I am or have been corrupting 222 00:14:52.600 --> 00:14:55.399 the youth, those of them who are now grown up 223 00:14:55.679 --> 00:14:58.519 and have become sensible that I gave them bad advice 224 00:14:58.559 --> 00:15:01.279 in the days of their youth, should come forward as 225 00:15:01.320 --> 00:15:05.799 accusers and take their revenge. Or if they do not 226 00:15:06.080 --> 00:15:10.120 like to come themselves, some of their relatives, fathers, brothers, 227 00:15:10.200 --> 00:15:14.000 or other kinsmen should say what evil their families have 228 00:15:14.120 --> 00:15:19.159 suffered in my hands? Now is their time. Many of 229 00:15:19.200 --> 00:15:23.360 them I see in the court. There is Creto, who 230 00:15:23.440 --> 00:15:26.039 is of the same age and of the same deem 231 00:15:26.320 --> 00:15:32.120 with myself. There is Crotobolus, his son, whom I also see. 232 00:15:32.720 --> 00:15:36.840 Then again there is Licinius of Spetus, who is the 233 00:15:36.840 --> 00:15:41.200 father of Escanines. He is present. And also there is 234 00:15:41.279 --> 00:15:46.159 Antophon of Cepheus, who is the father of Epigenius. There 235 00:15:46.200 --> 00:15:49.039 are the brothers of several who have associated with me. 236 00:15:49.879 --> 00:15:54.279 There is Nicostratus, the son of Theodotes, and the brother 237 00:15:54.399 --> 00:15:59.600 of Theodotus. Now Theodotus himself is dead, and therefore he 238 00:15:59.720 --> 00:16:03.960 any rate will not seek to stop him. There is Farlus, 239 00:16:04.120 --> 00:16:09.799 the son of Democolus, who had a brother theogz and Adematus, 240 00:16:09.840 --> 00:16:14.840 the son of Ariston, whose brother Plato is present. And Atrodolus, 241 00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:17.720 who is the brother of Apollodorus, whom I also see. 242 00:16:18.679 --> 00:16:22.360 I might mention a great many others, some of whom 243 00:16:22.480 --> 00:16:25.519 Melitus should have produced as witnesses in the course of 244 00:16:25.559 --> 00:16:28.240 his speech, and let him still produce them. If he 245 00:16:28.279 --> 00:16:31.720 has forgotten, I will make way for him, and let 246 00:16:31.799 --> 00:16:34.039 him say if he has any testimony of the sort 247 00:16:34.080 --> 00:16:39.000 which he can produce. Nay, Athenians, the very opposite is 248 00:16:39.080 --> 00:16:42.559 the truth. For all these are ready to witness on 249 00:16:42.600 --> 00:16:46.559 behalf of the corrupter, of the injurer of their kindred 250 00:16:46.879 --> 00:16:50.799 as Melitus and Anetas call me not the corrupted youth. 251 00:16:50.879 --> 00:16:54.120 Only there might have been a motive for that. But 252 00:16:54.360 --> 00:16:59.240 their uncorrupted elder relatives. Why should they too support me 253 00:16:59.480 --> 00:17:04.200 with their tests stimony? Why indeed, except for the sake 254 00:17:04.240 --> 00:17:07.680 of truth and justice, and because they know that I 255 00:17:07.720 --> 00:17:14.839 am speaking the truth, and that Melitus is a liar. Well, Athenians, 256 00:17:14.960 --> 00:17:17.559 This and the like of this is all the defense 257 00:17:17.640 --> 00:17:22.000 which I have to offer. Yet a word more. Perhaps 258 00:17:22.079 --> 00:17:24.599 there may be some one who is offended at me 259 00:17:25.039 --> 00:17:28.200 when he calls to mind how he himself, on a 260 00:17:28.359 --> 00:17:32.759 similar or even a less serious occasion, prayed and entreated 261 00:17:32.799 --> 00:17:36.119 the judges with many tears, and how he produced his 262 00:17:36.240 --> 00:17:40.000 children in court, which was a moving spectacle, together with 263 00:17:40.039 --> 00:17:43.960 a host of relations and friends. Whereas I, who am 264 00:17:44.039 --> 00:17:47.480 probably in danger of my life, will do none of 265 00:17:47.519 --> 00:17:51.880 these things. The contrast may occur to his mind that 266 00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:54.440 he may be set against me and vote in anger 267 00:17:54.640 --> 00:17:58.160 because he is displeased at me on this account. Now, 268 00:17:58.440 --> 00:18:00.920 if there be such a person, among you. Mind, I 269 00:18:00.960 --> 00:18:03.839 do not say that there is to him. I may 270 00:18:03.880 --> 00:18:08.599 fairly reply, my friend, I am a man, and like 271 00:18:08.680 --> 00:18:11.839 other men, a creature of flesh and blood, and not 272 00:18:12.200 --> 00:18:15.240 of wood or stone, as Homer says. And I have 273 00:18:15.279 --> 00:18:19.880 a family, yes, and sons Athenians three in number one 274 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:23.200 almost a man, and two others who are still young. 275 00:18:23.960 --> 00:18:26.759 And yet I will not bring any of them hither 276 00:18:26.880 --> 00:18:30.559 in order to petition you for an acquittal. And why 277 00:18:30.799 --> 00:18:34.720 not not from any self assertion or want of respect 278 00:18:34.759 --> 00:18:37.920 for you. Whether I am or am not afraid of 279 00:18:37.960 --> 00:18:41.119 death is another question of which I will not now speak. 280 00:18:41.759 --> 00:18:46.279 But having regard to public opinion, I feel that such 281 00:18:46.359 --> 00:18:50.759 conduct would be discreditable to myself and to you, and 282 00:18:51.000 --> 00:18:55.240 to the whole state. One who has reached my years, 283 00:18:55.680 --> 00:18:58.880 and who has a name for wisdom ought not to 284 00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:03.240 demean himself, whether this opinion of me be deserved or not. 285 00:19:03.799 --> 00:19:07.680 At any rate, the world has decided that Socrates is 286 00:19:07.720 --> 00:19:11.279 in some way superior to other men. And if those 287 00:19:11.319 --> 00:19:13.920 among you who are said to be superior in wisdom 288 00:19:14.039 --> 00:19:17.920 and courage and any other virtue to mean themselves in 289 00:19:17.960 --> 00:19:22.640 this way, how shameful is their conduct. I have seen 290 00:19:22.680 --> 00:19:26.640 men of reputation. When they have been condemned behaving in 291 00:19:26.720 --> 00:19:30.279 the strangest manner. They seemed to fancy that they were 292 00:19:30.359 --> 00:19:34.319 going to suffer something dreadful if they died, and that 293 00:19:34.400 --> 00:19:38.400 they could be immortal if you only allowed them to live. 294 00:19:39.880 --> 00:19:42.799 I think that such are a dishonor to the state, 295 00:19:43.279 --> 00:19:45.920 and that any stranger coming in would have said of 296 00:19:45.960 --> 00:19:49.279 them that the most eminent men of Athens, to whom 297 00:19:49.319 --> 00:19:53.440 the Athenians themselves give honor and command, are no better 298 00:19:53.599 --> 00:19:57.640 than women. And I say that these things ought not 299 00:19:57.720 --> 00:20:00.920 to be done by those of us who have a reputation, 300 00:20:01.559 --> 00:20:04.200 And if they are done, you ought not to permit them. 301 00:20:04.680 --> 00:20:07.480 You ought rather to show that you are far more 302 00:20:07.480 --> 00:20:11.160 disposed to condemn the man who gets up a doleful 303 00:20:11.240 --> 00:20:15.039 scene and makes the city ridiculous than him who holds 304 00:20:15.079 --> 00:20:20.039 his peace. But setting aside the question of public opinion, 305 00:20:20.680 --> 00:20:24.240 there seems to be something wrong in asking a favor 306 00:20:24.319 --> 00:20:28.480 of a judge and thus procuring an acquittal, instead of 307 00:20:28.519 --> 00:20:32.680 informing and convincing him. For his duty is not to 308 00:20:32.720 --> 00:20:36.519 make a present of justice, but to give judgment, and 309 00:20:36.599 --> 00:20:38.960 he has sworn that he will judge according to the 310 00:20:39.039 --> 00:20:43.000 laws and not according to his own good pleasure, and 311 00:20:43.000 --> 00:20:46.119 we ought not to encourage you, nor should you allow 312 00:20:46.200 --> 00:20:50.839 yourselves to be encouraged in this habit of perjury. There 313 00:20:50.839 --> 00:20:55.480 can be no piety in that. Do not then require 314 00:20:55.599 --> 00:20:59.519 me to do what I consider dishonorable and impious and wrong, 315 00:21:00.160 --> 00:21:03.839 especially now when I am being tried for impiety on 316 00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:07.359 the indictment of Melitus. For if O Men of Athens, 317 00:21:07.440 --> 00:21:11.839 by force of persuasion and entreaty, I could overpower your oaths, 318 00:21:12.359 --> 00:21:15.359 then I should be teaching you to believe that there 319 00:21:15.400 --> 00:21:20.720 are no gods, and in defending should simply convict myself 320 00:21:20.799 --> 00:21:23.839 of the charge of not believing in them. But that 321 00:21:24.000 --> 00:21:29.480 is not so, for I do believe that there are gods, 322 00:21:29.559 --> 00:21:32.400 and in a sense higher than that in which any 323 00:21:32.440 --> 00:21:36.000 of my accusers believe in them. And to you and 324 00:21:36.079 --> 00:21:40.279 to God, I commit my cause to be determined by 325 00:21:40.319 --> 00:21:46.319 You as is best for you and me. There are 326 00:21:46.400 --> 00:21:50.519 many reasons why I am not grieved, O Men of Athens, 327 00:21:50.680 --> 00:21:55.000 at the vote of condemnation. I expected it, and am 328 00:21:55.039 --> 00:21:58.319 only surprised that the votes are so nearly equal. For 329 00:21:58.400 --> 00:22:00.640 I had thought that the majority against me would have 330 00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:04.720 been far larger, but now had thirty votes gone over 331 00:22:04.759 --> 00:22:08.079 to the other side, I should have been acquitted, And 332 00:22:08.160 --> 00:22:11.480 I may say, I think that I have escaped Melitus. 333 00:22:12.039 --> 00:22:15.160 I may say more, for without the assistance of Antaeus 334 00:22:15.279 --> 00:22:18.599 and Lycon, any one may see that he would not 335 00:22:18.759 --> 00:22:21.200 have had a fifth part of the votes, as the 336 00:22:21.240 --> 00:22:24.480 law requires, in which case he would have incurred a 337 00:22:24.559 --> 00:22:29.880 fine of a thousand truckmen. And so he proposes death 338 00:22:30.079 --> 00:22:34.519 as the penalty. And what shall I propose on my part, 339 00:22:34.559 --> 00:22:37.920 o men of Athens, clearly that which is my due, 340 00:22:38.480 --> 00:22:42.920 and what is my due? What return shall be made 341 00:22:42.960 --> 00:22:45.599 to the man who has never had the wit to 342 00:22:45.640 --> 00:22:49.200 be idle during his whole life, but has been careless 343 00:22:49.200 --> 00:22:53.079 of what the many care for wealth and family interests, 344 00:22:53.119 --> 00:22:57.599 and military offices, and speaking in the Assembly and magistracies 345 00:22:57.640 --> 00:23:02.200 and plots and parties, reflecting that I was really too 346 00:23:02.279 --> 00:23:05.400 honest a man to be a politician and live. I 347 00:23:05.559 --> 00:23:07.559 did not go where I could do no good to 348 00:23:07.640 --> 00:23:10.759 you or to myself, but where I could do the 349 00:23:10.799 --> 00:23:14.759 greatest good privately to every one of you. Thither I 350 00:23:14.880 --> 00:23:18.119 went and sought to persuade every man among you that 351 00:23:18.279 --> 00:23:22.640 he must look to himself and seek virtue in wisdom. 352 00:23:22.960 --> 00:23:26.240 Before he looks to his private interests and look to 353 00:23:26.279 --> 00:23:28.640 the state, before he looks to the interests of the state, 354 00:23:29.400 --> 00:23:32.839 And that this should be the ardor which he observes 355 00:23:32.880 --> 00:23:36.359 in all his actions. What shall be done to such 356 00:23:36.400 --> 00:23:40.200 an one, doubtless some good thing, O, men of Athens, 357 00:23:40.680 --> 00:23:42.960 if he has his reward, and the good should be 358 00:23:42.960 --> 00:23:46.519 of a kind suitable to him. What would be a 359 00:23:46.640 --> 00:23:50.920 reward suitable to a poor man who is your benefactor, 360 00:23:51.400 --> 00:23:55.079 and who desires leisure that he may instruct you? There 361 00:23:55.119 --> 00:23:59.200 can be no reward so fitting as maintenance in the Britaneum, 362 00:23:59.240 --> 00:24:02.920 O man of Aathans, a reward which he deserves far 363 00:24:03.119 --> 00:24:05.440 more than the citizen who has won the prize at 364 00:24:05.440 --> 00:24:09.359 Olympia in the horse or chariot race, whether the chariots 365 00:24:09.400 --> 00:24:13.039 were drawn by two horses or by many. For I 366 00:24:13.079 --> 00:24:16.640 am in want, and he has enough, and he only 367 00:24:16.680 --> 00:24:19.920 gives you the appearance of happiness, and I give you 368 00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:24.559 the reality. And if I am to estimate the penalty fairly, 369 00:24:25.119 --> 00:24:28.799 I should say that maintenance in the Britoneum is the 370 00:24:28.920 --> 00:24:33.519 just return. Perhaps you think that I am braving you 371 00:24:33.799 --> 00:24:36.279 in what I am saying now, as in what I 372 00:24:36.359 --> 00:24:39.680 said before about the tears and prayers. But this is 373 00:24:39.720 --> 00:24:44.480 not so. I speak rather because I am convinced that 374 00:24:44.559 --> 00:24:49.200 I never intentionally wronged any one, although I cannot convince 375 00:24:49.240 --> 00:24:52.160 you that time has been too short. If there had 376 00:24:52.200 --> 00:24:55.359 been a law at Athens, as there is in other cities, 377 00:24:56.000 --> 00:25:00.000 that a capital cause should not be decided in one day, 378 00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:02.960 then I believe that I should have convinced you. But 379 00:25:03.160 --> 00:25:07.240 I cannot in a moment refute great slanders. And as 380 00:25:07.279 --> 00:25:11.440 I am convinced that I never wronged another, I will 381 00:25:11.440 --> 00:25:15.440 assuredly not wrong myself. I will not say of myself 382 00:25:15.480 --> 00:25:19.640 that I deserve any evil or propose any penalty. Why 383 00:25:19.640 --> 00:25:23.079 should I? Because I am afraid of the penalty of death, 384 00:25:23.160 --> 00:25:26.960 which Malitius proposes. When I do not know whether death 385 00:25:27.039 --> 00:25:29.720 is a good or an evil, why should I propose 386 00:25:29.759 --> 00:25:33.279 a penalty which would certainly be an evil? Shall I 387 00:25:33.359 --> 00:25:37.359 say imprisonment? And why should I live in prison and 388 00:25:37.440 --> 00:25:40.400 be the slave of the magistrates of the year of 389 00:25:40.440 --> 00:25:44.160 the eleven? Or shall the penalty be a fine and 390 00:25:44.279 --> 00:25:48.160 imprisonment until the fine is paid? There is the same 391 00:25:48.240 --> 00:25:52.240 objection I should have to lie in prison for money 392 00:25:52.440 --> 00:25:56.880 I have none and cannot pay. And if I say exile, 393 00:25:57.359 --> 00:25:59.839 and this may possibly be the penalty which you will have. 394 00:26:01.200 --> 00:26:04.480 I must, indeed be blinded by the love of life, 395 00:26:04.920 --> 00:26:07.960 if I am so irrational as to expect that, when you, 396 00:26:08.559 --> 00:26:13.240 who are my own citizens, cannot endure my disclosures in words, 397 00:26:13.640 --> 00:26:17.160 and have found them so grievous and odious that you 398 00:26:17.279 --> 00:26:19.880 will have no more of them, others are likely to 399 00:26:19.960 --> 00:26:23.960 endure me No, indeed, men of Athens, that is not 400 00:26:24.279 --> 00:26:28.079 very likely. And what a life should I lead at 401 00:26:28.119 --> 00:26:32.599