100. But that is not enough. You actually talk to me of my intrigues! You actually hold others up to censure— you, who had not the decency to confine your own intrigues to but a single admirer, but welcomed the entire world for next to nothing, as the court knows, and supported yourself by vice, your villainous appearance notwithstanding.
100. εἶτα σὺ περὶ ἑταιρείας ἐμοὶ μνείαν ποιῇ καὶ κακῶς τινας λέγεις; ὃς ἑνὶ μὲν οὐχ ἡταίρησας (καλῶς γὰρ ἄν σοι εἶχε), πραττόμενος δʼ οὐ πολὺ ἀργύριον τὸν βουλόμενον ἀνθρώπων, ὡς οὗτοι ἴσασιν, ἐπὶ τοῖς αἰσχίστοις ἔργοις ἔζης, καὶ ταῦτα οὕτω μοχθηρὸς ὢν τὴν ἰδέαν.
101. But yet, although your laws deny him even the right of defending himself, the fellow has the impudence to accuse others. Really, gentlemen, as I sat watching him make his speech for the prosecution, I quite thought that I had been arrested and put on trial by the Thirty. Who would have prosecuted, if I had found myself in court in those days? Epichares, none other. There he would have been, ready with a charge, unless I bought him off. And here he is once more. Who, again, but Charicles would have cross-examined me? “Tell me Andocides,” he would have asked, “did you go to Decelea and occupy it as a menace to your country?” “I did not.” “Well, did you lay Attica waste and pillage your fellow Athenians by land or by sea?” “No.” “Then at least you fought Athens at sea, or helped to demolish her walls or put down her democracy, or reinstalled yourself by force?” “No, I have done none of those things either.” “Then do you expect to escape the fate of so many others?”
101. ἀλλʼ ὅμως οὗτος ἑτέρων τολμᾷ κατηγορεῖν, ᾧ κατὰ τοὺς νόμους τοὺς ὑμετέρους οὐδʼ αὐτῷ ὑπὲρ αὑτοῦ ἔστιν ἀπολογεῖσθαι. ἀλλὰ γάρ, ὦ ἄνδρες, καθήμενος ἡνίκα μου κατηγόρει, βλέπων εἰς αὐτὸν οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἢ ὑπὸ τῶν τριάκοντα συνειλημμένος ἔδοξα κρίνεσθαι. εἰ γὰρ τότε ἠγωνιζόμην, τίς ἄν μου κατηγόρει; οὐχ οὗτος ὑπῆρχεν, εἰ μὴ ἐδίδουν ἀργύριον; καὶ γὰρ νῦν. ἀνέκρινε δʼ ἄν με τίς ἄλλος ἢ Χαρικλῆς, ἐρωτῶν, εἰπέ μοι, ὦ Ἀνδοκίδη, ἦλθες εἰς Δεκέλειαν, καὶ ἐπετείχισας τῇ πατρίδι τῇ σεαυτοῦ; οὐκ ἔγωγε. τί δέ; ἔτεμες τὴν χώραν, καὶ ἐλῄσω ἢ κατὰ γῆν ἢ κατὰ θάλατταν τοὺς πολίτας τοὺς σεαυτοῦ; οὐ δῆτα. οὐδʼ ἐναυμάχησας ἐναντία τῇ πόλει, οὐδὲ συγκατέσκαψας τὰ τείχη, οὐδὲ συγκατέλυσας τὸν δῆμον, οὐδὲ βίᾳ κατῆλθες εἰς τὴν πόλιν; οὐδὲ τούτων πεποίηκα οὐδέν. δοκεῖς οὖν χαιρήσειν καὶ οὐκ ἀποθανεῖσθαι, ὡς ἕτεροι πολλοί;
102. Do you not agree, gentlemen, that that is just how I would have been treated for remaining loyal to you, had I fallen into the clutches of the Thirty? Then will it not be a travesty of justice if a man whom the Thirty would have put to death, as they did others, for failing to commit any act of disloyalty to Athens, is not to be acquitted when tried before you whom he refused to wrong? Such a thing would be an outrage. It would make acquittal next to impossible in any case whatsoever.
102. ἆρʼ ⟨ἂν⟩ οἴεσθε, ὦ ἄνδρες, ἄλλων τινῶν τυχεῖν με διʼ ὑμᾶς, εἰ ἐλήφθην ὑπʼ αὐτῶν; οὐκ οὖν δεινόν, εἰ ὑπὸ μὲν τούτων διὰ τοῦτʼ ἂν ἀπωλόμην, ὅτι εἰς τὴν πόλιν οὐδὲν ἥμαρτον, ὥσπερ καὶ ἑτέρους ἀπέκτειναν, ἐν ὑμῖν δὲ κρινόμενος, οὓς οὐδὲν κακὸν πεποίηκα, οὐ σωθήσομαι; πάντως δήπου· ἢ σχολῇ γέ τις ἄλλος ἀνθρώπων.
103. The truth is, gentlemen, that although the prosecution may have availed themselves of a perfectly valid law in lodging their information against me, they based their charge upon that old decree which is concerned with an entirely different matter. So if you condemn me, beware: you will find that a host of others ought to be answering for their past conduct with far more reason than I. First there are the men who fought you, with whom you swore oaths of reconciliation: then there are the exiles whom you restored: and finally there are the citizens whose rights you gave back to them. For their sakes you removed stones of record, annulled laws, and cancelled decrees; and it is because they trust you that they are still in Athens, gentlemen.
103. ἀλλὰ γάρ, ὦ ἄνδρες, τὴν μὲν ἔνδειξιν ἐποιήσαντό μου κατὰ νόμον κείμενον, τὴν δὲ κατηγορίαν κατὰ τὸ ψήφισμα τὸ πρότερον γεγενημένον περὶ ἑτέρων. εἰ οὖν ἐμοῦ καταψηφιεῖσθε, ὁρᾶτε μὴ οὐκ ἐμοὶ μάλιστα τῶν πολιτῶν προσήκει λόγον δοῦναι τῶν γεγενημένων, ἀλλὰ πολλοῖς ἑτέροις μᾶλλον, τοῦτο μὲν οἷς ὑμεῖς ἐναντία μαχεσάμενοι διηλλάγητε καὶ ὅρκους ὠμόσατε, τοῦτο δὲ οὓς φεύγοντας κατηγάγετε, τοῦτο δὲ οὓς ἀτίμους ὄντας ἐπιτίμους ἐποιήσατε· ὧν ἕνεκα καὶ στήλας ἀνείλετε καὶ νόμους ἀκύρους ἐποιήσατε καὶ ψηφίσματα ἐξηλείψατε· οἳ νυνὶ μένουσιν ἐν τῇ πόλει πιστεύοντες ὑμῖν, ὦ ἄνδρες.
104. What, do you imagine, will they presume their own position to be, if they find that you are allowing prosecutions for past conduct? Will any of them be ready to stand trial for his past conduct? Yet enemies and informers will spring up right and left, ready to bring every man of them into court. Today both parties have come to listen, but from very different motives. One side wants to know whether they are to rely upon the laws as they now stand and on the oaths which you and they swore to one another; while the others have come to sound our feelings, to find out whether they will be given complete licence to fill their pockets by indictments, or informations, maybe, or arrests. Thus the truth the matter is, gentlemen, that although it is my life alone which is at stake in this trial, your verdict will decide for the public at large whether they are to put faith in your laws, or whether, on the other hand, they must choose between buying off informers and quitting Athens as fast as they can.
104. εἰ οὖν γνώσονται ὑμᾶς ἀποδεχομένους τὰς κατηγορίας τῶν πρότερον γεγενημένων, τίνα αὐτοὺς οἴεσθε γνώμην ἕξειν περὶ σφῶν αὐτῶν; ἢ τίνα αὐτῶν ἐθελήσειν εἰς ἀγῶνας καθίστασθαι ἕνεκα τῶν πρότερον γεγενημένων; φανήσονται γὰρ πολλοὶ μὲν ἐχθροὶ πολλοὶ δὲ συκοφάνται, οἳ καταστήσουσιν αὐτῶν ἕκαστον εἰς ἀγῶνα. ἥκουσι δὲ νυνὶ ἀκροασόμενοι ἀμφότεροι, οὐ τὴν αὐτὴν γνώμην ἔχοντες ἀλλήλοις, ἀλλʼ οἱ μὲν εἰσόμενοι εἰ χρὴ πιστεύειν τοῖς νόμοις τοῖς κειμένοις καὶ τοῖς ὅρκοις οὓς ὠμόσατε ἀλλήλοις, οἱ δὲ ἀποπειρώμενοι τῆς ὑμετέρας γνώμης, εἰ αὐτοῖς ἐξέσται ἀδεῶς συκοφαντεῖν καὶ γράφεσθαι, τοὺς δὲ ἐνδεικνύναι, τοὺς δὲ ἀπάγειν. οὕτως οὖν ἔχει, ὦ ἄνδρες· ὁ μὲν ἀγὼν ἐν τῷ σώματι τῷ ἐμῷ καθέστηκεν, ἡ δὲ ψῆφος ἡ ὑμετέρα δημοσίᾳ κρινεῖ, πότερον χρὴ τοῖς νόμοις τοῖς ὑμετέροις πιστεύειν, ἢ τοὺς συκοφάντας παρασκευάζεσθαι, ἢ φεύγειν αὐτοὺς ἐκ τῆς πόλεως καὶ ἀπιέναι ὡς τάχιστα.
106. Your measures for reuniting Athens, gentlemen, have not been wasted; they were appropriate, and they were sound policy. To convince you of this, I wish to say a few words with regard to them. Those were dark days for Athens when the tyrants ruled her and the democrats were in exile. But, led by Leogoras, my own great-grandfather, and Charias, whose daughter bore my grandfather to Leogoras, your ancestors crushed the tyrants near the temple at Pallene, and came back to the land of their birth. Some of their enemies they put to death, some they exiled, and some they allowed to live on in Athens without the rights of citizens.
106. ἵνα δὲ εἰδῆτε, ὦ ἄνδρες, ὅτι τὰ πεποιημένα ὑμῖν εἰς ὁμόνοιαν οὐ κακῶς ἔχει, ἀλλὰ τὰ προσήκοντα καὶ τὰ συμφέροντα ὑμῖν αὐτοῖς ἐποιήσατε, βραχέα βούλομαι καὶ περὶ τούτων εἰπεῖν. οἱ γὰρ πατέρες οἱ ὑμέτεροι γενομένων τῇ πόλει κακῶν μεγάλων, ὅτε οἱ τύραννοι μὲν εἶχον τὴν πόλιν, ὁ δὲ δῆμος ἔφευγε, νικήσαντες μαχόμενοι τοὺς τυράννους ἐπὶ Παλληνίῳ, στρατηγοῦντος Λεωγόρον τοῦ προπάππου τοῦ ἐμοῦ καὶ Χαρίου οὗ ἐκεῖνος τὴν θυγατέρα εἶχεν, ἐξ ἧς ὁ ἡμέτερος ἦν πάππος, κατελθόντες εἰς τὴν πατρίδα τοὺς μὲν ἀπέκτειναν, τῶν δὲ φυγὴν κατέγνωσαν, τοὺς δὲ μένειν ἐν τῇ πόλει ἐάσαντες ἠτίμωσαν.
107. Later the Great King invaded Greece. As soon as our fathers saw what an ordeal faced them and what vast forces the King was assembling, they decreed that exiles should be restored and disfranchised citizens reinstated, that these too should take their part in the perilous struggle for deliverance. After passing this decree, and exchanging solemn pledges and oaths, they fearlessly took up their stand as the protectors of the whole of Greece, and met the Persians at Marathon; for they felt that their own valour was itself a match for the enemy hordes. They fought, and they conquered. They gave back Greece her freedom, and they delivered Attica, the land of their birth.
107. ὕστερον δὲ ἡνίκα βασιλεὺς ἐπεστράτευσεν ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα, γνόντες τῶν συμφορῶν τῶν ἐπιουσῶν τὸ μέγεθος καὶ τὴν παρασκευὴν τὴν βασιλέως, ἔγνωσαν τούς τε φεύγοντας καταδέξασθαι καὶ τοὺς ἀτίμους ἐπιτίμους ποιῆσαι καὶ κοινὴν τήν τε σωτηρίαν καὶ τοὺς κινδύνους ποιήσασθαι. πράξαντες δὲ ταῦτα, καὶ δόντες ἀλλήλοις πίστεις καὶ ὅρκους μεγάλους, ἠξίουν σφᾶς αὐτοὺς προτάξαντες πρὸ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἁπάντων ἀπαντῆσαι τοῖς βαρβάροις Μαραθῶνάδε, νομίσαντες τὴν σφετέραν αὐτῶν ἀρετὴν ἱκανὴν εἶναι τῷ πλήθει τῷ ἐκείνων ἀντιτάξασθαι· μαχεσάμενοί τε ἐνίκων, καὶ τήν τε Ἑλλάδα ἠλευθέρωσαν καὶ τὴν πατρίδα ἔσῳσαν.
108. After their triumph, however, they refused to revive old quarrels. And that is how men who found their city a waste, her temples burnt to the ground, and her walls and houses in ruins, men who were utterly without resources, brought Greece under their sway and handed on to you the glorious and mighty Athens of today—by living in unity. Long afterwards you in your turn had to face a crisis just as great;
108. ἔργον δὲ τοιοῦτον ἐργασάμενοι οὐκ ἠξίωσάν τινι τῶν πρότερον γενομένων μνησικακῆσαι. τοιγάρτοι διὰ ταῦτα, τὴν πόλιν ἀνάστατον παραλαβόντες ἱερά τε κατακεκαυμένα τείχη τε καὶ οἰκίας καταπεπτωκυίας, ἀφορμήν τε οὐδεμίαν ἔχοντες, διὰ τὸ ἀλλήλοις ὁμονοεῖν τὴν ἀρχὴν τῶν Ἑλλήνων κατηργάσαντο καὶ τὴν πόλιν ὑμῖν τοιαύτην καὶ τοσαύτην παρέδοσαν.
109. and by deciding to restore your exiles and give back their rights to the citizens who had lost them you showed that you still had the noble spirit of your forefathers. What, then, have you still to do to equal them in generosity? You must refuse to cherish grievances, gentlemen, remembering that Athens had far less in the old days upon which to build her greatness and prosperity. The same greatness and prosperity are hers still, were only we, her citizens, ready to control our passions and live in unity.
109. ὑμεῖς οὖν καὶ αὐτοὶ ὕστερον, κακῶν οὐκ ἐλαττόνων ἢ ἐκείνοις γεγενημένων, ἀγαθοὶ ἐξ ἀγαθῶν ὄντες ἀπέδοτε τὴν ὑπάρχουσαν ἀρετήν· ἠξιώσατε γὰρ τούς τε φεύγοντας καταδέξασθαι καὶ τοὺς ἀτίμους ἐπιτίμους ποιῆσαι. τί οὖν ὑμῖν ὑπόλοιπόν ἐστι τῆς ἐκείνων ἀρετῆς; μὴ μνησικακῆσαι, εἰδότας, ὦ ἄνδρες, ὅτι ἡ πόλις ἐκ πολὺ ἐλάττονος ἀφορμῆς ἐν τῷ ἔμπροσθεν χρόνῳ μεγάλη καὶ εὐδαίμων ἐγένετο· ἃ ⟨καὶ⟩ νῦν αὐτῇ ὑπάρχει, εἰ ἐθέλοιμεν οἱ πολῖται σωφρονεῖν τε καὶ ὁμονοεῖν ἀλλήλοις.
110. The prosecution have also accused me in connexion with the suppliant’s bough. They allege that it was I who placed it in the Eleusinium, and that under ancient law the penalty for doing such a thing during the Mysteries is death. The impudence of it! They resort to a ruse for my undoing, but will not leave well alone when their plot proves a failure. They proceed to bring a formal accusation against me in spite of it.
110. κατηγόρησαν δέ μου καὶ περὶ τῆς ἱκετηρίας, ὡς καταθείην ἐγὼ ἐν τῷ Ἐλευσινίῳ, νόμος δʼ εἴη πάτριος, ὃς ἂν θῇ ἱκετηρίαν μυστηρίοις, τεθνάναι. καὶ οὕτως εἰσὶ τολμηροὶ ὥσθʼ ἃ αὐτοὶ κατεσκεύασαν, οὐκ ἀρκεῖ αὐτοῖς ὅτι οὐ κατέσχον ἃ ἐπεβούλευσαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ κατηγορίαν ἐμοῦ ποιοῦνται ὡς ἀδικοῦντος.
111. It was on our return from Eleusis, after the information had already been lodged against me. The Basileus appeared before the Prytanes to give the usual report on all that had occurred during the performance of the ceremonies there. The Prytanes said that they would bring him before the Council, and told him to give Cephisius and myself notice to attend at the Eleusinium, as it was there that the Council was to sit in conformity with a law of Solon’s, which lays down that a sitting shall be held in the Eleusinium on the day after the Mysteries. We duly attended;
111. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἤλθομεν Ἐλευσινόθεν καὶ ἡ ἔνδειξις ἐγεγένητο, προσῄει ⟨τοῖς πρυτάνεσιν⟩ ὁ βασιλεὺς περὶ τῶν γεγενημένων Ἐλευσῖνι κατὰ τὴν τελετήν, ὥσπερ ἔθος ἐστίν· οἱ δὲ πρυτάνεις προσάξειν ἔφασαν αὐτὸν πρὸς τὴν βουλήν, ἐπαγγεῖλαί τʼ ἐκέλευον ἐμοί τε καὶ Κηφισίῳ παρεῖναι εἰς τὸ Ἐλευσίνιον· ἡ γὰρ βουλὴ ἐκεῖ καθεδεῖσθαι ἔμελλε κατὰ τὸν Σόλωνος νόμον, ὃς κελεύει τῇ ὑστεραίᾳ τῶν μυστηρίων ἕδραν ποιεῖν ἐν τῷ Ἐλευσινίῳ. καὶ παρῆμεν κατὰ τὰ προειρημένα.
112. and when the Council had assembled, Callias, son of Hipponicus, who was wearing his ceremonial robes, rose and announced that a suppliant’s bough had been placed on the altar. He displayed this bough to the Council. Thereupon the herald called for the person responsible. There was no reply, although I was standing close by and in full view of Cephisius. When no one replied, and Eucles here, who had come out to inquire, had disappeared inside once more—but call him. Now, Eucles, testify whether these facts are correct to start with.
112. καὶ ἡ βουλὴ ἐπειδὴ ἦν πλήρης, ἀναστὰς Καλλίας ὁ Ἱππονίκου τὴν σκευὴν ἔχων λέγει ὅτι ἱκετηρία κεῖται ἐπὶ τοῦ βωμοῦ, καὶ ἔδειξεν αὐτοῖς. κᾆθʼ ὁ κῆρυξ ἐκήρυττε τίς τὴν ἱκετηρίαν καταθείη, καὶ οὐδεὶς ὑπήκουεν. ἡμεῖς δὲ παρέσταμεν, καὶ οὗτος ἡμᾶς ἑώρα. ἐπειδὴ δὲ οὐδεὶς ὑπήκουεν καὶ ᾤχετο εἰσιὼν ⟨ὁ⟩ ἐπεξελθὼν Εὐκλῆς οὑτοσί, — καί μοι κάλει αὐτόν. πρῶτα μὲν οὖν ταῦτα εἰ ἀληθῆ λέγω, μαρτύρησον, Εὔκλεις.
113. Evidence The truth of my account has been attested and it seems to me to contradict the prosecution’s story flatly. The prosecution, you may remember, alleged that the Two Goddesses themselves infatuated me and made me place the bough on the altar in ignorance of the law, in order that I might be punished. But I maintain, gentlemen, that even if every word of the prosecution’s story is true, it was the Goddesses themselves who saved my life.
113. ⟨Μαρτυρία⟩ ὡς μὲν ἀληθῆ λέγω, μεμαρτύρηται· πολὺ δέ μοι δοκεῖ τὸ ἐναντίον εἶναι ἢ οἱ κατήγοροι εἶπον. ἔλεξαν γάρ, εἰ μέμνησθε, ὅτι αὐτώ με τὼ θεὼ παραγάγοιεν ὥστε θεῖναι τὴν ἱκετηρίαν μὴ εἰδότα τὸν νόμον, ἵνα δῶ δίκην. ἐγὼ δέ, ὦ ἄνδρες, εἰ ὡς μάλιστα ἀληθῆ λέγουσιν οἱ κατήγοροι, ὑπʼ αὐτοῖν με φημὶ τοῖν θεοῖν σεσῷσθαι.
114. Suppose that I laid the bough there, and then failed to answer the Herald. Was it not I myself who was bringing about my doom by putting the bough on the altar? And was it not a piece of good fortune, my silence, that saved me, a piece of good fortune for which I clearly had the Two Goddesses to thank? Had the Goddesses desired my death, I ought surely to have confessed that I had laid the bough there, even though I had not done so. As it was, I did not answer, nor had I placed the bough on the altar.
114. εἰ γὰρ ἔθηκα μὲν τὴν ἱκετηρίαν, ὑπήκουσα δὲ μή, ἄλλο τι ἢ αὐτὸς μὲν αὑτὸν ἀπώλλυον τιθεὶς τὴν ἱκετηρίαν, ἐσῳζόμην δὲ τῇ τύχῃ διὰ τὸ μὴ ὑπακοῦσαι, δῆλον ὅτι διὰ τὼ θεώ; εἰ γὰρ ἐβουλέσθην με ἀπολλύναι τὼ θεώ, ἐχρῆν δήπου καὶ μὴ θέντα με τὴν ἱκετηρίαν ὁμολογῆσαι. ἀλλʼ οὔτε ὑπήκουσα οὔτʼ ἔθηκα.
115. When Eucles informed the Council that there had been no response, Callias rose once more and said that under an ancient law, as officially interpreted on a former occasion by his father, Hipponicus, the penalty for placing a bough in the Eleusinium during the Mysteries was instant death. He added that he had heard that it was I who had put it there. Thereupon Cephalus here leapt to his feet and cried:
115. ἐπειδὴ δʼ ἔλεγε τῇ βουλῇ Εὐκλῆς ὅτι οὐδεὶς ὑπακούοι, πάλιν ὁ Καλλίας ⟨ἀνα⟩στὰς ἔλεγεν ὅτι εἴη νόμος πάτριος, εἴ τις ἱκετηρίαν θείη ἐν τῷ Ἐλευσινίῳ, ἄκριτον ἀποθανεῖν, καὶ ὁ πατήρ ποτʼ αὐτοῦ Ἱππόνικος ἐξηγήσαιτο ταῦτα Ἀθηναίοις, ἀκούσειε δὲ ὅτι ἐγὼ θείην τὴν ἱκετηρίαν. ἐντεῦθεν ἀναπηδᾷ Κέφαλος οὑτοσὶ καὶ λέγει·
116. “Callias, you impious scoundrel, first you are giving interpretations, when you have no right to do such a thing as a member of the Ceryces. Then you talk of an ‘ancient law,’ when the stone at your side lays down that the penalty for placing a bough in the Eleusinium shall be a fine of a thousand drachmae. And lastly, who told you that Andocides had put the bough there? Summon him before the Council, so that we too may hear what he has to say.” The stone was read, and Callias could not say who his informant was. It was thus clear to the Council that he had put the bough there himself.
116. ὦ Καλλία, πάντων ἀνθρώπων ἀνοσιώτατε, πρῶτον μὲν ἐξηγῇ Κηρύκων ὤν, οὐχ ὅσιον ⟨ὄν⟩ σοι ἐξηγεῖσθαι· ἔπειτα δὲ νόμον πάτριον λέγεις, ἡ δὲ στήλη παρʼ ᾗ ἕστηκας χιλίας δραχμὰς κελεύει ὀφείλειν, ἐάν τις ἱκετηρίαν θῇ ἐν τῷ Ἐλευσινίῳ. ἔπειτα δὲ τίνος ἤκουσας ὅτι Ἀνδοκίδης θείη τὴν ἱκετηρίαν; κάλεσον αὐτὸν τῇ βουλῇ, ἵνα καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀκούσωμεν. ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἀνεγνώσθη ἡ στήλη κἀκεῖνος οὐκ εἶχεν εἰπεῖν ὅτου ἤκουσε, καταφανὴς ἦν τῇ βουλῇ αὐτὸς θεὶς τὴν ἱκετηρίαν.
117. And now, gentlemen, you would perhaps like to know what motive Callias had in putting the bough on the altar. I will explain why he tried to trap me. Epilycus, son of Teisander, was my uncle, my mother’s brother. He died in Sicily without male issue, but left two daughters who ought now to have passed to Leagrus and myself.
117. φέρε δὴ τοίνυν, ὦ ἄνδρες — τάχα γὰρ ἂν αὐτὸ βούλοισθε πυθέσθαι —, ὁ δὲ Καλλίας τί βουλόμενος ἐτίθη τὴν ἱκετηρίαν; ἐγὼ δὲ ὑμῖν διηγήσομαι ὧν ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ ἕνεκα ἐπεβουλεύθην. Ἐπίλυκος ἦν ὁ Τεισάνδρου θεῖός μοι, ἀδελφὸς τῆς μητρὸς τῆς ἐμῆς· ἀπέθανε δὲ ἐν Σικελίᾳ ἄπαις ἀρρένων παίδων, θυγατέρας δὲ δύο καταλιπών, αἳ ἐγίγνοντο εἴς τε ἐμὲ καὶ Λέαγρον.
118. His private affairs were in confusion. The tangible property which he left did not amount to two talents, while his debts came to more than five. However, I arranged a meeting with Leagrus before our friends and told him that this was the time for decent men to show their respect for family ties.
118. τὰ δὲ πράγματα τὰ οἴκοι πονηρῶς εἶχε· τὴν μὲν γὰρ φανερὰν οὐσίαν οὐδὲ δυοῖν ταλάντοιν κατέλιπε, τὰ δὲ ὀφειλόμενα πλέον ἦν ἢ πέντε τάλαντα. ὅμως δʼ ἐγὼ καλέσας Λέαγρον ἐναντίον τῶν φίλων ἔλεγον ὅτι ταῦτʼ εἴη ἀνδρῶν ἀγαθῶν, ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις δεικνύναι τὰς οἰκειότητας ἀλλήλοις.
119. “We have no right to prefer a wealthy or successful alliance and look down upon the daughters of Epilycus,” I argued: “for if Epilycus were alive, or had died a rich man, we should be claiming the girls as their next of kin. We should have married them then either because of Epilycus himself or because of his money; we will do the same now because we are men of honour. Do you obtain an order of the court for the one, and I will do the same for the other.”
119. ἡμᾶς γὰρ οὐ δίκαιόν ἐστιν οὔτε χρήματα ἕτερα οὔτʼ εὐτυχίαν ἀνδρὸς ἑλέσθαι, ὥστε καταφρονῆσαι τῶν Ἐπιλύκου θυγατέρων. καὶ γὰρ εἰ ἔζη Ἐπίλυκος ἢ τεθνεὼς πολλὰ κατέλιπε χρήματα, ἠξιοῦμεν ἂν γένει ὄντες ἐγγυτάτω ἔχειν τὰς παῖδας. τοιγάρτοι ἐκεῖνα μὲν διʼ Ἐπίλυκον ἂν ἦν ἢ διὰ τὰ χρήματα· νῦν δὲ διὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν ἀρετὴν τάδε ἔσται. τῆς μὲν οὖν σὺ ἐπιδικάζου, τῆς δὲ ἐγώ.
120. He assented, gentlemen; so in accordance with our agreement we both applied for an order of the court. The girl claimed by me happened to fall ill, and died; the other is still alive. Now Callias tried to bribe Leagrus into letting him have this second daughter. Directly I heard of it, I deposited a fee, and began by obtaining leave to proceed against Leagrus, to this effect: “If you will claim the girl for yourself, take her and good luck to you. If not, I will claim her myself.”
120. ὡμολόγησέ μοι, ὦ ἄνδρες. ἐπεδικασάμεθα ἄμφω κατὰ τὴν πρὸς ἡμᾶς ὁμολογίαν. καὶ ἧς μὲν ἐγὼ ἐπεδικασάμην, ἡ παῖς τύχῃ χρησαμένη καμοῦσα ἀπέθανεν· ἡ δʼ ἑτέρα ἔστιν ἔτι. ταύτην Καλλίας ἔπειθε Λέαγρον, χρήματα ὑπισχνούμενος, ἐᾶν αὑτὸν λαβεῖν· αἰσθόμενος δʼ ἐγὼ εὐθὺς ἔθηκα παράστασιν, καὶ ἔλαχον προτέρῳ μὲν Λεάγρῳ, ὅτι εἰ μὲν σὺ βούλῃ ἐπιδικάζεσθαι, ἔχε τύχῃ ἀγαθῇ, εἰ δὲ μή, ἐγὼ ἐπιδικάσομαι.
121. As soon as Callias learned of this, he entered a claim for the girl in his son’s name, on the tenth of the month, to prevent me from obtaining an order. Soon after the twentieth, during the Mysteries which are just over, he gives Cephisius a thousand drachmae, gets an information lodged against me, and involves me in today’s trial. Then, when he saw that I was standing my ground, he put the bough on the altar, intending to have me either put to death without a trial or banished, and then to marry the daughter of Epilycus himself by bribing Leagrus.
121. γνοὺς ταῦτα Καλλίας λαγχάνει τῷ υἱεῖ τῷ ἑαυτοῦ τῆς ἐπικλήρου, τῇ δεκάτῃ ἱσταμένου, ἵνα μὴ ἐπιδικάσωμαι ἐγώ. ταῖς δʼ εἰκάσι, μυστηρίοις τούτοις, δοὺς Κηφισίῳ χιλίας δραχμὰς ἐνδείκνυσί με καὶ εἰς τὸν ἀγῶνα τοῦτον καθίστησιν. ἐπειδὴ δʼ ἑώρα με ὑπομένοντα, τίθησι τὴν ἱκετηρίαν, ὡς ἐμὲ μὲν ἀποκτενῶν ἄκριτον ἢ ἐξελῶν, αὐτὸς δὲ πείσας Λέαγρον χρήμασι συνοικήσων τῇ Ἐπιλύκου θυγατρί.
122. However, he saw that even thus he would not get his way without coming into court; so he approached Lysistratus, Hegemon, and Epichares, whom he saw to be intimate friends of mine. He had insolence enough, he had contempt enough for the law to inform them that if I was prepared even now to relinquish my claims to the daughter of Epilycus, he was ready to stop persecuting me, to call off Cephisius, and to make amends for his behaviour with our friends as arbitrators.
122. ἐπειδὴ δʼ οὐδʼ ὣς ἄνευ ἀγῶνος ἑώρα ἐσόμενα τὰ πράγματα, τότε δὴ προσιὼν Λυσίστρατον, Ἡγημόνα, Ἐπιχάρη, ὁρῶν φίλους ὄντας ἐμοὶ καὶ χρωμένους, εἰς τοῦτο βδελυρίας ἦλθε καὶ παρανομίας ὥστʼ ἔλεγε πρὸς τούτους ὡς εἰ ἔτι καὶ νῦν βουλοίμην ἀποστῆναι τῆς Ἐπιλύκου θυγατρός, ἕτοιμος εἴη παύσασθαί με κακῶς ποιῶν, ἀπαλλάξαι δὲ Κηφίσιον, δίκην δʼ ἐν τοῖς φίλοις δοῦναί μοι τῶν πεποιημένων.
123. I told him to proceed with his case and hire still more help. “But if the people of Athens return a true verdict and I escape you,” I warned him, “you will find that it is your turn, I think, to fight for your life.” And with your permission, gentlemen, I will not disappoint him. Kindly call witnesses to confirm what I have been saying.
123. εἶπον αὐτῷ καὶ κατηγορεῖν καὶ παρασκευάζειν ἄλλους· εἰ δʼ ἐγὼ αὐτὸν ἀποφεύξομαι καὶ γνώσονται Ἀθηναῖοι περὶ ἐμοῦ τὰ δίκαια, ἐγὼ αὐτὸν οἶμαι περὶ τοῦ σώματος τοῦ ἑαυτοῦ ἐν τῷ μέρει κινδυνεύσειν. ἅπερ αὐτὸν οὐ ψεύσομαι, ἐὰν ὑμῖν, ὦ ἄνδρες, δοκῇ. ὡς δʼ ἀληθῆ λέγω, κάλει μοι τοὺς μάρτυρας.
124. Witnesses But you must let me tell you how the son to whom Callias tried to have the daughter of Epilycus awarded was born and acknowledged by his father; it is quite worth hearing, gentlemen. Callias married a daughter of Ischomachus; but he had not been living with her a year before he made her mother his mistress. Was ever man so utterly without shame? He was the priest of the Mother and the Daughter; yet he lived with mother and daughter and kept them both in his house together.
124. Μάρτυρες ἀλλὰ γὰρ τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ τοῦτον, ᾧ λαχεῖν ἠξίωσε τῆς Ἐπιλύκου θυγατρός, σκέψασθε πῶς γέγονε καὶ πῶς ἐποιήσατʼ αὐτόν· ταῦτα γὰρ καὶ ἄξιον ἀκοῦσαι, ὦ ἄνδρες. γαμεῖ μὲν Ἰσχομάχου θυγατέρα· ταύτῃ δὲ συνοικήσας οὐδʼ ἐνιαυτὸν τὴν μητέρα αὐτῆς ἔλαβε, καὶ συνῴκει ὁ πάντων σχετλιώτατος ἀνθρώπων τῇ μητρὶ καὶ τῇ θυγατρί, ἱερεὺς ὢν τῆς μητρὸς καὶ τῆς θυγατρός, καὶ εἶχεν ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ ἀμφοτέρας.
125. The thought of the Two Goddesses may not have awoken any shame or fear in Callias; but the daughter of Ischomachus thought death better than an existence where such things went on before her very eyes. She tried to hang herself: but was stopped in the act. Then, when she recovered, she ran away from home; the mother drove out the daughter. Finally Callias grew tired of the mother as well, and drove her out in her turn. She then said she was pregnant by him; but when she gave birth to a son, Callias denied that the child was his.
125. καὶ οὗτος μὲν οὐκ ᾐσχύνθη οὐδʼ ἔδεισε τὼ θεώ· ἡ δὲ τοῦ Ἰσχομάχου θυγάτηρ τεθνάναι νομίσασα λυσιτελεῖν ἢ ζῆν ὁρῶσα τὰ γιγνόμενα, ἀπαγχομένη μεταξὺ κατεκωλύθη, καὶ ἐπειδὴ ἀνεβίω, ἀποδρᾶσα ἐκ τῆς οἰκίας ᾤχετο, καὶ ἐξήλασεν ἡ μήτηρ τὴν θυγατέρα. ταύτης δʼ αὖ διαπεπλησμένος ἐξέβαλε καὶ ταύτην. ἡ δʼ ἔφη κυεῖν ἐξ αὐτοῦ· καὶ ἐπειδὴ ἔτεκεν υἱόν, ἔξαρνος ἦν μὴ εἶναι ἐξ αὐτοῦ τὸ παιδίον.
126. At that, the woman’s relatives came to the altar at the Apaturia with the child and a victim for sacrifice, and told Callias to begin the rites. He asked whose child it was. “The child of Callias, son of Hipponicus,” they replied. “But I am he.” “Yes, and the child is yours.” Callias took hold of the altar and swore that the only son he had or had ever had was Hipponicus, and the mother was Glaucon’s daughter. If that was not the truth, he prayed that he and his house might perish from the earth—as they surely will.
126. λαβόντες δὲ οἱ προσήκοντες τῇ γυναικὶ τὸ παιδίον ἧκον ἐπὶ τὸν βωμὸν Ἀπατουρίοις, ἔχοντες ἱερεῖον, καὶ ἐκέλευον κατάρξασθαι τὸν Καλλίαν. ὁ δʼ ἠρώτα τίνος εἴη τὸ παιδίον· ἔλεγον Καλλίου τοῦ Ἱππονίκου. ἐγώ εἰμι οὗτος. καὶ ἔστι γε σὸν τὸ παιδίον. λαβόμενος τοῦ βωμοῦ ὤμοσεν ἦ μὴν μὴ εἶναί ⟨οἱ⟩ υἱὸν ἄλλον μηδὲ γενέσθαι πώποτε, εἰ μὴ Ἱππόνικον ἐκ τῆς Γλαύκωνος θυγατρός· ἢ ἐξώλη εἶναι καὶ αὐτὸν καὶ τὴν οἰκίαν, ὥσπερ ἔσται.
127. Now some time afterwards, gentlemen, he fell in love with the abandoned old hag once more and welcomed her back into his house, while he presented the boy, a grown lad by this time, to the Ceryces, asserting that he was his own son. Calliades opposed his admission; but the Ceryces voted in favour of the law which they have, whereby a father can introduce his son, if he swears that it is his own son whom he is introducing. So Callias took hold of the altar and swore that the boy was his legitimate son by Chrysilla. Yet he had disowned that same son. Call witnesses to confirm all this, please.
127. μετὰ ταῦτα τοίνυν, ὦ ἄνδρες, ὑστέρῳ πάλιν χρόνῳ τῆς γραὸς τολμηροτάτης γυναικὸς ἀνηράσθη, καὶ κομίζεται αὐτὴν εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν, καὶ τὸν παῖδα ἤδη μέγαν ὄντα εἰσάγει εἰς Κήρυκας, φάσκων εἶναι υἱὸν αὑτοῦ. ἀντεῖπε μὲν Καλλιάδης μὴ εἰσδέξασθαι, ἐψηφίσαντο δὲ οἱ Κήρυκες κατὰ τὸν νόμον ὅς ἐστιν αὐτοῖς, τὸν πατέρα ὀμόσαντα εἰσάγειν ἦ μὴν υἱὸν ὄντα ἑαυτοῦ εἰσάγειν. λαβόμενος τοῦ βωμοῦ ὤμοσεν ἦ μὴν τὸν παῖδα ἑαυτοῦ εἶναι γνήσιον, ἐκ Χρυσίλλης γεγονότα· ὃν ἀπώμοσε. καὶ μοι τούτων ἁπάντων τοὺς μάρτυρας κάλει.
128. Witnesses Let us just see, gentlemen, whether anything of this kind has ever happened in Greece before. A man marries a wife, and then marries the mother as well as the daughter. The mother turns the daughter out. Then, while living with the mother, he wants to marry the daughter of Epilycus, so that the granddaughter can turn the grandmother out. Why, what ought his child to be called?
128. ⟨Μάρτυρες⟩ φέρε δὴ τοίνυν, ὦ ἄνδρες, σκεψώμεθα εἰ πώποτε ἐν τοῖς Ἕλλησι πρᾶγμα τοιοῦτον ἐγένετο, ὅπου γυναῖκά τις γήμας ἐπέγημε τῇ θυγατρὶ τὴν μητέρα καὶ ἐξήλασεν ἡ μήτηρ τὴν θυγατέρα· ταύτῃ δὲ συνοικῶν βούλεται τὴν Ἐπιλύκου θυγατέρα λαβεῖν, ἵνʼ ἐξελάσῃ τὴν τήθην ἡ θυγατριδῆ. ἀλλὰ γὰρ τῷ παιδὶ αὐτοῦ τί χρὴ τοὔνομα θέσθαι;
129. Personally, I do not believe that there is anyone ingenious enough to find the right name for him. There are three women with whom his father will have lived: and he is the alleged son of one of them, the brother of another, and the uncle of the third. What ought a son like that to be called? Oedipus, Aegisthus, or what?
129. οἶμαι γὰρ ἔγωγε οὐδένα οὕτως ἀγαθὸν εἶναι λογίζεσθαι, ὅστις ἐξευρήσει τοὔνομα αὐτοῦ. τριῶν γὰρ οὐσῶν γυναικῶν αἷς συνῳκηκὼς ἔσται ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ, τῆς μὲν υἱός ἐστιν, ὥς φησι, τῆς δὲ ἀδελφός, τῆς δὲ θεῖος. τίς ἂν εἴη οὗτος; Οἰδίπους, ἢ Αἴγισθος; ἢ τί χρὴ αὐτὸν ὀνομάσαι;
130. As a matter of fact, I want to remind you briefly, gentlemen, of a certain incident connected with Callias. As you may remember, when Athens was mistress of Greece and at the height of her prosperity, and Hipponicus was the richest man in Greece, a rumour with which you are all familiar was on the lips of little children and silly women throughout the city: “Hipponicus,” they said, “has an evil spirit in his house, and it upsets his books.” You remember it, gentlemen.
130. ἀλλὰ γάρ, ὦ ἄνδρες, βραχύ τι ὑμᾶς ἀναμνῆσαι περὶ Καλλίου βούλομαι. εἰ γὰρ μέμνησθε, ὅτε ἡ πόλις ἦρχε τῶν Ἑλλήνων καὶ ηὐδαιμόνει μάλιστα, Ἱππόνικος δὲ ἦν πλουσιώτατος τῶν Ἑλλήνων, τότε μέντοι πάντες ἴστε ὅτι παρὰ τοῖς παιδαρίοις τοῖς μικροτάτοις καὶ τοῖς γυναίοις κληδὼν ἐν ἁπάσῃ τῇ πόλει κατεῖχεν, ὅτι Ἱππόνικος ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ ἀλιτήριον τρέφει, ὃς αὐτοῦ τὴν τράπεζαν ἀνατρέπει. μέμνησθε ταῦτα, ὦ ἄνδρες.
131. Now in what sense do you think that the saying current in those days proved true? Why, Hipponicus imagined that he had a son in his house; but that son was really an evil spirit, which has upset his wealth, his morals, and his whole life. So it is as Hipponicus’ evil spirit that you must think of Callias.
131. πῶς οὖν ἡ φήμη ἡ τότε οὖσα δοκεῖ ὑμῖν ἀποβῆναι; οἰόμενος γὰρ Ἱππόνικος υἱὸν τρέφειν ἀλιτήριον αὑτῷ ἔτρεφεν, ὃς ἀνατέτροφεν ἐκείνου τὸν πλοῦτον, τὴν σωφροσύνην, τὸν ἄλλον βίον ἅπαντα. οὕτως οὖν χρὴ περὶ τούτου γιγνώσκειν, ὡς ὄντος Ἱππονίκου ἀλιτηρίου.
132. Now take my other accusers, Callias’ partners, who have helped to institute this trial and have financed the prosecution. Why, I ask, did it never strike them that I was committing sacrilege during the three years which I have spent in Athens since my return from Cyprus? I initiated A— from Delphi and other friends of mine besides from outside Attica, and I frequented the Eleusinium and offered sacrifices, as I consider I have a perfect right to do. Yet so far from prosecuting, they actually proposed me for public services, first as Gymnasiarch at the Hephaestia, then as head of the state deputation to the Isthmus and to Olympia, and finallyas Treasurer of the Sacred Monies on the Acropolis. Today, on the other hand, I commit a sacrilege and a crime by entering a temple.
132. ἀλλὰ γάρ, ὦ ἄνδρες, διὰ τί ποτε τοῖς ἐμοὶ νυνὶ ἐπιτιθεμένοις μετὰ Καλλίου καὶ συμπαρασκευάσασι τὸν ἀγῶνα καὶ χρήματα εἰσενεγκοῦσιν ἐπʼ ἐμοὶ τρία μὲν ἔτη ἐπιδημῶν καὶ ἥκων ἐκ Κύπρου οὐκ ἀσεβεῖν ἐδόκουν αὐτοῖς, μυῶν μὲν Ἀ... Δελφόν, ἔτι δὲ ἄλλους ξένους ἐμαυτοῦ, καὶ εἰσιὼν εἰς τὸ Ἐλευσίνιον καὶ θύων, ὥσπερ ἐμαυτὸν ἄξιον νομίζω εἶναι· ἀλλὰ τοὐναντίον λῃτουργεῖν οὗτοι προὐβάλλοντο, πρῶτον μὲν γυμνασίαρχον Ἡφαιστίοις, ἔπειτα ἀρχεθέωρον εἰς Ἰσθμὸν καὶ Ὀλυμπίαζε, εἶτα δὲ ταμίαν ἐν πόλει τῶν ἱερῶν χρημάτων. νῦν δὲ ἀσεβῶ καὶ ἀδικῶ εἰσιὼν εἰς τὰ ἱερά.
133. I will tell you the reason for this change of front. Last year and the year before our honest Agyrrhius here was chief contractor for the two per cent customs duties. He farmed them for thirty talents, and the friends he meets under the poplar all took shares with him. You know what they are like; it is my belief that they meet there for a double purpose: to be paid for not raising the bidding, and to take shares in taxes which have been knocked down cheap.
133. ἐγὼ ὑμῖν ἐρῶ διότι οὗτοι ταῦτα νῦν γιγνώσκουσιν. Ἀγύρριος γὰρ οὑτοσί, ὁ καλὸς κἀγαθός, ἀρχώνης ἐγένετο τῆς πεντηκοστῆς τρίτον ἔτος, καὶ ἐπρίατο τριάκοντα ταλάντων, μετέσχον δʼ αὐτῷ οὗτοι πάντες οἱ παρασυλλεγέντες ὑπὸ τὴν λεύκην, οὓς ὑμεῖς ἴστε οἷοί εἰσιν· οἳ διὰ τοῦτο ἔμοιγε δοκοῦσι συλλεγῆναι ἐκεῖσε, ἵνʼ αὐτοῖς ἀμφότερα ᾖ, καὶ μὴ ὑπερβάλλουσι λαβεῖν ἀργύριον καὶ ὀλίγου πραθείσης μετασχεῖν.
134. After making a profit of six talents, they saw what a gold-mine the business was; so they combined, gave rival bidders a percentage, and again offered thirty talents. There was no competition; so I went before the Council and outbid them, until I purchased the rights for thirty-six talents. I had ousted them. I then furnished you with sureties, collected the tax, and settled with the state. I did not lose by it, as my partners and I actually made a small profit. At the same time I stopped Agyrrhius and his friends from sharing six talents which belonged to you.
134. κερδήναντες δὲ ἓξ τάλαντα, γνόντες τὸ πρᾶγμα οἷον εἴη, [ὡς πολλοῦ ἄξιον,] συνέστησαν πάντες, καὶ μεταδόντες τοῖς ἄλλοις ἐωνοῦντο πάλιν τριάκοντα ταλάντων. ἐπεὶ δʼ οὐκ ἀντεωνεῖτο οὐδείς, παρελθὼν ἐγὼ εἰς τὴν βουλὴν ὑπερέβαλλον, ἕως ἐπριάμην ἓξ καὶ τριάκοντα ταλάντων. ἀπελάσας δὲ τούτους καὶ καταστήσας ὑμῖν ἐγγυητὰς ἐξέλεξα τὰ χρήματα καὶ κατέβαλον τῇ πόλει καὶ αὐτὸς οὐκ ἐζημιώθην, ἀλλὰ καὶ βραχέα ἀπεκερδαίνομεν οἱ μετασχόντες· τούτους δʼ ἐποίησα τῶν ὑμετέρων μὴ διανείμασθαι ἓξ τάλαντα ἀργυρίου.
135. They saw this themselves, and discussed the situation. “This fellow will not take any of the public money himself,” they argued, “and he will not let us take any either. He will be on the watch and stop our sharing what belongs to the state; and furthermore, if he catches any of us acting dishonestly, he will bring him into the public courts and ruin him. He must be got rid of at all costs.”
135. ἃ οὗτοι γνόντες ἔδοσαν σφίσιν αὐτοῖς λόγον, ὅτι ἅνθρωπος οὑτοσὶ οὔτε αὐτὸς λήψεται τῶν κοινῶν χρημάτων οὔθʼ ἡμᾶς ἐάσει, φυλάξει δὲ καὶ ἐμποδὼν ἔσται διανείμασθαι τὰ κοινά· πρὸς δὲ τούτοις, ὃν ἂν ἡμῶν ἀδικοῦντα λάβῃ, εἰσάξει εἰς τὸ πλῆθος τὸ Ἀθηναίων καὶ ἀπολεῖ. δεῖ οὖν τοῦτον ἐκποδὼν ἡμῖν εἶναι καὶ δικαίως καὶ ἀδίκως.
136. The prosecution were bound to behave thus, gentlemen; but you must do the opposite: for I should be happy to see you with as many men as possible like myself and to see my accusers stamped out of existence, or at least confronted by those who will not countenance their activities. Such men should show themselves staunch and impartial champions of your interests, and they will be able to serve you well, if they are willing to do so. I for one promise you either to put a stop to the practices of the prosecution and render them better citizens, or to bring such of them as are guilty of criminal behaviour into court and have them punished.
136. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, τούτοις ποιητέα ἦν, ὑμῖν δέ γε ⟨τὸ⟩ ἐναντίον τούτων· ὡς γὰρ πλείστους εἶναι ὑμῖν ἤθελον ἂν τοιούσδε οἷόσπερ ἐγώ, τούτους δὲ μάλιστα ⟨μὲν⟩ ἀπολωλέναι, εἰ δὲ μή, εἶναι τοὺς μὴ ἐπιτρέψοντας αὐτοῖς, οἷς καὶ προσήκει ἀνδράσιν εἶναι καὶ ἀγαθοῖς καὶ δικαίοις περὶ τὸ πλῆθος τὸ ὑμέτερον, καὶ βουλόμενοι δυνήσονται εὖ ποιεῖν ὑμᾶς. ἐγὼ οὖν ὑμῖν ὑπισχνοῦμαι ἢ παύσειν τούτους ταῦτα ποιοῦντας καὶ βελτίους παρέξειν, ἢ εἰς ὑμᾶς εἰσαγαγὼν κολάσειν τοὺς ἀδικοῦντας αὐτῶν.
137. The prosecution have also found grounds for attacking me in the fact that I am a merchant who owns ships. We are asked to believe that the only object of the gods in saving me from the dangers of the sea was, apparently, to let Cephisius put an end to me when I reached Athens. No, gentlemen. I for one cannot believe that if the gods considered me guilty of an offence against them, they would have been disposed to spare me when they had me in a situation of the utmost peril—for when is man in greater peril than on a winter sea-passage? Are we to suppose that the gods had my person at their mercy on just such a voyage, that they had my life and my goods in their power, and that in spite of it they kept me safe?
137. κατηγόρησαν δέ μου καὶ περὶ τῶν ναυκληριῶν καὶ περὶ τῆς ἐμπορίας, ὡς ἄρα οἱ θεοὶ διὰ τοῦτό με ἐκ τῶν κινδύνων σῴσαιεν, ἵνα ἐλθὼν δεῦρο, ὡς ἔοικεν, ὑπὸ Κηφισίου ἀπολοίμην. ἐγὼ δέ, ὦ Ἀθηναῖοι, οὐκ ἀξιῶ τοὺς θεοὺς τοιαύτην γνώμην ἔχειν, ὥστʼ εἰ ἐνόμιζον ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ ἀδικεῖσθαι, λαμβάνοντάς με ἐν τοῖς μεγίστοις μεγίστοις κινδύνοις μὴ τιμωρεῖσθαι. τίς γὰρ κίνδυνος μείζων ἀνθρώποις ἢ χειμῶνος ὥρᾳ πλεῖν τὴν θάλατταν; ἐν οἷς ἔχοντες μὲν τὸ σῶμα τοὐμόν, κρατοῦντες δὲ τοῦ βίου καὶ τῆς οὐσίας τῆς ἐμῆς, εἶτα ἔσῳζον;
138. Why, could they not have caused even my corpse to be denied due burial? Furthermore, it was war-time; the sea was infested with triremes and pirates, who took many a traveller prisoner, and after robbing him of his all, sent him to end his days in slavery. And there were foreign shores on which many a traveller had been wrecked, to be put to death after meeting with shameful indignities and maltreatment.
138. οὐκ ἐξῆν αὐτοῖς ποιῆσαι μηδὲ ταφῆς τὸ σῶμα ἀξιωθῆναι; ἔτι δὲ πολέμου γενομένου καὶ τριήρων ἀεὶ κατὰ θάλατταν οὐσῶν καὶ λῃστῶν, ὑφʼ ὧν πολλοὶ ληφθέντες, ἀπολέσαντες τὰ ὄντα, δουλεύοντες τὸν βίον διετέλεσαν, οὔσης δὲ χώρας βαρβάρου, εἰς ἣν πολλοὶ ἤδη ἐκπεσόντες αἰκείαις ταῖς μεγίσταις περιέπεσον καὶ τὰ σφέτερα αὐτῶν σώματα αἰκισθέντες ἀπέθανον, — εἶτα οἱ μὲν θεοὶ ἐκ τοσούτων κινδύνων ἔσῳζόν με, σφῶν δὲ αὐτῶν προὐστήσαντο τιμωρὸν γενέσθαι Κηφίσιον τὸν πονηρότατον Ἀθηναίων, ὧν οὗτός φησι πολίτης εἶναι οὐκ ὤν, ᾧ οὐδʼ ὑμῶν τῶν καθημένων οὐδεὶς ἂν ἐπιτρέψειεν οὐδὲν τῶν ἰδίων, εἰδὼς τοῦτον οἷός ἐστιν;
139. Is it conceivable that the gods saved me from perils of that nature, only to let themselves be championed by Cephisius, the biggest scoundrel in Athens, whose citizen he claims to be when he is nothing of the kind, and whom every one of you sitting in this court knows too well to trust with any thing belonging to him? No, gentlemen; to my mind the dangers of a trial like the present are to be regarded as the work of man, and the dangers of the sea as the work of God. So if we must perforce speculate about the gods, I for one am sure that they would be moved to the deepest wrath and indignation to see those whom they had themselves preserved brought to destruction by mortal men.
139. ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν, ὦ ἄνδρες, ἡγοῦμαι χρῆναι νομίζειν τοὺς τοιούτους κινδύνους ἀνθρωπίνους, τοὺς δὲ κατὰ θάλατταν θείους. εἴπερ οὖν δεῖ τὰ τῶν θεῶν ὑπονοεῖν, πάνυ ἂν αὐτοὺς οἶμαι ἐγὼ ὀργίζεσθαι καὶ ἀγανακτεῖν, εἰ τοὺς ὑφʼ ἑαυτῶν σῳζομένους ὑπʼ ἀνθρώπων ἀπολλυμένους ὁρῷεν.
140. There is yet another thing worth your consideration, gentlemen. At the moment the whole of Greece thinks that you have shown the greatest generosity and wisdom in devoting yourselves, not to revenge, but to the preservation of your city and the reuniting of its citizens. Many before now have suffered no less than we; but it is very rightly recognized that the peaceable settlement of differences requires generosity and self-control. Now it is acknowledged on all sides, by friend and foe alike, that you possess those gifts. So do not change your ways: do not hasten to rob Athens of the glory which she has gained thereby, or allow it to be supposed that you authorized your decree more by chance than by intention.
140. καὶ μὲν δὴ καὶ τάδε ὑμῖν ἄξιον, ὦ ἄνδρες, ἐνθυμηθῆναι, ὅτι νυνὶ πᾶσι τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἄνδρες ἄριστοι καὶ εὐβουλότατοι δοκεῖτε γεγενῆσθαι, οὐκ ἐπὶ τιμωρίαν τραπόμενοι τῶν γεγενημένων, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ σωτηρίαν τῆς πόλεως καὶ ὁμόνοιαν τῶν πολιτῶν. συμφοραὶ μὲν γὰρ ἤδη καὶ ἄλλοις πολλοῖς ἐγένοντο οὐκ ἐλάττους ἢ καὶ ἡμῖν· τὸ δὲ τὰς γενομένας διαφορὰς πρὸς ἀλλήλους θέσθαι καλῶς, τοῦτʼ εἰκότως ἤδη δοκεῖ ἀνδρῶν ἀγαθῶν καὶ σωφρόνων ἔργον εἶναι. ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν παρὰ πάντων ὁμολογουμένως ταῦθʼ ὑμῖν ὑπάρχει, καὶ εἴ τις φίλος ὢν τυγχάνει καὶ εἴ τις ἐχθρός, μὴ μεταγνῶτε, μηδὲ βούλεσθε τὴν πόλιν ἀποστερῆσαι ταύτης τῆς δόξης, μηδὲ αὐτοὶ δοκεῖν τύχῃ ταῦτα μᾶλλον ἢ γνώμῃ ψηφίσασθαι.
141. I beg you one and all, then, to hold towards me the feelings which you hold towards my ancestors, so that I may have the opportunity of imitating them. They rank, remember, among the most tireless and the greatest benefactors of our city; and foremost among the many motives which inspired them came devotion to your welfare and the hope that if they or any of their children were ever in danger or distress, they would find protection in your sympathy. You have good reason, indeed, for remembering them;
141. δέομαι οὖν ἁπάντων ⟨ὑμῶν⟩ περὶ ἐμοῦ τὴν αὐτὴν γνώμην ἔχειν, ἥνπερ καὶ περὶ τῶν ἐμῶν προγόνων, ἵνα κἀμοὶ ἐγγένηται ἐκείνους μιμήσασθαι, ἀναμνησθέντας αὐτῶν ὅτι ὅμοιοι τοῖς πλείστων καὶ μεγίστων ἀγαθῶν αἰτίοις τῇ πόλει γεγένηνται, πολλῶν ἕνεκα σφᾶς αὐτοὺς παρέχοντες τοιούτους, μάλιστα δὲ τῆς εἰς ὑμᾶς εὐνοίας, καὶ ὅπως, εἴ ποτέ τις αὐτοῖς ἢ τῶν ἐξ ἐκείνων τινὶ κίνδυνος γένοιτο ἢ συμφορά, σῴζοιντο συγγνώμης παρʼ ὑμῶν τυγχάνοντες. εἰκότως δʼ ἂν αὐτῶν μεμνῇσθε·
142. for from the heroic deeds of your own forefathers Athens as a whole received inestimable benefit. After the loss of our fleet, when there was a general desire to cripple Athens forever, the Spartans, although our enemies at the time, decided to spare her because of the valiant exploits of those heroes who had led the whole of Greece to freedom.
142. καὶ γὰρ τῇ πόλει ἁπάσῃ αἱ τῶν ὑμετέρων προγόνων ἀρεταὶ πλείστου ἄξιαι ἐγένοντο. ἐπειδὴ γάρ, ὦ ἄνδρες, αἱ νῆες διεφθάρησαν, πολλῶν βουλομένων τὴν πόλιν ἀνηκέστοις συμφοραῖς περιβαλεῖν, Λακεδαιμόνιοι ἔγνωσαν ὅμως τότε ἐχθροὶ ὄντες σῴζειν τὴν πόλιν διὰ τὰς ἐκείνων τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἀρετάς, οἳ ὑπῆρξαν τῆς ἐλευθερίας ἁπάσῃ τῇ Ἑλλάδι.
143. Now since Athens as a city was spared because of the brave exploits of your forefathers, I likewise claim to be spared because of the brave deeds of mine; for my own forefathers themselves played no small part in those very exploits to which Athens owed her salvation, and I therefore have the right to expect from you the mercy shown to you yourselves by the Greeks.
143. ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν καὶ ἡ πόλις ἐσώθη δημοσίᾳ διὰ τὰς τῶν προγόνων τῶν ὑμετέρων ἀρετάς, ἀξιῶ κἀμοὶ διὰ τὰς τῶν προγόνων τῶν ἐμῶν ἀρετὰς σωτηρίαν γενέσθαι. καὶ γὰρ αὐτῶν τῶν ἔργων, διʼ ἅπερ ἡ πόλις ἐσώθη, οὐκ ἐλάχιστον μέρος οἱ ἐμοὶ πρόγονοι συνεβάλοντο· ὧν ἕνεκα καὶ ἐμοὶ δίκαιον ὑμᾶς μεταδοῦναι τῆς σωτηρίας, ἧσπερ καὶ αὐτοὶ παρὰ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἐτύχετε.
144. Think, furthermore, what a citizen you will have in me, if you give me your protection. I was once, as you know, a man of great wealth. Then to begin with, through no fault of my own, but through the disasters which overtook Athens, I was plunged into utter penury and want. I then started life afresh, a life of honest toil, with my brains and my hands to help me. Nay more, I not only know what it is to be the citizen of a city such as this; I know what it is to be an alien sojourning in the lands of neighbouring peoples; I have learnt the meaning of self-control and good sense; I have learnt what it is to suffer for one’s mistakes. I have been on terms of familiarity with many, and I have had dealings with still more. In consequence, I have formed ties and friendships with kings, with states, and with individuals too, in plenty. Acquit me, and you will share in them all, and be able to make use of them whenever occasion may arise.
144. σκέψασθε τοίνυν καὶ τάδε, ἄν με σῴσητε, οἷον ἕξετε πολίτην· ὃς πρῶτον μὲν ἐκ πολλοῦ πλούτου, ὅσον ὑμεῖς ἴστε, οὐ διʼ ἐμαυτὸν ἀλλὰ διὰ τὰς τῆς πόλεως συμφορὰς εἰς πενίαν πολλὴν καὶ ἀπορίαν κατέστην, ἔπειτα δὲ καινὸν βίον ἠργασάμην ἐκ τοῦ δικαίου, τῇ γνώμῃ καὶ τοῖν χεροῖν τοῖν ἐμαυτοῦ. ἔτι δὲ εἰδότα μὲν οἷόν ἐστι πόλεως τοιαύτης πολίτην εἶναι, εἰδότα δὲ οἷόν ἐστι ξένον εἶναι καὶ μέτοικον ἐν τῇ τῶν πλησίον, ἐπιστάμενον δὲ οἷον τὸ σωφρονεῖν καὶ ὀρθῶς βουλεύεσθαι, ἐπιστάμενον δʼ οἷον τὸ ἁμαρτόντα πρᾶξαι κακῶς, πολλοῖς συγγενόμενος καὶ πλείστων πειραθείς, ἀφʼ ὧν ἐμοὶ ξενίαι καὶ φιλότητες πρὸς πολλοὺς καὶ βασιλέας καὶ πόλεις καὶ ἄλλους ἰδίᾳ ξένους γεγένηνται, ὧν ἐμὲ σῴσαντες μεθέξετε, καὶ ἔσται ὑμῖν χρῆσθαι τούτοις, ὅπου ἂν ἐν καιρῷ τι ὑμῖν γίγνηται.
146. The position is in fact this, gentlemen. If you sentence me to death today, you leave not a single member of our family alive; it perishes root and branch. Yet the home of Andocides and Leogoras does not disgrace you by its presence. It was far more truly a disgrace during my exile, when Cleophon the lyre-maker occupied it. Not one of you, in passing our house, was ever reminded of an injury done him by its owners whether privately or publicly.
146. ἔχει δὲ καὶ ὑμῖν, ὦ ἄνδρες, οὕτως· ἐάν με νυνὶ διαφθείρητε, οὐκ ἔστιν ὑμῖν ἔτι λοιπὸς τοῦ γένους τοῦ ἡμετέρου οὐδείς, ἀλλʼ οἴχεται πᾶν πρόρριζον. καίτοι οὐκ ὄνειδος ὑμῖν ἐστιν ἡ Ἀνδοκίδου καὶ Λεωγόρου οἰκία οὖσα, ἀλλὰ πολὺ μᾶλλον τότʼ ἦν ὄνειδος, ὅτʼ ἐμοῦ φεύγοντος Κλεοφῶν αὐτὴν ὁ λυροποιὸς ᾤκει. οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν ὅστις πώποτε ὑμῶν παριὼν τὴν οἰκίαν τὴν ἡμετέραν ἀνεμνήσθη ἢ ἰδίᾳ τι ἢ δημοσίᾳ κακὸν παθὼν ὑπʼ ἐκείνων, οἳ πλείστας μὲν στρατηγήσαντες στρατηγίας πολλὰ τρόπαια τῶν πολεμίων καὶ κατὰ γῆν καὶ κατὰ θάλατταν ὑμῖν ἀπέδειξαν, πλείστας δὲ ἄλλας ἀρχὰς ἄρξαντες καὶ χρήματα διαχειρίσαντες τὰ ὑμέτερα οὐδένα πώποτε ὦφλον, οὐδʼ ἡμάρτηται οὐδὲν οὔτε ἡμῖν εἰς ὑμᾶς οὔτε ὑμῖν εἰς ἡμᾶς, οἰκία δὲ πασῶν ἀρχαιοτάτη καὶ κοινοτάτη ἀεὶ τῷ δεομένῳ.
147. They have held countless commands, and have won you many a victory over your foes on land and sea. They have held countless other offices and handled public monies; yet not once have they been found guilty of fraud. We have not wronged you, and you have not wronged us. Our house is the oldest in Athens, and has always been the first to open its doors to those in need. Yet never once has any member of my family appeared on trial before you and asked you to show your gratitude for these services. So although they are dead, at least do not forget what they did. Remember their achievements: imagine that you can see them in the flesh, begging you for my life. For after all, whom can I produce here to plead for me? My father? He is dead. My brothers? I have none. My children? They are still unborn.
147. οὐδʼ ἔστιν ὅπου ἐκείνων τις τῶν ἀνδρῶν καταστὰς εἰς ἀγῶνα ἀπῄτησεν ὑμᾶς χάριν τούτων τῶν ἔργων. μὴ τοίνυν, εἰ αὐτοὶ τεθνᾶσι, καὶ περὶ τῶν πεπραγμένων αὐτοῖς ἐπιλάθησθε, ἀλλʼ ἀναμνησθέντες τῶν ἔργων νομίσατε τὰ σώματα αὐτῶν ὁρᾶν αἰτουμένων ἐμὲ παρʼ ὑμῶν σῷσαι. τίνα γὰρ καὶ ἀναβιβάσωμαι δεησόμενον ὑπὲρ ἐμαυτοῦ; τὸν πατέρα; ἀλλὰ τέθνηκεν. ἀλλὰ τοὺς ἀδελφούς; ἀλλʼ οὐκ εἰσίν.
149. It is you who must act as my father and my brothers and my children. It is with you that I seek refuge. It is to you that I turn with my entreaties and my prayers. You must plead with yourselves for my life, and save it. When you are ready to extend civic rights to Thessalians and Andrians on the ground that men are scarce, you cannot but refuse to put acknowledged citizens to death, men who should serve you well, and who will have the opportunity of doing so, if they are willing. You cannot but refuse, gentlemen. Again, I ask you to show your appreciation of my services to you. Then, if you listen to me, you will not rob yourselves of such further services as I may be able to render. On the other hand, if you listen to my opponents, even repentance later on will avail you nothing.
149. ἀλλὰ τοὺς παῖδας; ἀλλʼ οὔπω γεγένηνται. ὑμεῖς τοίνυν καὶ ἀντὶ πατρὸς ἐμοὶ καὶ ἀντὶ ἀδελφῶν καὶ ἀντὶ παίδων γένεσθε· εἰς ὑμᾶς καταφεύγω καὶ ἀντιβολῶ καὶ ἱκετεύω· ὑμεῖς με παρʼ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν αἰτησάμενοι σῴσατε, καὶ μὴ βούλεσθε Θετταλοὺς καὶ Ἀνδρίους πολίτας ποιεῖσθαι διʼ ἀπορίαν ἀνδρῶν, τοὺς δὲ ὄντας πολίτας ὁμολογουμένως, οἷς προσήκει ἀνδράσιν ἀγαθοῖς εἶναι καὶ βουλόμενοι δυνήσονται, τούτους δὲ ἀπόλλυτε. μὴ δῆτα. ἔπειτα καὶ ταῦθʼ ὑμῶν δέομαι, εὖ ποιῶν ὑμᾶς ὑφʼ ὑμῶν τιμᾶσθαι. ὥστʼ ἐμοὶ μὲν πειθόμενοι οὐκ ἀποστερεῖσθε εἴ τι ἐγὼ δυνήσομαι ὑμᾶς εὖ ποιεῖν· ἐὰν δὲ τοῖς ἐχθροῖς τοῖς ἐμοῖς πεισθῆτε, οὐδʼ ἂν ὑστέρῳ χρόνῳ ὑμῖν μεταμελήσῃ, οὐδὲν ἔτι πλέον ποιήσετε.
150. So do not deprive yourselves of what you can reasonably expect from me, and do not deprive me of what I can reasonably expect from you. And now I will ask men who have given public proof of their outstanding worth to take my place here and give you their opinion of me. Come, Anytus and Cephalus: come, Thrasyllus and you others of my tribe who have been chosen to support me.
150. μὴ τοίνυν μήθʼ ὑμᾶς αὐτοὺς τῶν ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ ἐλπίδων ἀποστερήσητε μήτʼ ἐμὲ τῶν εἰς ὑμᾶς. ἀξιῶ δʼ ἔγωγε τούτους οἵτινες ὑμῖν ἀρετῆς ἤδη τῆς μεγίστης εἰς τὸ πλῆθος τὸ ὑμέτερον ἔλεγχον ἔδοσαν, ἀναβάντας ἐνταυθοῖ συμβουλεύειν ὑμῖν ἃ γιγνώσκουσι περὶ ἐμοῦ. δεῦρο Ἄνυτε, Κέφαλε, ἔτι δὲ καὶ οἱ φυλέται οἱ ᾑρημένοι μοι συνδικεῖν, Θράσυλλος καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι.