---
title: "Against Aristogeiton I · Κατὰ Ἀριστογείτονος α΄"
author: "Demosthenes"
translator: "James Herbert Vince"
languages: [grc, en]
shelf: "Classical Greek"
url: https://scriptura.si/works/demosthenes-against-aristogeiton-1/
cite: "Demosthenes, tr. James Herbert Vince, Against Aristogeiton I · Κατὰ Ἀριστογείτονος α΄. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/demosthenes-against-aristogeiton-1/"
---

# Against Aristogeiton I · Κατὰ Ἀριστογείτονος α΄

*Demosthenes, tr. James Herbert Vince*

Against a professional informer who spoke in the assembly while in debt to the state.

> Greek: ed. Samuel Henry Butcher, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-greekLit, tlg0014.tlg025, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: James Herbert Vince, from the Perseus Digital Library (tlg0014.tlg025.perseus-eng2). Notes are not included.

> Rows follow the references the two texts share (chapters and sections), cut where both reach the end of a sentence.

## Contents

1. [Sections 1–49](https://scriptura.si/works/demosthenes-against-aristogeiton-1/1.md)
2. [Sections 50–101](https://scriptura.si/works/demosthenes-against-aristogeiton-1/2.md)

## 1. Sections 1–49

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/demosthenes-against-aristogeiton-1/1/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/demosthenes-against-aristogeiton-1/1/#p-N

[¶0] 1. Gentlemen of the jury, as I sat here for a long time and listened with you to the speech of Lycurgus for the prosecution, I thought it in general an excellent speech; but when I observed him unduly exerting himself, I was surprised that he should not realize that the strength of our case does not really depend on the arguments that he has used or that I am going to use, but on the disposition of each juryman either to be indignant at wickedness or to condone it.

> Greek: 1. πάλαι καθήμενος, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, καὶ κατηγοροῦντος ἀκούων, ὥσπερ ὑμεῖς, Λυκούργου, τὰ μὲν ἄλλα καλῶς αὐτὸν ἡγούμην λέγειν, ἓν δὲ τεθαύμακα ὁρῶν ὑπερδιατεινόμενον, εἰ ἀγνοεῖ τοῦθʼ ὅτι οὔτε παρὰ τοὺς ὑφʼ ἑαυτοῦ λόγους εἰρημένους οὔτε παρὰ τοὺς ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ μέλλοντας ῥηθήσεσθαι τὰ τουτουὶ τοῦ ἀγῶνός ἐστιν δίκαιʼ ἰσχυρά, ἀλλʼ ὡς ἂν ἕκαστος ὑμῶν ἔχῃ πρὸς τὸ δυσχεραίνειν ἢ προσίεσθαι πονηρίαν.

[¶1] 2. For myself, I admit it was our duty to undertake the prosecution and to deliver full speeches in accordance with custom and for your information; but I feel that the case has been already decided by each one of you in his inmost conscience, and that now, if the majority of you are men disposed to admire and protect rascals, all our declamation will be wasted, but if you are disposed to hate them, then this man, please God! shall pay the penalty.

> Greek: 2. καὶ ἔγωγʼ ὑπολαμβάνω τὴν μὲν κατηγορίαν καὶ τὸ τῶν λόγων πλῆθος ἔθους ἕνεκα καὶ τῆς ὑμετέρας ἀκροάσεως δεῖν ποιήσασθαι, κεκρίσθαι δὲ τοῦτο τὸ πρᾶγμα πάλαι ὑπὸ τῆς ἑκάστου φύσεως οἴκοθεν, καὶ νυνὶ εἰ μέν εἰσιν ὑμῶν οἱ πλείους οἷοι τοὺς πονηροὺς φιλεῖν καὶ σῴζειν, μάτην ἐρραψῳδηκότας ἡμᾶς ἔσεσθαι, εἰ δʼ οἷοι μισεῖν, δίκην, ἐὰν θεὸς θέλῃ, τοῦτον δώσειν.

[¶2] 3. Though much has been said, and all of it well said, I shall not scruple to put my own views before you, because the present suit seems to me quite different from all others. Just consider. To all our courts the juries come to learn from plaintiff and defendant the facts upon which they are to give their votes, and each litigant comes to prove that the legal right is strong on his side.

> Greek: 3. πολλῶν δὲ λόγων εἰρημένων καὶ πάντων καλῶς, οὐκ ὀκνήσω πρὸς ὑμᾶς εἰπεῖν ἅ γʼ ἐμοὶ φαίνεται. ἐμοὶ γὰρ οὐδʼ ὁτιοῦν ἐοικέναι δοκεῖ τοῖς ἄλλοις ὁ παρὼν ἀγών. σκοπεῖτε δʼ οὑτωσί. πρὸς ἅπαντʼ ἔρχονται τὰ δικαστήρια οἱ μὲν δικασταὶ παρὰ τοῦ κατηγόρου καὶ τοῦ φεύγοντος τὸ πρᾶγμα μαθησόμενοι περὶ οὗ δεήσει τὴν ψῆφον ἐνεγκεῖν αὐτούς, οἱ δʼ ἀντίδικοι μεθʼ ἑαυτοῦ δείξων ἑκάτερος ὄντα τὰ τῶν νόμων δίκαια.

[¶3] 4. But how stands it with the present trial? You who are to give the verdict have come here knowing better than we, the accusers, that this man, since he is a state-debtor and registered as such in the Acropolis, has no right to speak at all; so that each of you is in the position of an accuser, knowing the facts and not needing to be told them.

> Greek: 4. τὰ δὲ τούτου τοῦ ἀγῶνος πῶς ἔχει; οἱ μὲν δικάσοντες ὑμεῖς ἥκετε μᾶλλον ἡμῶν τῶν κατηγόρων εἰδότες καὶ ὀφείλοντα τῷ δημοσίῳ τοῦτον καὶ ἐγγεγραμμένον ἐν ἀκροπόλει καὶ οὐκ ἐξὸν αὐτῷ λέγειν· ὥσθʼ ἕκαστον ὑμῶν κατηγόρου τάξιν ἔχειν καὶ τὸ πρᾶγμʼ εἰδέναι, μὴ μαθεῖν δεῖσθαι.

[¶4] 5. But the defendant is here with nothing whatever to support his acquittal, with no sound plea based on the facts, with no past record of a decent life, with not a single point in his favour. He imagines that he may be saved by what would have frightened anyone else, though innocent; for he bases the hope of his acquittal on the enormity of his wickedness.

> Greek: 5. ὁ δὲ κρινόμενος τῶν μὲν εἰς σωτηρίαν φερόντων ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ὁτιοῦν πάρεστιν ἔχων, οὐ τοὺς ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ τοῦ πράγματος λόγους δικαίους, οὐ τὸν ἑαυτοῦ βίον ἀνθρώπινον, οὐκ ἄλλʼ οὐδʼ ὁτιοῦν ἀγαθόν· διʼ ἃ δʼ ἂν καὶ μηδʼ ὁτιοῦν ἀδικῶν τις ἔδεισε, διὰ ταῦθʼ οὗτος οἴεται σωθήσεσθαι· ἐν γὰρ τῇ τῆς πονηρίας ὑπερβολῇ τὴν ἐλπίδα τῆς σωτηρίας ἔχει.

[¶5] 6. This being so, it seems to me that one would not be wrong in saying that, while Aristogeiton is on his trial, it is your character that is being tested, your reputation that is at stake. For if you make it quite clear that you are angry at such patent and gross offences and are determined to punish them, then it will be seen that you have come here to play your true part as judges and guardians of the law.

> Greek: 6. οὕτω δʼ ἐχόντων τούτων, δοκεῖ μοί τις οὐκ ἂν ἁμαρτεῖν εἰπὼν ὅτι νυνὶ κρίνεται μὲν Ἀριστογείτων, δοκιμάζεσθε δὲ καὶ κινδυνεύεθʼ ὑμεῖς περὶ δόξης. εἰ μὲν γὰρ ὀφθήσεσθʼ ἐπὶ τοῖς οὕτω φανεροῖς καὶ μεγάλοις ἀδικήμασιν ὀργιζόμενοι καὶ τιμωρούμενοι, δόξετε τοῦθʼ, ὅπερ ἐστέ, δικασταὶ καὶ φύλακες τῶν νόμων εἰσεληλυθέναι·

[¶6] 7. But if some other motive prevails, some motive which none would care to confess, but which your votes will betray, then I am afraid that to some you will appear to be playing the part of trainers of any citizen who has a taste for wickedness. For every bad man is in himself weak; he only becomes strong by your countenance and support. Whoever wins that support finds in it his advantage and his strength; to you who give that support, it is a source of shame.

> Greek: 7. εἰ δʼ ἕτερόν τι περιέσται τούτων, ὃ μηδεὶς μὲν ἂν αὐτὸς πεποιηκέναι φήσειεν, ἐν δὲ ταῖς ψήφοις εὑρεθήσεται, δέδοικα μὴ δόξητέ τισιν τὸν ἀεὶ βουλόμενον εἶναι πονηρὸν τῶν ἐν τῇ πόλει παιδοτριβεῖν. ἀσθενὴς μὲν γάρ ἐστιν ἅπας ὁ πονηρὸς καθʼ ἑαυτόν· ᾧ δʼ ἂν ὑμεῖς πρόσθησθε, οὗτος ἰσχυρὸς γίγνεται. ἔστι δὲ τοῦτο τῷ μὲν λαβόντι παρʼ ὑμῶν ἐργασία καὶ δυναστεία, ὑμῖν δὲ τοῖς δοῦσιν ὄνειδος.

[¶7] 8. But before I speak of the private affairs of the defendant, men of Athens, I should like you seriously but briefly to calculate how much shame and discredit is brought upon our city by these monsters, of whom the defendant is at once the midmost, the first, and the last.

> Greek: 8. βουλοίμην δʼ ἄν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, πρὸ τοῦ περὶ τῶν ἰδίων ἐμὲ τῶν τουτουὶ λέγειν, σπουδάσαντας ὑμᾶς ἐξετάσαι διὰ βραχέων εἰς ὅσην αἰσχύνην καὶ ἀδοξίαν προῆχε τὴν πόλιν δημοσίᾳ πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα θηρία, ὧν μέσος καὶ τελευταῖος καὶ πρῶτός ἐστιν οὗτος.

[¶8] 9. To mention only one matter; they mount the platform in the Assembly, where you look to your orators to explain their policy, not to flaunt their wickedness; they come equipped with a hardened front, a raucous voice, false charges, intimidation, shamelessness, and all such gifts as these, than which one could name no qualities more hostile to the spirit of debate nor, I think—so Heaven help me!—more discreditable. By these vile tricks they gain supremacy over all that is respectable in the State, over the laws, the committees, the course of public business, and the maintenance of order.

> Greek: 9. καὶ τὰ μὲν ἄλλʼ ἐάσω· ἀλλʼ εἰς τὰς ἐκκλησίας ἀναβαίνουσιν, ἐν αἷς ὑμεῖς γνώμης ἀπόδειξιν, οὐ πονηρίας τοῖς λέγουσι προτίθετε, τόλμαν καὶ κραυγὴν καὶ ψευδεῖς αἰτίας καὶ συκοφαντίαν καὶ ἀναισχυντίαν καὶ πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα συνεσκευασμένοι, ὧν οὐκ ἂν εὕροι τις ἐναντιώτερα τῷ βουλεύεσθαι, νομίζω δʼ οὐδʼ ἂν αἰσχίω. καὶ τούτοις τοῖς αἰσχροῖς ἁπάντων τῶν τῆς πόλεως καλῶν περίεισι, τῶν νόμων, τῶν προέδρων, τοῦ προγράμματος, τῆς εὐκοσμίας.

[¶9] 10. Now if that is what you want, if their practice accords with your ideas, we must just let them go their own way; but if you think that even at the eleventh hour you ought to put all this right, and reform what has been allowed to go too far, and has been disgracefully misdirected by these men, you must today avert your eyes from all such practices and give a righteous verdict.

> Greek: 10. εἰ μὲν οὖν ὑμεῖς ταῦτα βούλεσθε καὶ μετὰ τῆς ὑμετέρας γνώμης οὗτοι ταῦτα ποιοῦσιν, ὁδῷ βαδίζει καὶ ἐᾶν δεῖ· εἰ δʼ ἐπανορθώσασθαι ταῦτʼ ἔτι καὶ νῦν οἴεσθε χρῆναι, καὶ τὰ προειμένα πόρρω καὶ πολὺν ἤδη χρόνον αἰσχρῶς καὶ κακῶς ὑπὸ τούτων διακείμενα βελτίω ποιῆσαι, πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτʼ ἔθη παριδόντας ὑμᾶς τήμερον ὀρθῶς δεῖ δικάσαι, τὴν τὰ δίκαιʼ ἀγαπῶσαν Εὐνομίαν περὶ πλείστου ποιησαμένους, ἣ πάσας καὶ πόλεις καὶ χώρας σῴζει·

[¶10] 11. You must magnify the Goddess of Order who loves what is right and preserves every city and every land; and before you cast your votes, each juryman must reflect that he is being watched by hallowed and inexorable Justice, who, as Orpheus, that prophet of our most sacred mysteries, tells us, sits beside the throne of Zeus and oversees all the works of men. Each must keep watch and ward lest he shame that goddess, from whom everyone that is chosen by lot derives his name of juror, because he has this day received a sacred trust from the laws, from the constitution, from the fatherland,—the duty of guarding all that is fair and right and beneficial in our city.

> Greek: 11. καὶ τὴν ἀπαραίτητον καὶ σεμνὴν Δίκην, ἣν ὁ τὰς ἁγιωτάτας ἡμῖν τελετὰς καταδείξας Ὀρφεὺς παρὰ τὸν τοῦ Διὸς θρόνον φησὶ καθημένην πάντα τὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐφορᾶν, εἰς αὑτὸν ἕκαστον νομίσαντα βλέπειν οὕτω ψηφίζεσθαι, φυλαττόμενον καὶ προορώμενον μὴ καταισχῦναι ταύτην, ἧς ἐπώνυμός ἐστιν ὑμῶν ἕκαστος ὁ ἀεὶ δικάζειν λαχών, πάντα τὰ ἐν τῇ πόλει καλὰ καὶ δίκαια καὶ συμφέροντα [φυλάττων καὶ] ταύτην τὴν ἡμέραν παρακαταθήκην ἔνορκον εἰληφὼς παρὰ τῶν νόμων καὶ τῆς πολιτείας καὶ τῆς πατρίδος.

[¶11] 12. For if you do not cherish that temper, if you come here and take seats with your usual easy good nature, I am afraid that the case may be reversed, and that we who seem to accuse Aristogeiton may be found to be accusing you; for the more convincingly we prove his guilt without arousing your interest, the greater will be your shame. But enough of that subject!

> Greek: 12. ὡς εἰ μὴ τοῦτον ἕξετε τὸν τρόπον, ἀλλʼ ἀπὸ τῆς συνήθους εὐηθείας εἰσεληλυθότες καθεδεῖσθε, φοβοῦμαι μὴ τὸ πρᾶγμʼ εἰς τοὐναντίον περιστῇ καὶ δοκοῦντες ἡμεῖς Ἀριστογείτονος κατηγορεῖν ὑμῶν κατηγοροῦντες φανῶμεν· ὅσῳ γὰρ ἂν μᾶλλον ἡμῶν δειξάντων τὴν τούτου πονηρίαν μηδὲν ὑμεῖς φροντίσητε, τοσούτῳ μείζων ἡ καθʼ ὑμῶν αἰσχύνη γενήσεται. καὶ περὶ μὲν τούτων ἱκανά.

[¶12] 13. Men of Athens, I shall certainly tell you the truth with the utmost frankness. When I saw you in the Assembly indicating and proposing me as the accuser of Aristogeiton, I was troubled, and I call Heaven to witness that I did not relish the task. For I was not unaware that he who plays such a part in your courts suffers for it in the end, not perhaps so as to feel it at once, but if he undertakes many such tasks and perseveres in them, his character will soon be recognized. I thought it, however, my duty to accede to your wishes.

> Greek: 13. πάνυ δʼ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, μετὰ πάσης οἰκειότητος ἐρῶ τἀληθῆ πρὸς ὑμᾶς. ἐγὼ γὰρ ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις ὁρῶν ὑμᾶς κατατάττοντάς με καὶ προχειριζομένους ἐπὶ τὴν τούτου κατηγορίαν, ἠχθόμην καὶ μὰ τὸν Δία καὶ πάντας θεοὺς οὐκ ἐβουλόμην. οὐ γὰρ ἠγνόουν ὅτι ὁ ποιήσας τι τοιοῦτον παρʼ ὑμῖν καὶ παθὼν ἀπέρχεται. εἰ δὲ μὴ τηλικοῦτον ὥστʼ εὐθὺς αἰσθέσθαι, ἀλλʼ ἐὰν πολλὰ τοιαῦτα ποιῇ καὶ μὴ παύηται, ταχὺ γνώσεται. ὅμως δʼ ἀναγκαῖον ἡγούμην εἶναι πείθεσθαι τοῖς ὑμετέροις βουλήμασιν.

[¶13] 14. Now as regards the laying of the injunction and the legal points, I considered that Lycurgus would deal adequately with them; and I also saw that he was producing witnesses to the wickedness of the defendant. But I resolved to devote my speech to those points which ought always to be considered and examined by those who are deliberating in the interests of the State and of the laws; and I will now proceed to deal with those points. But do you, men of Athens, in Heaven’s name grant me the privilege of addressing you on these topics in the way that suits my natural bent and the scheme of my speech, for indeed I could not speak in any other way.

> Greek: 14. τὰ μὲν οὖν περὶ τῆς ἐνδείξεως καὶ τῶν νόμων δίκαια αὐτόν, ὅπερ πεποίηκεν, Λυκοῦργον ἐρεῖν ἡγούμην, καὶ τοὺς μάρτυρας τῆς πονηρίας τῆς τούτου τοῦτον ἑώρων προσκαλούμενον· ἃ δὲ καὶ λογίζεσθαι τοὺς ὑπὲρ πόλεως καὶ νόμων βουλευομένους προσήκει καὶ σκοπεῖσθαι δεῖ, ταῦτα προῃρούμην εἰπεῖν, καὶ νῦν ἐπὶ ταῦτα πορεύσομαι. δότε δʼ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, δότε καὶ συγχωρήσατε μοι πρὸς Διός, ὡς πέφυκα καὶ προῄρημαι, περὶ τούτων διαλεχθῆναι πρὸς ὑμᾶς· καὶ γὰρ οὐδʼ ἂν ἄλλως δυναίμην.

[¶14] 15. The whole life of men, Athenians, whether they dwell in a large state or a small one, is governed by nature and by the laws. Of these, nature is something irregular and incalculable, and peculiar to each individual; but the laws are something universal, definite, and the same for all. Now nature, if it be evil, often chooses wrong, and that is why you will find men of an evil nature committing errors.

> Greek: 15. ἅπας ὁ τῶν ἀνθρώπων βίος, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, κἂν μεγάλην πόλιν οἰκῶσι κἂν μικράν, φύσει καὶ νόμοις διοικεῖται. τούτων δʼ ἡ μὲν φύσις ἐστὶν ἄτακτον καὶ κατʼ ἄνδρʼ ἴδιον τοῦ ἔχοντος, οἱ δὲ νόμοι κοινὸν καὶ τεταγμένον καὶ ταὐτὸ πᾶσιν. ἡ μὲν οὖν φύσις, ἂν ᾖ πονηρά, πολλάκις φαῦλα βούλεται· διόπερ τοὺς τοιούτους ἐξαμαρτάνοντας εὑρήσετε.

[¶15] 16. But the laws desire what is just and honorable and salutary; they seek for it, and when they find it, they set it forth as a general commandment, equal and identical for all. The law is that which all men ought to obey for many reasons, but above all because every law is an invention and gift of the gods, a tenet of wise men, a corrective of errors voluntary and involuntary, and a general covenant of the whole State, in accordance with which all men in that State ought to regulate their lives.

> Greek: 16. οἱ δὲ νόμοι τὸ δίκαιον καὶ τὸ καλὸν καὶ τὸ συμφέρον βούλονται, καὶ τοῦτο ζητοῦσιν, καὶ ἐπειδὰν εὑρεθῇ, κοινὸν τοῦτο πρόσταγμʼ ἀπεδείχθη, πᾶσιν ἴσον καὶ ὅμοιον, καὶ τοῦτʼ ἔστι νόμος. ᾧ πάντας πείθεσθαι προσήκει διὰ πολλά, καὶ μάλισθʼ ὅτι πᾶς ἐστι νόμος εὕρημα μὲν καὶ δῶρον θεῶν, δόγμα δʼ ἀνθρώπων φρονίμων, ἐπανόρθωμα δὲ τῶν ἑκουσίων καὶ ἀκουσίων ἁμαρτημάτων, πόλεως δὲ συνθήκη κοινή, καθʼ ἣν πᾶσι προσήκει ζῆν τοῖς ἐν τῇ πόλει.

[¶16] 17. But that Aristogeiton has been convicted on all the heads of the information, and that he has not a single counter-argument worth considering, can be easily proved. For there are two objects, men of Athens, for which all laws are framed—to deter any man from doing what is wrong, and, by punishing the transgressor, to make the rest better men; and it will be shown that both these objects will be secured by the punishment of the defendant. For by his original transgressions he has incurred the due penalties, and for his refusal to acquiesce in them he is now brought into court to receive your punishment; so that no one has any excuse left for acquitting him.

> Greek: 17. ἀλλὰ μὴν ὅτι νῦν Ἀριστογείτων τοῖς μὲν τῆς ἐνδείξεως δικαίοις ἅπασιν ἑάλωκεν, ἕτερος δʼ οὐδὲ εἷς ἔστιν ἀνεκτὸς αὐτῷ λόγος, περὶ τούτων ῥᾴδιον διδάξαι. δυοῖν γὰρ ὄντοιν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ὧν ἕνεκα πάντες τίθενται οἱ νόμοι, τοῦ τε μηδένα μηδὲν ὃ μὴ δίκαιόν ἐστι ποιεῖν, καὶ τοῦ τοὺς παραβαίνοντας ταῦτα κολαζομένους βελτίους τοὺς ἄλλους ποιεῖν, ἀμφοτέροις τούτοις οὗτος ἔνοχος ὢν φανήσεται. ἐπὶ μὲν γὰρ οἷς ἐξ ἀρχῆς παρέβη τοὺς νόμους, τὰ ὀφλήματʼ αὐτῷ γέγονεν· ἐπὶ δʼ οἷς οὐκ ἐμμένει τούτοις, νῦν ἐπὶ τὴν παρʼ ὑμῶν ἄγεται τιμωρίαν, ὥστε μηδεμίαν καταλείπεσθαι πρόφασιν διʼ ἣν ἄν τις αὐτὸν ἀφείη.

[¶17] 18. Nor is it possible to say, “After all, these things do no harm to the State.” I will not dwell on the fact that all the fines due to the State are lost, if you admit his sophistries, or that if we must forgive any of our debtors, it ought to be the most decent and respectable and those who have been fined on the least serious charges, not the greatest villain of all, who has committed most offences and incurred the most deserved fines on the most serious charges.

> Greek: 18. οὐδὲ γὰρ αὖ τοῦτʼ ἔστιν εἰπεῖν, ὡς ἄρʼ ἐκ τούτων οὐδὲν ἡ πόλις βλάπτεται. ἐγὼ γάρ, ὅτι μὲν πάντʼ ἀπόλλυται τὰ τῆς πόλεως ὀφλήματα, εἰ τὰ τούτου σοφίσματα προσδέξεσθε, καὶ ὅτι, εἰ ἄρα δεῖ τινας ἐκ τῶν ὀφειλόντων ἀφιέναι, τοὺς ἐπιεικεστάτους καὶ βελτίστους καὶ τοὺς ἐπὶ τοῖς ἥκιστα δεινοῖς ὠφληκότας, τούτους ἀφιέναι δεῖ, οὐχὶ τὸν πονηρότατον καὶ πλεῖσθʼ ἡμαρτηκότα καὶ δικαιότατʼ ὠφληκότα καὶ ἐπὶ δεινοτάτοις (τί γὰρ ἂν γένοιτο συκοφαντίας καὶ παρανομίας δεινότερον, ἐφʼ οἷς ἀμφοτέροις οὗτος ὤφληκεν;)

[¶18] 19. For what could be more serious than chicanery and breach of the constitution, for both of which the defendant has been condemned? Nor will I urge that even if you let off all other offenders, it is surely wrong to give way to one who resorts to force, for that is surely an outrage. I waive such considerations as these; but I do think that I can clearly prove to you that the defendant’s example confounds and destroys all order in law and in government.

> Greek: 19. καὶ ὅτι οὐδʼ εἰ πᾶσι τοῖς ἄλλοις [ἀφίετε], οὐχὶ τῷ βιαζομένῳ δήπου συγχωρῆσαι προσήκει (ὕβρις γὰρ δὴ τοῦτό γε), καὶ πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτʼ ἐάσω· ἀλλʼ ὅτι καὶ πᾶς ὁ τῆς πόλεως καὶ τῶν νόμων κόσμος, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, συνταράττεται καὶ διαφθείρεται ⟨τὸ⟩ κατὰ τοῦτον, καὶ τοῦτʼ οἶμαι σαφῶς ὑμῖν ἐπιδείξειν.

[¶19] 20. I shall say nothing novel or extravagant or peculiar, but only what you all know to be true as well as I do. For if any of you cares to inquire what is the motive-power that calls together the Council, draws the people into the Assembly, fills the law-courts, makes the old officials resign readily to the new, and enables the whole life of the State to be carried on and preserved, he will find that it is the laws and the obedience that all men yield to the laws; since, if once they were done away with and every man were given licence to do as he liked, not only does the constitution vanish, but our life would not differ from that of the beasts of the field.

> Greek: 20. λέξω δʼ οὔτε καινὸν οὔτε περιττὸν οὐδὲν οὔτʼ ἴδιον, ἀλλʼ ὃ πάντες ὑμεῖς ἴσθʼ ὁμοίως ἐμοί. εἰ γάρ τις ὑμῶν ἐξετάσαι βούλεται τί ποτʼ ἐστὶ τὸ αἴτιον καὶ τὸ ποιοῦν τὴν βουλὴν συλλέγεσθαι, τὸν δῆμον εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ἀναβαίνειν, τὰ δικαστήρια πληροῦσθαι, τὰς ἕνας ἀρχὰς ταῖς νέαις ἑκούσας ὑπεξιέναι, καὶ πάντα διʼ ὧν ἡ πόλις οἰκεῖται καὶ σῴζεται γίγνεσθαι, τοὺς νόμους εὑρήσει [τούτων αἰτίους] καὶ τὸ τούτοις ἅπαντας πείθεσθαι, ἐπεὶ λυθέντων γε τούτων, καὶ ἑκάστῳ δοθείσης ἐξουσίας ὅ τι βούλεται ποιεῖν, οὐ μόνον ἡ πολιτεία οἴχεται, ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ὁ βίος ἡμῶν τοῦ τῶν θηρίων οὐδὲν ἂν διενέγκαι.

[¶20] 21. You see what the defendant is, when the laws are in force: what do you think he would do, if the laws were done away with? Since then it is admitted that, next after the gods, the laws preserve the State, it is the duty of all of you to act just as if you were sitting here making up a contribution to your club. If a man obeys the laws, respect and commend him for paying his contribution in full to the welfare of his fatherland; if he disobeys them, punish him.

> Greek: 21. τί γὰρ ἂν τοῦτον αὐτὸν οἴεσθε ποιεῖν λυθέντων τῶν νόμων, ὃς ὄντων κυρίων τοιοῦτός ἐστιν; ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν οἱ νόμοι μετὰ τοὺς θεοὺς ὁμολογοῦνται σῴζειν τὴν πόλιν, δεῖ πάντας ὑμᾶς τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον ὥσπερ ἂν εἰ καθῆσθʼ ἐράνου πληρωταί, τὸν μὲν πειθόμενον τούτοις ὡς φέροντα τὴν τῆς σωτηρίας φορὰν πλήρη τῇ πατρίδι τιμᾶν καὶ ἐπαινεῖν, τὸν δʼ ἀπειθοῦντα κολάζειν.

[¶21] 22. For everything done at the bidding of the laws is a contribution made to the State and the community. Whoever leaves it unpaid, men of Athens, is depriving you of many great, honorable, and glorious benefits, which he is destroying to the best of his ability.

> Greek: 22. ἔρανος γάρ ἐστιν πολιτικὸς καὶ κοινὸς πάνθʼ ὅσα, ταξάντων τῶν νόμων, ἕκαστος ἡμῶν ποιεῖ. ὃν ὁ λείπων, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, πολλὰ καὶ καλὰ καὶ σεμνὰ καὶ μεγάλʼ ὑμῶν ἀφαιρεῖται καὶ διαφθείρει τὸ καθʼ αὑτόν.

[¶22] 23. One or two of these benefits I will name for the sake of example, choosing the best known. The Council of the Five Hundred, thanks to this barrier, frail as it is, is master of its own secrets, and no private citizen can enter it. The Council of the Areopagus, when it sits roped off in the King’s Portico, enjoys complete freedom from disturbance, and all men hold aloof.

> Greek: 23. ὧν ἓν ἢ δύʼ ἐρῶ παραδείγματος ἕνεκα, τὰ γνωριμώτατα. τὸ τὴν βουλὴν τοὺς πεντακοσίους ἀπὸ τῆς [ἀσθενοῦς] τοιαυτησὶ κιγκλίδος τῶν ἀπορρήτων κυρίαν εἶναι, καὶ μὴ τοὺς ἰδιώτας ἐπεισιέναι· τὸ τὴν ἐξ Ἀρείου πάγου βουλήν, ὅταν ἐν τῇ βασιλείῳ στοᾷ καθεζομένη περισχοινίσηται, κατὰ πολλὴν ἡσυχίαν ἐφʼ ἑαυτῆς εἶναι, καὶ ἅπαντας ἐκποδὼν ἀποχωρεῖν· τὸ τὰς ἀρχὰς ἁπάσας, ὅσας οἱ λαχόντες ἄρχουσιν ὑμῶν, ἅμα τῷ τὸν ὑπηρέτην εἰπεῖν μετάστητʼ ἔξω τῶν νόμων κρατεῖν ἐφʼ οἷς εἰσεπέμφθησαν, καὶ μηδὲ τοὺς ἀσελγεστάτους βιάζεσθαι· ἄλλα μυρία.

[¶23] 24. All the magistrates who are chosen from you by lot, as soon as the attendant cries “Strangers must withdraw,” control the laws which they were appointed to administer and cannot be disturbed by the most unruly. There are thousands of other benefits. All the noble and reverend qualities that adorn and preserve our city,—sobriety, orderliness, the respect of your younger men for parents and elders—hold their own, backed by the laws, against the base qualities of indecency, audacity, and shamelessness. For vice is vigorous, daring, and grasping; on the other hand probity is peaceful, retiring, inactive, and terribly liable to come off second-best. Therefore those of you who sit upon juries ought to protect and strengthen the laws, for with the help of the laws the good overcome the bad.

> Greek: 24. πάντα γὰρ τὰ σεμνὰ καὶ καλὰ καὶ διʼ ὧν ἡ πόλις κοσμεῖται καὶ σῴζεται, ἡ σωφροσύνη, ἡ πρὸς τοὺς γονέας καὶ τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους ὑμῶν παρὰ τῶν νέων αἰσχύνη, ἡ εὐταξία, τῇ τῶν νόμων προσθήκῃ τῶν αἰσχρῶν περίεστιν, τῆς ἀναισχυντίας, τῆς θρασύτητος, τῆς ἀναιδείας. ἰταμὸν γὰρ ἡ πονηρία καὶ τολμηρὸν καὶ πλεονεκτικόν, καὶ τοὐναντίον ἡ καλοκαγαθία ἡσύχιον καὶ ὀκνηρὸν καὶ βραδὺ καὶ δεινὸν ἐλαττωθῆναι. τοὺς νόμους οὖν δεῖ τηρεῖν καὶ τούτους ἰσχυροὺς ποιεῖν τοὺς ἀεὶ δικάζοντας ὑμῶν· μετὰ γὰρ τούτων οἱ χρηστοὶ τῶν πονηρῶν περίεισιν.

[¶24] 25. If not, all is dissolved, broken up, confounded, and the city becomes the prey of the most profligate and shameless. For tell me this, in Heaven’s name; if everyone in the city copied the audacity and shamelessness of Aristogeiton and argued in the same way as he, that in a democracy a man has an unlimited right to say and do whatever he likes, as long as he does not care what reputation such conduct will bring him, and that no one will put him to death at once for any of his misdoings;

> Greek: 25. εἰ δὲ μή, λέλυται πάντα, ἀνέῳκται, συγκέχυται, τῶν πονηροτάτων καὶ ἀναιδεστάτων ἡ πόλις γίγνεται. φέρε γὰρ πρὸς θεῶν, εἰ ἕκαστος τῶν ἐν τῇ πόλει τὴν Ἀριστογείτονος τόλμαν καὶ ἀναισχυντίαν λαβών, καὶ διαλογισάμενος ταῦθʼ ἅπερ οὗτος, ὅτι ἔξεστι καὶ λέγειν καὶ ποιεῖν μέχρι παντὸς ὅ τι ἂν βούληταί τις ἐν δημοκρατίᾳ, ἄνπερ τοῦ ποῖός τις εἶναι δόξει [ὁ] ταῦτα ποιῶν ὀλιγωρήσῃ, καὶ οὐδεὶς ἐπʼ οὐδενὶ τῶν ἀδικημάτων εὐθὺς αὐτὸν ἀποκτενεῖ·

[¶25] 26. if, acting on this principle, the citizen rejected at the ballot or at the election should put himself on an equality with the chosen citizen; if, in a word, neither young nor old should do his duty, but each man, banishing all discipline from life, should regard his own wish as law, as authority, as all in all—if, I say, we should act like this, could the government continue to be carried on? What? Would the laws be any longer valid? What violence, insolence and lawlessness there would be throughout the city every day! What scurrility instead of our present decency of language and behavior!

> Greek: 26. εἰ ταῦτα διανοηθεὶς ὁ μὴ λαχὼν τῷ λαχόντι καὶ ὁ μὴ χειροτονηθεὶς τῷ χειροτονηθέντι ἐξ ἴσου ζητοίη εἶναι καὶ τῶν αὐτῶν μετέχειν, καὶ ὅλως μὴ νέος, μὴ πρεσβύτερος τὰ προσήκοντα πράττοι, ἀλλὰ πᾶν τὸ τεταγμένον ἐξελάσας ἕκαστος ἐκ τοῦ βίου, τὴν ἑαυτοῦ βούλησιν νόμον, ἀρχήν, πάνθʼ ὑπολαμβάνοι· εἰ ταῦτα ποιοῖμεν, ἔστι τὴν πόλιν οἰκεῖσθαι; τί δέ; τοὺς νόμους κυρίους εἶναι; πόσην δʼ ἂν οἴεσθε βίαν καὶ ὕβριν καὶ παρανομίαν ἐν ἁπάσῃ τῇ πόλει καθʼ ἑκάστην τὴν ἡμέραν γίγνεσθαι καὶ βλασφημίαν ἀντὶ τῆς νῦν εὐφημίας καὶ τάξεως;

[¶26] 27. Why need one repeat that order is everywhere maintained by the laws and by obedience to the laws? You yourselves have the sole right of judging our case, though every Athenian was in the ballot and all, I am sure, wanted to be allotted to this court. Why is this? Because by lot you were chosen and then assigned to this case. Those are the instructions of the law. And then will you, who owe your presence here to the laws, allow a man, who flouts the laws by word and deed, to escape from your grasp? Will none of you show anger or bitterness at this shameless ruffian’s defiance of the laws?

> Greek: 27. καὶ τί δεῖ λέγειν ὅτι τοῖς νόμοις ἅπαντα κοσμεῖται καὶ τῷ τούτοις πείθεσθαι; ἀλλʼ ὑμεῖς αὐτοὶ πάντων ἄρτι κληρουμένων Ἀθηναίων, καὶ πάντων εὖ οἶδʼ ὅτι βουλομένων εἰς τοῦτο λαχεῖν τὸ δικαστήριον, μόνοι δικάζεθʼ ἡμῖν. διὰ τί; ὅτι ἐλάχετε, εἶτʼ ἀπεκληρώθητε· ταῦτα δʼ οἱ νόμοι λέγουσιν. εἶθʼ ὑμεῖς αὐτοὶ κατὰ τοὺς νόμους εἰσεληλυθότες τὸν παρὰ τοὺς νόμους λέγειν ἢ πράττειν τι βιαζόμενον λαβόντες ἀφήσετε; καὶ οὐδεὶς ὑμῶν χολὴν οὐδʼ ὀργὴν ἔχων φανήσεται ἐφʼ οἷς ὁ βδελυρὸς καὶ ἀναιδὴς ἄνθρωπος βιάζεται τοὺς νόμους;

[¶27] 28. Vilest of all living men! Shut out from your right of speech, not by barriers or doors which any man might break open, but by so many heavy penalties, which are registered in the temple of the Goddess, you are trying to force your way in and to approach those precincts from which the laws exclude you. Debarred by every right that holds good in Athens, by the decisions of three tribunals, by the registers of the archons and of the collectors of taxes, by the indictment for wrongful entry in which you yourself are the plaintiff, curbed, I might almost say, by chains of steel, you wriggle and force your way through all and imagine that by weaving excuses and trumping up false charges you can overturn all the principles of justice.

> Greek: 28. ὅς, ὦ μιαρώτατε πάντων τῶν ὄντων ἀνθρώπων, κεκλειμένης σου τῆς παρρησίας οὐ κιγκλίσιν οὐδὲ θύραις, ἃ καὶ παρανοίξειεν ἄν τις, ἀλλὰ τοσούτοις καὶ τηλικούτοις ὀφλήμασιν, καὶ τούτων παρὰ τῇ θεῷ κειμένων, εἰς τὸ ἐντὸς τούτων βιάζει καὶ προσέρχει πρὸς ταῦτʼ ἀφʼ ὧν ἀπελαύνουσίν σʼ οἱ νόμοι· ἀπεσχοινισμένος πᾶσι τοῖς ἐν τῇ πόλει δικαίοις, γνώσει δικαστηρίων τριῶν, ἐγγραφῇ θεσμοθετῶν, ἑτέρᾳ πρακτόρων, τῇ τῆς βουλεύσεως, ἣν αὐτὸς διώκεις, γραφῇ, μόνον οὐχ ἁλύσει σιδηρᾷ, ὑποδύει παρὰ ταῦτα καὶ διασπᾷς, καὶ προφάσεις πλάττων καὶ ψευδεῖς αἰτίας συντιθεὶς τὰ κοινὰ δίκαιʼ ἀνατρέψειν οἴει.

[¶28] 29. I will, however, by a clear and forcible example show the jury that they ought not to overlook such conduct; no, not in a single particular. Imagine for a moment that someone proposed that speakers in the Assembly should be confined to the youngest citizens, or to the richest, or to those who had performed a public service, or to some similar category. I am sure you would have him put to death for trying to overthrow the democracy. And indeed you would be justified.

> Greek: 29. καὶ μὴν μέγα καὶ σαφὲς ὑμῖν ἐρῶ παράδειγμα, ὅτι ταῦτʼ οὐδὲ καθʼ ἓν προσήκει παριδεῖν. εἰ γάρ τις αὐτίκα δὴ μάλʼ εἴποι ὡς ἐκ τῶν νεωτάτων ἢ τῶν πλουσιωτάτων ἢ τῶν λελῃτουργηκότων ἢ τῶν τοιούτων τι μερῶν ἀφορίσας, τοὺς λέγοντας εἶναι δεῖ, ἀποκτείναιτʼ ἂν αὐτὸν εὖ οἶδʼ ὅτι, ὡς καταλύοντα τὸν δῆμον, καὶ δικαίως ἂν τοῦτο ποιήσαιτε.

[¶29] 30. Yet any one of these proposals is less dangerous than if it were proposed that speakers should belong to one of the classes to which the defendant belongs—law-breakers, jail-birds, sons of criminals put to death by the people, citizens disqualified after obtaining office by lot, public debtors, men totally disfranchised, or men who by repute and in fact are utter rascals. All these descriptions fit the defendant and apply to those who resemble him in disposition. I think, men of Athens, that he deserves death both for what he is doing now and much more, or at least no less, for what he obviously will do, if he gets the power and opportunity from you; which Heaven forfend!

> Greek: 30. καὶ μὴν ὅ τι βούλεσθε τούτων ἧττόν ἐστι δεινὸν ἢ εἴ τις ἐξ ὧν οὗτός ἐστι μερῶν εἴποι τοῖς βιαζομένοις ἐξεῖναι λέγειν, ἢ τοῖς ἐκ τοῦ δεσμωτηρίου, ἢ τοῖς ὧν ἀπέκτεινεν ὁ δῆμος τοὺς πατέρας, ἢ τοῖς ἀποδεδοκιμασμένοις ἄρχειν λαχοῦσιν, ἢ τοῖς ὀφείλουσι τῷ δημοσίῳ, ἢ τοῖς καθάπαξ ἀτίμοις, ἢ τοῖς πονηροτάτοις καὶ δοκοῦσι καὶ οὖσι· πάντα γὰρ ταῦθʼ ὑπάρχει τούτῳ, καὶ πρόσεστι τοῖς οἷος οὗτός ἐστι τὴν φύσιν. ἐγὼ γάρ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, νομίζω μὲν αὐτὸν καὶ ἐφʼ οἷς νυνὶ ποιεῖ δικαίως ἂν ἀποθανεῖν, πολὺ μέντοι μᾶλλον, ἢ οὐδέν γʼ ἧττον, ἐφʼ οἷς δῆλός ἐστι ποιήσων, εἰ τὴν παρʼ ὑμῶν ἐξουσίαν λήψεται καὶ καιρόν· ὃ μὴ γένοιτο.

[¶30] 31. It is also strange if anyone of you is ignorant that for nothing that is honorable or useful or worthy of our city is he of any use. May Zeus and all the gods grant that Athens may never be so short of real men that any honorable task should have to be performed by an Aristogeiton! We ought to pray Heaven that the occasion may never arise for which such a monster could be found useful. But should it possibly arise, it would be a greater blessing for the city that those who wish for its fall should lack the instrument of their designs than that this fellow should be released and ready to their hand.

> Greek: 31. ὃ καὶ θαυμαστόν ἐστιν, εἴ τις ὑμῶν ἀγνοεῖ ὅτι ἐπὶ μὲν καλὸν ἢ χρηστὸν ἢ τῆς πόλεως ἄξιον πρᾶγμʼ οὐδὲν οὗτός ἐστι χρήσιμος (μὴ γάρ, ὦ Ζεῦ καὶ θεοί, τοσαύτη σπάνις ἀνδρῶν γένοιτο τῇ πόλει ὥστε παρʼ Ἀριστογείτονος τῶν καλῶν τι ποιήσασθαι)· ἐφʼ ἃ δʼ ἂν καὶ χρήσαιτό τις τοιούτῳ θηρίῳ, ἀπεύχεσθαι τοῖς θεοῖς μὴ γενέσθαι δεῖ. εἰ δʼ ἄρα συμβαίη, μεῖζόν ἐστιν εὐτύχημα τῇ πόλει ἀπορῆσαι τοὺς βουλομένους ἐξαμαρτεῖν διʼ οὗ τοῦτο ποιήσουσιν, ἢ τοῦτον ἀφειμένον αὐτοῖς ἕτοιμον ὑπάρξαι.

[¶31] 32. For what fatal or dangerous act will he shrink from, men of Athens,—this polluted wretch, infected with hereditary hatred of democracy? What other man would sooner overthrow the State, if only—which Heaven forbid!—he should gain the power? Do you not see that his character and his policy are not guided by reason or by self-respect, but by recklessness? Or rather, his policy is sheer recklessness. Now that is the very worst quality for its possessor, terribly dangerous for everyone else, and for the State intolerable. For the reckless man has lost all control of himself, all hope of rational safety, and can only be saved, if at all, by some unexpected and incalculable accident.

> Greek: 32. τί γὰρ οὗτος ὀκνήσειεν ἄν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τῶν ἀνηκέστων ἢ δεινῶν, ἄνθρωπος μιαρὸς καὶ πατρικῆς ἔχθρας πρὸς τὸν δῆμον ἀνάμεστος; τίς δʼ ἂν ἄλλος μᾶλλον, ὃ μὴ γένοιτο, ἀνατρέψειεν τὴν πόλιν, εἰ λάβοιτʼ ἐξουσίας; οὐχ ὁρᾶθʼ ὅτι τῆς φύσεως αὐτοῦ καὶ πολιτείας οὐ λογισμὸς οὐδʼ αἰδὼς οὐδεμία, ἀλλʼ ἀπόνοιʼ ἡγεῖται, μᾶλλον δʼ ὅλον ἔστʼ ἀπόνοιʼ ἡ τούτου πολιτεία; ἣ μέγιστον μέν ἐστιν αὐτῷ τῷ ἔχοντι κακόν, δεινὸν δὲ καὶ χαλεπὸν πᾶσι, πόλει δʼ οὐκ ἀνεκτόν. ὁ γὰρ ἀπονενοημένος ἅπας ἑαυτὸν μὲν προεῖται καὶ τὴν ἐκ λογισμοῦ σωτηρίαν, ἐκ δὲ τοῦ παραδόξου καὶ παραλόγου, ἐὰν ἄρα σωθῇ, σῴζεται.

[¶32] 33. Who, then, that is wise would bind up his own or his country’s interests with this failing? Who would not shun it as far as possible, and keep its possessor at arm’s length, that he may not be involved in it even against his will? Patriotic statesmen, Athenians, ought to seek out some adviser who will contribute, not recklessness, but intelligence, sound judgement, and ample forethought; for these qualities conduct all men to happiness; the other leads to that goal for which Aristogeiton is bound.

> Greek: 33. τίς ἂν οὖν εὖ φρονῶν αὑτὸν ἂν ἢ τὰ τῇ πατρίδι συμφέροντα ταύτῃ συνάψειεν; τίς οὐκ ἂν εἰς ὅσον δυνατὸν φεύγοι, καὶ τὸν ἔχοντα ταύτην ἐκποδὼν ποιήσαιτο, ἵνα μηδʼ ἄκων αὐτῇ ποτε περιπέσῃ; οὐκ ἀπονοίας, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τοὺς ὑπὲρ πατρίδος βουλευομένους δεῖ ζητεῖν ὅτῳ κοινωνήσουσιν, ἀλλὰ νοῦ καὶ φρενῶν ἀγαθῶν καὶ προνοίας πολλῆς. ταῦτα μὲν γὰρ εἰς εὐδαιμονίαν ἄγει πάντας ἀνθρώπους, ἐκείνη δʼ οἷ τοῦτον ἀπελθεῖν δεῖ.

[¶33] 34. In considering this question, look not at my speech, but at the general character of mankind. All our cities contain shrines and temples of all the gods, and among them is one of Athena, Our Lady of Forethought, worshipped as a beneficent and powerful goddess, and close to the temple of Apollo at Delphi, immediately as you enter the precincts, she has a large and beautiful temple. Apollo, a god and prophet both, knows what is best. But there is no temple of Recklessness or of Shamelessness.

> Greek: 34. θεωρεῖτε δὲ μὴ πρὸς τὸν ἐμὸν λόγον, ἀλλʼ εἰς ἅπαντα τὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἔθη βλέποντες. εἰσὶ ταῖς πόλεσι πάσαις βωμοὶ καὶ νεῲ πάντων τῶν θεῶν, ἐν δὲ τούτοις καὶ Προνοίας Ἀθηνᾶς ὡς ἀγαθῆς καὶ μεγάλης θεοῦ, καὶ παρὰ τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι ἐν Δελφοῖς κάλλιστος καὶ μέγιστος νεὼς εὐθὺς εἰσιόντι εἰς τὸ ἱερόν, ὃς ὢν θεὸς καὶ μάντις οἶδε τὸ βέλτιστον· ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἀπονοίας οὐδʼ ἀναιδείας.

[¶34] 35. Of Justice too and Order and Modesty all men have shrines, some, the fairest and holiest, in the very heart and soul of each man, and others built for the common worship of all. But none is raised to Shamelessness or Chicanery or Perjury or Ingratitude—all qualities of the defendant.

> Greek: 35. καὶ δίκης γε καὶ εὐνομίας καὶ αἰδοῦς εἰσι πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις βωμοί, οἱ μὲν κάλλιστοι καὶ ἁγιώτατοι ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ ψυχῇ ἑκάστου καὶ τῇ φύσει, οἱ δὲ καὶ κοινῇ τοῖς πᾶσι τιμᾶν ἱδρυμένοι· ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἀναισχυντίας οὐδὲ συκοφαντίας οὐδʼ ἐπιορκίας οὐδʼ ἀχαριστίας, ἃ πάντα τούτῳ πρόσεστιν.

[¶35] 36. Now I know that he will avoid the straight and honest path of defence, and will take a devious course, abusing, slandering, and threatening to prosecute, arrest, imprison, and the like. But he will find all this futile, if you duly attend to the case; for which of these tricks has not been exposed over and over again?

> Greek: 36. οἶδα τοίνυν ὅτι τὴν μὲν ὀρθὴν καὶ δικαίαν ὁδὸν τῆς ἀπολογίας οὗτος φεύξεται, ἔξωθεν δὲ κύκλῳ περίεισιν λοιδορούμενος καὶ διαβάλλων καὶ ὑπισχνούμενος κρινεῖν, εἰσάξειν, παραδώσειν. ἔστιν δὲ πάντʼ αὐτῷ ταῦτα, ἐάνπερ ὑμεῖς ὀρθῶς σκοπῆτε, ἀδόκιμα. τί γὰρ οὐκ ἐξελήλεγκται τούτων ἐπὶ πάντων πολλάκις;

[¶36] 37. To pass over other occasions, seven times, Aristogeiton, have you indicted me, when you had taken the pay of Philip’s agents, and twice you accused me at my audit. As a mere mortal I pay my respects to Nemesis, and I am deeply grateful both to the gods and to all the citizens of Athens for their protection. But as for you, it was never once found that you had spoken the truth; you were always convicted of chicanery. If, then, these gentlemen make the laws invalid by acquitting you today, will you convict me now? On what charge?

> Greek: 37. καὶ τὰ μὲν ἄλλʼ ἐάσω· ἀλλʼ, Ἀριστογεῖτον, ἑπτὰ γραφὰς κέκρικάς με, τοῖς ὑπὲρ Φιλίππου τότε πράττουσιν σεαυτὸν μισθώσας, καὶ εὐθύνας διδόντος δὶς κατηγόρησας· καὶ Ἀδράστειαν μὲν ἄνθρωπος ὢν προσκυνῶ, καὶ ἔχω τοῖς θεοῖς καὶ πᾶσιν ὑμῖν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τοῖς σώσασί με πολλὴν χάριν· οὐδεπώποτε δʼ οὐδὲν ἀληθὲς λέγων ἐφάνης, ἀλλʼ ἀεὶ συκοφαντῶν ἠλέγχου. ἐὰν οὖν ἀκύρους τοὺς νόμους οὗτοι ποιήσαντες ἀφῶσί σε τήμερον, νῦν μʼ ἐξελέγξεις; περὶ τοῦ;

[¶37] 38. I ask the jury to reflect. For two years he has been asserting his claim to address you, though it is illegal for him to do so; but he speaks all the same. All that time he saw the State injured by the wretched Phocides, by the coppersmith from Peiraeus, by the tanner, and by all the others whom he has accused in your courts; but had he no eyes for me, the orator with whom he was at open war, or for Lycurgus, or for the other orators about whom he will have so much to say presently? Yet either way he deserves death; in the one case, if he had a charge against us that he could prove, but passed it over to assail private citizens, or on the other hand, if he has no charge against us, but wants to deceive and hoodwink you by his statements.

> Greek: 38. σκοπεῖτε γὰρ οὑτωσί. δύʼ ἔτη βιάζεται λέγειν οὗτος οὐκ ἐξὸν αὐτῷ, ἀλλὰ λέγει γʼ ὅμως. ἔπειτʼ ἐν τούτοις τὸν μὲν ταλαίπωρον Φωκίδην καὶ τὸν χαλκοτύπον τὸν ἐκ Πειραιῶς καὶ τὸν σκυλόδεψον, καὶ ὅσων ἄλλων κατηγόρηκε παρʼ ὑμῖν, εἶδʼ ἀδικοῦντας τὴν πόλιν, ἐμὲ δʼ οὐχ ἑώρα τὸν ῥήτορʼ ᾧ ἐπολέμει, οὐδὲ τὸν Λυκοῦργον, οὐδὲ τοὺς ἄλλους, περὶ ὧν αὐτίκα δὴ τὰ πόλλʼ ἐρεῖ; καὶ μὴν κατʼ ἀμφότερʼ ἄξιός ἐστʼ ἀπολωλέναι, τοῦτο μέν, εἴ τι καθʼ ἡμῶν ἔχων ἀδίκημα δεικνύναι ἡμᾶς μὲν ἀφίει, ἐπὶ δὲ τοὺς ἰδιώτας ἐπορεύετο, τοῦτο δέ, εἰ μηδὲν ἔχων ἕνεκα τοῦ παρακρούσασθαι καὶ φενακίσαι ὑμᾶς ταῦτʼ ἐρεῖ.

[¶38] 39. If there really is in our city a man whose disposition prompts him diligently to search for someone ready to accuse and blackmail others, but who does not trouble himself about the justice or injustice of the charges, he could not find an agent less fitted for his purpose than the defendant. And why? Because one who is prepared to accuse others and bring them all to trial, ought to be himself unimpeachable, so that his victims may not escape through his own wickedness. But no one in the city has a record of more numerous and more serious crimes than the defendant.

> Greek: 39. εἰ τοίνυν ἄρα καὶ τοιοῦτός τίς ἐστιν ἄνθρωπος ἐν τῇ πόλει, οἷος ἐκ παντὸς τρόπου τὸν κρινοῦντά τινα [καὶ συκοφαντήσοντα] ζητεῖν, εἰ δὲ δικαίως ἢ ἀδίκως μηδὲν φροντίζειν, οὐδένʼ ἂν ἧττον εὕροι χρήσιμον ὄντʼ ἢ τοῦτον ἑαυτῷ. διὰ τί; ὅτι τὸν κατηγορήσοντα τῶν ἄλλων καὶ πάντας κρινοῦντα αὐτὸν ἀνεξέλεγκτον ὑπάρχειν δεῖ, ἵνα μὴ διὰ τὴν τούτου πονηρίαν ἀποφεύγωσιν ἐκεῖνοι. τούτου δʼ οὔτε πλειόνων οὔτε μειζόνων ἁμαρτημάτων οὐδεὶς μᾶλλόν ἐστι μεστὸς ἐν τῇ πόλει.

[¶39] 40. Now what is the defendant? “He is the watch dog of the democracy,” cry his friends. Yes, but what sort of dog? One that never snaps at those whom he accuses of being wolves, but himself devours the sheep he pretends to guard. To which of the orators has he done so much harm as to the private citizens against whom he has been convicted of moving unlawful decrees? What statesman has he brought to trial, since he again took to public speaking? Not a single one-but plenty of private citizens. But they say that dogs who taste mutton ought to be cut to bits; so the sooner he is cut up the better.

> Greek: 40. τί οὖν οὗτός ἐστι; κύων νὴ Δία, φασί τινες, τοῦ δήμου. ποδαπός; οἷος οὓς μὲν αἰτιᾶται λύκους εἶναι μὴ δάκνειν, ἃ δέ φησι φυλάττειν πρόβατʼ αὐτὸς κατεσθίειν. τίνα γὰρ τῶν ῥητόρων οὗτος εἴργασταί τι κακὸν τοσοῦτον ἡλίκον τοὺς ἰδιώτας, περὶ ὧν ψηφίσματα γράψας ἑάλω; τίνα δʼ, ἐξ οὗ νῦν πάλιν λέγει, κέκρικεν ῥήτορα; οὐδʼ ἕνα· ἀλλʼ ἰδιώτας πολλούς. ἀλλὰ μὴν τοὺς γευομένους κύνας τῶν προβάτων κατακόπτειν φασὶ δεῖν, ὥστʼ οὐκ ἂν φθάνοι κατακοπτόμενος.

[¶40] 41. Men of Athens, he serves no purpose that he claims to serve, but he has turned his attention to an abominable and disgusting trick. In the Assembly he recklessly abuses and attacks all alike, and for all the misrepresentations that he thus foists upon you collectively, he gets his remuneration from each of you separately, when he descends from the platform, by threatening prosecution and by demanding and extorting money. Not from the orators, you may be sure: they know how to throw mud back at him: but from the inexperienced private citizens, as those know who have felt his blows.

> Greek: 41. οὐδέν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, χρήσιμός ἐστιν ὧν φησίν, ἀλλʼ οὗτος πρᾶγμʼ ἑόρακεν μιαρὸν καὶ ἀναιδές. λοιδορούμενος γὰρ ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις καὶ προπετῶς ἅπασι προσκρούων, ὧν ἂν ἐκ τούτων ἁθρόους πάντας ὑμᾶς ἐκεῖ παρακρούσηται, τούτων καταβὰς καθʼ ἕνʼ ὑμῶν παρʼ ἑκάστου δίκην λαμβάνει, συκοφαντῶν, αἰτῶν, εἰσπράττων ἀργύριον, οὐχὶ μὰ Δία τοὺς λέγοντας (οὗτοι μὲν γὰρ ἐπίστανται τούτῳ διαβαπτίζεσθαι), ἀλλὰ τοὺς ἰδιώτας καὶ τοὺς ἀπείρους· ἴσασι δʼ οἱ πεπληγμένοι.

[¶41] 42. But perhaps, while admitting the truth of this, you will say that you consider him a useful servant of the State, so that we must overlook all this and spare him. Men of Athens, when you have had practical experience of something, you should never take a merely theoretical view of it. This man had no dealings with you in the five years when he was deprived of the right to address you. Well, who in all that time regretted him? What neglect of the city’s interests has anyone observed in consequence of his absence, or what improvement now that he is allowed to speak? On the contrary, it seems to me that as long as he did not come before you, the city had respite from the troubles that he caused to everyone, but since he started his harangues again, Athens is in a state of siege from the factious and unruly speeches that he delivers at every meeting of the Assembly.

> Greek: 42. ἀλλὰ νὴ Δία ταῦτα μὲν οὕτως ἔχειν ὁμολογήσετε, χρήσιμον δʼ ἄνθρωπον τῇ πόλει κρίνειν, ὥστε πάντα ταῦτα παριδόντας δεῖν αὐτὸν σῴζειν. ἀλλʼ ὧν ἔργῳ πεῖραν εἰλήφατʼ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, μηδέποτʼ ἐκ λόγου ταῦτα σκοπεῖσθε. οὗτος ὑμῖν οὐχὶ προσῆλθε πέντʼ ἐτῶν, ὧν ἐτιμήθη μὴ λέγειν αὐτῷ. τίς οὖν ἐν τούτῳ τῷ χρόνῳ τοῦτον ἐπόθησεν; τί τῶν τῆς πόλεως ἐλλειφθὲν διὰ τὴν ἀπουσίαν εἶδε τὴν τούτου; τί δέ, ἀφʼ οὗ νῦν λέγει, βέλτιον γεγονός; ἐμοὶ μὲν γὰρ δοκεῖ τοὐναντίον, ὃν μὲν οὐ προσῄει χρόνον ὑμῖν, ἀναπαύσασθαι τῶν κακῶν ἡ πόλις ὧν ἅπασιν οὗτος παρεῖχεν, ἀφʼ οὗ δὲ πάλιν δημηγορεῖ, πολιορκεῖσθαι, λόγους στασιώδεις καὶ ταραχώδεις ἐν ἁπάσαις ἀεὶ ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις λέγοντος τούτου.

[¶42] 43. I will now trench upon a dangerous topic and offer some remarks to those who, for these reasons, admire him. How such persons ought to be regarded, you shall judge for yourselves; I will say nothing myself, except that they are not wise in taking his part. Now of you who are here in court, I assume that this does not apply to any: it is only fair, men of Athens, and honorable and proper that I should both say and think that of you.

> Greek: 43. βούλομαι τοίνυν καὶ παρακινδυνευτικοῦ τινος ἅψασθαι λόγου καὶ διαλεχθῆναι τοῖς διὰ ταῦτα φιλοῦσιν αὐτόν· οὓς ὁποίους μέν τινας χρὴ νομίζειν, αὐτοὶ σκοπεῖσθε, ἐγὼ δʼ οὐδὲν ἂν εἴποιμι, πλὴν ὅτι γʼ οὐ σωφρονοῦσι προσνέμοντες αὑτοὺς τούτῳ. τῶν μὲν οὖν ἐν τῷ δικαστηρίῳ νῦν ὄντων ὑμῶν οὐδένʼ εἶναι τοιοῦτον τίθεμαι· καὶ γὰρ δίκαιον, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, καὶ καλὸν καὶ συμφέρον οὕτω καὶ λέγειν ἐμὲ καὶ φρονεῖν περὶ ὑμῶν.

[¶43] 44. But of the rest of our citizens—to confine the reproach to as few as possible—his pupil, or, if you like, his teacher, Philocrates of Eleusis, is the only one whom I account as such, not as if there were not more (for I would that no one else found satisfaction in Aristogeiton), but I have no right publicly to bring a charge against other citizens which I shrink from bringing against you. Moreover the argument, though it applies to one man alone, will have the same force.

> Greek: 44. ἐκ δὲ τῶν ἄλλων πολιτῶν, ἵνʼ ὡς εἰς ἐλαχίστους τὴν βλασφημίαν ἀγάγω, τὸν μαθητήν, εἰ δὲ βούλεσθε, τὸν διδάσκαλον αὐτοῦ, Φιλοκράτην τὸν Ἐλευσίνιον, μόνον εἶναι τοιοῦτον τίθεμαι, οὐχ ὡς οὐχὶ πλειόνων ὄντων (ὤφελε γὰρ μηδεὶς ἄλλος Ἀριστογείτονι χαίρειν), ἀλλʼ ὃ καθʼ ὑμῶν ὡς ὄνειδος ὀκνῶ λέγειν, οὐδὲ τῶν ἄλλων πολιτῶν δίκαιός εἰμι δημοσίᾳ κατηγορεῖν· εἶτα καὶ ταὐτὸ ποιήσει καὶ πρὸς ἕνα ῥηθεὶς ὁ λόγος.

[¶44] 45. I will not discuss too minutely what character we must assign to an admirer of Aristogeiton, for fear lest I should be committed to a long tirade of vituperation. But one thing I will say. If Aristogeiton is in plain language a rascally and malicious blackmailer, the sort of man in fact that he professes to be, then you have my hearty consent, Philocrates, to support one who so closely resembles you; because, if every one else does his duty and upholds the law, I do not think that your attitude will produce any effect.

> Greek: 45. τὸ μὲν οὖν ἐξετάζειν ἀκριβῶς οἷον ἀνάγκη τὴν φύσιν εἶναι τὸν Ἀριστογείτονι χαίροντα, ἐάσω, ἵνα μὴ πολλὰ καὶ βλάσφημʼ ἀναγκάζωμαι λέγειν καὶ διεξιέναι· ἀλλʼ ἐκεῖνο λέγω. εἰ πονηρός ἐστιν Ἀριστογείτων ἁπλῶς καὶ πικρὸς καὶ συκοφάντης καὶ τοιοῦτος οἷος ὑπισχνεῖται, δίδωμι, συγχωρῶ, Φιλόκρατες, σοὶ τῷ τοιούτῳ τὸν ὅμοιον σῴζειν· τῶν γὰρ ἄλλων ἁπάντων καὶ φρονούντων ἃ δεῖ καὶ φυλαττόντων τοὺς νόμους, οὐδὲν ἂν παρὰ τοῦτʼ οἶμαι γενέσθαι.

[¶45] 46. But if he is a jobber and pedlar and retail-dealer in wickedness, if he has all but sold by scale and balance every action of his whole life, why, you silly fellow, do you egg him on? Surely a cook has no use for a knife that does not cut, and in the same way a man who wants by his own efforts to cause trouble and annoyance to everybody has no use for a blackmailer who is ready to sell such services.

> Greek: 46. εἰ δὲ κάπηλός ἐστι πονηρίας καὶ παλιγκάπηλος καὶ μεταβολεύς, καὶ μόνον οὐ ζυγὰ καὶ στάθμʼ ἔχων πάνθʼ ὅσα πώποτʼ ἔπραξεν ἐπώλει, τί τοῦτον, ὦ μάταιʼ, ἀκονᾷς; οὔτε γὰρ μαγείρῳ μαχαίρας οὐδέν ἐστʼ ὄφελος δήπουθεν ἥτις μὴ τέμνει, οὔτε τῷ βουλομένῳ διʼ αὑτοῦ πᾶσι πράγματα καὶ κακὰ γίγνεσθαι ὁ ταῦτʼ ἀποδωσόμενος συκοφάντης οὐδέν ἐστι χρήσιμος.

[¶46] 47. That, I may tell you, is the sort of man the defendant is, though you now it already. You remember how he sold the impeachment of Hegemon. You know how he threw up his brief against Demades. At the trial of Agathon, the olive-merchant, a day or two ago, he bellowed and ranted and cried “Ha-ha!” and threw the Assembly into confusion, saying it was a case for the rack; and after pocketing some trifle or other, though he was present at his acquittal, he kept his mouth shut. He held the threat of impeachment over Democles’ head, and what did he make of it? There are thousands of other cases. I should find it a task to mention them all, but you, who were his jackal, must have notes of them.

> Greek: 47. ἀλλὰ μὴν ὅτι τοιοῦτος οὗτός ἐστιν εἰδότι σοι φράσω. τὴν καθʼ Ἡγήμονος εἰσαγγελίαν μέμνησαι ὡς ἀπέδοτο· τὰς κατὰ Δημάδου γραφὰς οἶσθʼ ὡς ἐξέλιπεν. τὸν ἐλαιοπώλην Ἀγάθωνα (ταυτὶ γὰρ τὰ πρώην) βοῶν καὶ κεκραγὼς καὶ ἰοὺ ἰού, πάντʼ ἄνω τε καὶ κάτω ποιῶν ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις ὡς δέον στρεβλοῦν, λαβὼν ὁτιδήποτε, παρὼν ὅτʼ ἀφίετο, ἄφωνος ἐγένετο. τὴν κατὰ Δημοκλέους εἰσαγγελίαν ἀνασείσας ποῖ ἔτρεψεν; ἄλλα μυρία, ὧν ἐμοὶ μὲν ἔργον ἁπάντων μνησθῆναι, σὺ δʼ εὖ οἶδʼ ὅτι καὶ τὰ ἀντίγραφʼ αὐτῶν ἔχεις, ἐργολαβῶν αὐτῷ.

[¶47] 48. Then what man, be he good or bad, wants to spare such a fellow? Why spare one who is the betrayer of those who resemble him, and the foe, by instinct and by inheritance, of good men; unless one thinks that the State should preserve, as a farmer might do, the seed and stock of the blackmailer and rascal? But that would be a disgrace, men of Athens; yes, by Heaven! and I account it an impiety too. I cannot believe that your ancestors built you these law-courts as a hotbed for rogues of this sort, but rather to enable you to check and chastise them, until no man shall admire or covet vice.

> Greek: 48. τίς οὖν ὁ τὸν τοιοῦτον σώσων ἢ πονηρὸς ἢ χρηστός; ἢ διὰ τί; τῶν μὲν γὰρ ὁμοίων προδότης, τῶν δὲ χρηστῶν ἐχθρὸς ἐκ φύσεως καὶ γένους· πλὴν εἰ συκοφάντου τις καὶ πονηροῦ σπέρμα καὶ ῥίζαν, ὡσπερανεὶ γεωργός, οἴεται δεῖν ὑπάρχειν τῇ πόλει. τοῦτο δʼ οὐ καλόν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, νομίζω δὲ μὰ τοὺς θεοὺς οὐδʼ ὅσιον· οὐδὲ γὰρ τοὺς προγόνους ὑπολαμβάνω τὰ δικαστήρια ταῦθʼ ὑμῖν οἰκοδομῆσαι, ἵνα τοὺς τοιούτους ἐν αὐτοῖς μοσχεύητε, ἀλλὰ τοὐναντίον ἵνʼ ἀνείργητε καὶ κολάζητε καὶ μηδεὶς ζηλοῖ μηδʼ ἐπιθυμῇ κακίας.

[¶48] 49. Depravity may prove a difficult thing to check. When Aristogeiton, for acknowledged misdeeds, is only now on his trial and has not been put to death long ago, what is one to do or say? His wickedness has reached such a pitch that after information had been laid against him, he did not cease to bluster and blackmail and threaten; and because the generals, to whom you have entrusted the most important interests, refused to give him money, he said that they did not deserve to be appointed inspectors of latrines.

> Greek: 49. δυσκατάπαυστον δέ τι κινδυνεύει πρᾶγμʼ εἶναι πονηρία. ὅπου γὰρ Ἀριστογείτων ἐπὶ τοῖς ὡμολογημένοις ἀδικήμασι κρίνεται καὶ οὐκ ἀπόλωλε πάλαι, τί χρὴ ποιεῖν ἢ λέγειν; ὃς εἰς τοῦθʼ ἥκει πονηρίας ὥστʼ ἐνδεδειγμένος ἤδη βοῶν, συκοφαντῶν, ἀπειλῶν οὐκ ἐπαύετο, οἷς μὲν ὑμεῖς τὰ μέγιστʼ ἐνεχειρίζετε στρατηγοῖς, ὅτι αὐτῷ ἀργύριον αἰτοῦντι οὐκ ἔδοσαν, οὐδὲ τῶν κοπρώνων ἂν ἐπιστάτας ἑλέσθαι φάσκων, οὐκ ἐκείνους ὑβρίζων, οὔ (ἐκείνοις μὲν γὰρ ἐξῆν μικρὸν ἀργύριον δοῦσι τούτῳ μὴ ἀκούειν ταῦτα), ἀλλὰ τὴν ὑμετέραν χειροτονίαν προπηλακίζων καὶ τῆς αὑτοῦ πονηρίας ἐπίδειξιν ποιούμενος, τὰς δὲ κληρωτὰς ἀρχὰς σπαράττων, αἰτῶν, εἰσπράττων ἀργύριον, τί κακὸν οὐ παρέχων;

## 2. Sections 50–101

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/demosthenes-against-aristogeiton-1/2/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/demosthenes-against-aristogeiton-1/2/#p-N

[¶0] 50. This affront did not touch the generals—no, for they could have silenced his abuse by paying him a trifling sum, but it was a gross insult to your action as electors and a proof of his own depravity. The officials chosen by lot he worried with his demands, extorting money from them and sparing them no insult. And now his latest exploit is to stir up confusion and dissension among us all by publishing false letters, for he was born to be the bane of all men, and his character is clearly shown by his life. Just consider. There are something like twenty thousand citizens in all. Every single one of them frequents the market-place on some business (you may be sure), either public or private. Not so the defendant. He cannot point to any decent or honorable business in which he has spent his life; he does not use his talents in the service of the State; he is not engaged in a profession or in agriculture or in any other business; he takes no part in any charitable or social organization:

> Greek: 50. τὰ τελευταῖα δὲ ταυτὶ πάντας εἰς ταραχὴν καὶ στάσιν ἐμβάλλειν ζητήσας, γράμματʼ ἐκτιθεὶς ψευδῆ, ὅλως δʼ ἐπὶ τῷ πάντων κακῷ πεφυκώς, καὶ πρόδηλος ὢν ὅτι τοιοῦτός ἐστι τῷ βίῳ. σκοπεῖτε γάρ. εἰσὶν ὁμοῦ δισμύριοι πάντες Ἀθηναῖοι. τούτων ἕκαστος ἕν γέ τι πράττων κατὰ τὴν ἀγορὰν περιέρχεται, ἤτοι νὴ τὸν Ἡρακλέα τῶν κοινῶν ἢ τῶν ἰδίων. ἀλλʼ οὐχ οὗτος οὐδέν, οὐδʼ ἂν ἔχοι δεῖξαι πρὸς ὅτῳ τὸν βίον ἐστὶ τῶν μετρίων ἢ καλῶν. οὐχὶ τῶν πολιτικῶν ἀγαθῶν ἐπʼ οὐδενὶ τῇ ψυχῇ διατρίβει· οὐ τέχνης, οὐ γεωργίας, οὐκ ἄλλης ἐργασίας οὐδεμιᾶς ἐπιμελεῖται· οὐ φιλανθρωπίας, οὐχ ὁμιλίας οὐδεμιᾶς οὐδενὶ κοινωνεῖ·

[¶1] 52. but he makes his way through the market-place like a snake or a scorpion with sting erect, darting hither and thither, on the look-out for someone on whom he can call down disaster or calumny or mischief of some sort, or whom he can terrify till he extorts money from him. He never calls at the barber’s or the perfumer’s or any other shop in the city. He is implacable, restless, unsociable; he has no charity, no friendliness, none of the feelings of a decent human being; he is attended by those companions whom painters couple with the damned souls in hell—by Malediction, Evil-speaking, Envy, Faction, Dissension.

> Greek: 52. ἀλλὰ πορεύεται διὰ τῆς ἀγορᾶς, ὥσπερ ἔχις ἢ σκορπίος ἠρκὼς τὸ κέντρον, ᾁττων δεῦρο κἀκεῖσε, σκοπῶν τίνι συμφορὰν ἢ βλασφημίαν ἢ κακόν τι προστριψάμενος καὶ καταστήσας εἰς φόβον ἀργύριον εἰσπράξεται. οὐδὲ προσφοιτᾷ πρός τι τούτων τῶν ἐν τῇ πόλει κουρείων ἢ μυροπωλίων ἢ τῶν ἄλλων ἐργαστηρίων οὐδὲ πρὸς ἕν· ἀλλʼ ἄσπειστος, ἀνίδρυτος, ἄμεικτος, οὐ χάριν, οὐ φιλίαν, οὐκ ἄλλʼ οὐδὲν ὧν ἄνθρωπος μέτριος γιγνώσκων· μεθʼ ὧν δʼ οἱ ζωγράφοι τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς ἐν Ἅιδου γράφουσιν, μετὰ τούτων, μετʼ ἀρᾶς καὶ βλασφημίας καὶ φθόνου καὶ στάσεως καὶ νείκους, περιέρχεται.

[¶2] 53. This man, then, who is likely to find no mercy from the powers below, but to be thrust out among the impious for the depravity of his life—this man, when you have caught him doing wrong, will you not only decline to punish, but actually dismiss him with greater rewards than you would bestow on your benefactors? For what defaulter to the treasury have you ever allowed to enjoy full rights, unless he paid his debt? Not one! Then do not grant this favour to the defendant now, but punish him and make him a warning to the others.

> Greek: 53. εἶθʼ ὃν οὐδὲ τῶν ἐν Ἅιδου θεῶν εἰκός ἐστιν τυχεῖν ἵλεων, ἀλλʼ εἰς τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς ὠσθῆναι διὰ τὴν πονηρίαν τοῦ βίου, τοῦτον ὑμεῖς ἀδικοῦντα λαβόντες οὐ μόνον οὐ τιμωρήσεσθε, ἀλλὰ καὶ μειζόνων ἀξιώσαντες δωρειῶν ἀφήσετʼ ἢ τοὺς εὐεργέτας; τίνι γὰρ πώποθʼ ὑμεῖς ἔδοτε, ἐὰν ὄφλῃ τι τῷ δημοσίῳ, τοῦτο μὴ καταθέντι τῶν ἴσων μετέχειν; οὐδενί. μὴ τοίνυν μηδὲ τούτῳ δῶτε νῦν, ἀλλὰ τιμωρήσασθε καὶ παράδειγμα ποιήσατε τοῖς ἄλλοις.

[¶3] 54. The sequel too, men of Athens, is worth hearing. What you have just heard from Lycurgus is serious, or, rather, impossible to exaggerate, but the rest will be found to rival it and to be of the same character. Not content with abandoning his father in prison when he quitted Eretria, as you have heard from Phaedrus, this unnatural ruffian refused to bury him when he died, and would not refund the expenses to those who did bury him, but actually brought a law-suit against them.

> Greek: 54. ἄξιον δʼ ἐστίν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, καὶ τὰ λοίπʼ ἀκοῦσαι· δεινῶν γὰρ ὄντων, οὐ μὲν οὖν ἐχόντων ὑπερβολήν, ὧν ἠκούσατʼ ἄρτι λέγοντος Λυκούργου, τὰ λοίπʼ ἐνάμιλλα τούτοις καὶ τῆς αὐτῆς φύσεως εὑρεθήσεται. πρὸς μὲν γὰρ τῷ τὸν πατέρʼ ἐν τῷ δεσμωτηρίῳ προδοὺς ἀπελθεῖν ἐξ Ἐρετρίας, ὥσπερ ἠκούσατε Φαίδρου, ἀποθανόνθʼ ὁ ἀσεβὴς οὗτος καὶ μιαρὸς οὐκ ἔθαψεν, οὐδὲ τοῖς θάψασι τὴν ταφὴν ἀπέδωκεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ δίκην πρὸς ἔλαχεν.

[¶4] 55. Not content with offering violence to his mother, as you have just heard from witnesses, he actually sold his own sister—not indeed a sister by the same father, but his mother’s daughter, whatever her parentage (for I pass that by)—yes, sold his sister for export, as is stated in the indictment of the action which was brought against him on these grounds by his good brother here, who in the present action will help to defend him.

> Greek: 55. πρὸς δὲ τῷ τῆς μητρὸς μὴ ἀπεσχῆσθαι τὼ χεῖρε, ὥσπερ ἀρτίως ἠκούσατε τῶν μαρτύρων, καὶ τὴν ἀδελφὴν τὴν ἑαυτοῦ, οὐχ ὁμοπατρίαν μὲν οὖσαν, θυγατέρα δʼ ἐκείνης ὁπωσδήποτε γενομένην (ἐῶ γὰρ τοῦτο), ἀλλʼ ἀδελφήν γε, ἐπʼ ἐξαγωγῇ ἀπέδοτο, ὥς φησι τὸ ἔγκλημα τῆς δίκης, ἣν ὑπὲρ τούτων ἔλαχεν αὐτῷ ὁ χρηστὸς ἀδελφὸς οὑτοσί, ὁ νῦν συναπολογησόμενος.

[¶5] 56. All this is bad enough, Heaven knows; but you shall hear another dreadful performance. On the occasion when he broke prison and ran away, he visited a certain woman named Zobia, with whom he had probably cohabited at one time. She kept him in safe hiding during the first few days, when the police were searching and advertising for him, and then she gave him eight drachmas journey-money and a tunic and a cloak and packed him off to Megara.

> Greek: 56. πρὸς δὲ τούτοις τοιούτοις οὖσιν ἕτερον δεινόν, ὦ γῆ καὶ θεοί, πρᾶγμʼ ἀκούσεσθε. ὅτε γὰρ τὸ δεσμωτήριον διορύξας ἀπέδρα, τότε πρὸς γυναῖκά τινʼ ἔρχεται Ζωβίαν ὄνομα, ᾗ ἐτύγχανεν, ὡς ἔοικε, κεχρημένος ποτέ· καὶ κρύπτει καὶ διασῴζει τὰς πρώτας ἡμέρας αὐτὸν ἐκείνη, ἃς ἐζήτουν καὶ ἐκήρυττον οἱ ἕνδεκα, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα δοῦσα δραχμὰς ὀκτὼ ἐφόδιον καὶ χιτωνίσκον καὶ ἱμάτιον ἐξέπεμψεν εἰς Μέγαρα.

[¶6] 57. When this same woman, who had been such a benefactress, complained to him, seeing that he was giving himself airs and making a great show here among you, and when she reminded him of her services and claimed some recompense, on the first occasion he cuffed her and threatened her and turned her out of his house. But when she persisted and, woman-like, went about among her acquaintance with complaints of his conduct, he seized her with his own hands and dragged her off to the auction-room at the aliens’ registry, and if her tax had not happened to be duly paid, she would have been put up for sale, thanks to this man who owed his safety to her.

> Greek: 57. ταύτην τὴν ἄνθρωπον, τὴν τοιαῦτʼ εὐεργετήσασαν αὐτόν, ὡς πολὺς παρʼ ὑμῖν ἔπνει καὶ λαμπρός, μεμφομένην τι καὶ τούτων ὑπομιμνῄσκουσαν καὶ ἀξιοῦσαν εὖ παθεῖν τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ῥαπίσας καὶ ἀπειλήσας ἀπέπεμψεν ἀπὸ τῆς οἰκίας, ὡς δʼ οὐκ ἐπαύεθʼ ἡ ἄνθρωπος, ἀλλὰ γυναίου πρᾶγμʼ ἐποίει καὶ πρὸς τοὺς γνωρίμους προσιοῦσʼ ἐνεκάλει, λαβὼν αὐτὸς αὐτοχειρίᾳ πρὸς τὸ πωλητηρίον τοῦ μετοικίου ἀπήγαγεν· καὶ εἰ μὴ κείμενον αὐτῇ τὸ μετοίκιον ἔτυχεν, ἐπέπρατʼ ἂν διὰ τοῦτον, ᾧ τῆς σωτηρίας αὐτὴ αἰτία ἐγεγόνει.

[¶7] 58. To prove the truth of this statement, please call the man who buried the defendant’s father without payment, and also the arbitrator in the action which the witness here in court brought against him for the sale of his sister, and produce the indictment. But first of all please summon the protector of Zobia, who gave him shelter, and the sale-commissioners before whom he carried her. You yourselves just now expressed your indignation at his accusing the man who had contributed towards his defence. Athenians, he is an unclean beast; his touch is pollution. Read the depositions. [
The depositions are read] What penalty is adequate for a man who has committed such offences?

> Greek: 58. καὶ ταῦθʼ ὡς ἀληθῆ λέγω, κάλει μοι τὸν τὴν ταφὴν τοῦ πατρὸς οὐκ ἀπειληφότα, καὶ τὸν τῆς δίκης διαιτητήν, ἣν ὑπὲρ τῆς πράσεως τῆς ἀδελφῆς ἔλαχεν αὐτῷ οὑτοσί, καὶ τὸ ἔγκλημα φέρε. κάλει δέ μοι πρῶτον πάντων τὸν τῆς Ζωβίας προστάτην, τῆς ὑποδεξαμένης αὐτόν, καὶ τοὺς πωλητάς, πρὸς οὓς ἀπήγαγεν αὐτήν. ὑμεῖς δʼ ἠγανακτεῖτʼ ἀρτίως εἰ τῶν τὸν ἔρανον φερόντων εἰς τὴν σωτηρίαν αὐτῷ κατηγόρει. μιαρόν, μιαρόν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τὸ θηρίον καὶ ἄμεικτον. λέγε τὰς μαρτυρίας. ΜΑΡΤΥΡΙΑΙ τίς οὖν ἱκανὴ κατὰ τοῦ τοσαῦτα καὶ τοιαῦτα πεποιηκότος γένοιτʼ ἂν δίκη;

[¶8] 59. What retribution does he deserve? To my thinking death is too light a sentence.

> Greek: 59. τίς ἀξία τιμωρία; θάνατος μὲν γὰρ ἔμοιγε μικρὰ φαίνεται.

[¶9] 60. One more instance, then, of his private crimes, and I will pass over the rest. Before Aristogeiton was released, a man of Tanagra was thrown into the prison until he could find bail. Aristogeiton accosts him and, while chatting on some topic or other, filches the pocket-book that he had on him; and when the man charged him with the theft and made a to-do about it, saying that no one else could have taken it, he so far forgot all decency that he tried to strike him.

> Greek: 60. ἓν τοίνυν εἰπὼν ἔτι τῶν ἰδίων αὐτοῦ πονηρευμάτων τὰ λοίπʼ ἐάσω. πρὶν γὰρ ἐξελθεῖν ἐκ τοῦ δεσμωτηρίου, ἐμπεσόντος ἀνθρώπου τινὸς Ταναγραίου πρὸς κατεγγύην, γραμματεῖον ἔχοντος, προσελθὼν καὶ λαλῶν ὁτιδήποθʼ ὑφαιρεῖται τὸ γραμματεῖον. αἰτιωμένου δὲ καὶ δεινὰ ποιοῦντος τἀνθρώπου, καὶ λέγοντος ὅτι οὐδεὶς ἄλλος ὑφῄρηται, εἰς τοῦτʼ ἀφικνεῖται βδελυρίας ὥστε τύπτειν ἐπεχείρησε τὸν ἄνθρωπον.

[¶10] 61. But the Tanagran, a fresh-caught fish, was getting the better of the defendant, who was thoroughly pickled, having been long in jail. So when it came to this, he swallows the other man’s nose. Then the unfortunate victim of this outrage abandoned the search for his pocket-book, which was afterwards found in a chest of which the defendant possessed the key. After that the inmates of the prison passed a resolution not to share fire or light, food or drink with him, not to receive anything from him, not to give him anything.

> Greek: 61. νεαλὴς δὲ καὶ πρόσφατος ὢν ἐκεῖνος περιῆν αὐτοῦ τεταριχευμένου καὶ πολὺν χρόνον ἐμπεπτωκότος. ὡς δʼ εἰς τοῦθʼ ἧκεν, ἀπεσθίει τὴν ῥῖνα τἀνθρώπου. καὶ τότε μὲν περὶ τὴν γεγονυῖαν συμφορὰν ἅνθρωπος γενόμενος ἀπέστη τοῦ τὸ γραμματεῖον ἐρευνᾶν [καὶ ζητεῖν]· ὕστερον δʼ εὑρίσκουσι τὸ γραμματεῖον ἐν κιβωτίῳ τινί, οὗ τὴν κλεῖν οὗτος εἶχεν. καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ψηφίζονται περὶ αὐτοῦ ταῦθʼ οἱ ἐν τῷ οἰκήματι, μὴ πυρός, μὴ λύχνου, μὴ ποτοῦ, μὴ βρωτοῦ μηδενὸς μηδένα τούτῳ κοινωνεῖν[, μηδὲ λαμβάνειν, μηδʼ αὐτὸν τούτῳ διδόναι].

[¶11] 62. To prove the truth of my statements, please call the man whose nose this monster bit off and swallowed. [
The witness is called] What a fine performance for your popular orator! What a privilege to hear words of wisdom from a man with such a record as this! Now read also the precious resolution that was passed about him. [
The resolution is read] Are you not ashamed then, men of Athens, if the men who had been thrown into prison for villainy and vice thought him so much more villainous than them selves that they forbade all intercourse with him, while you are ready to admit him to intercourse with yourselves, though the laws have placed him outside the pale of the constitution?

> Greek: 62. καὶ ὅτι ταῦτʼ ἀληθῆ λέγω, κάλει μοι τὸν ἄνθρωπον οὗ τὴν ῥῖνʼ ὁ μιαρὸς οὗτος ἐσθίων κατέφαγεν. ΜΑΡΤΥΡΙΑ καλῶν γʼ ἔργων ὁ ῥήτωρ δημιουργὸς ὑμῖν γέγονεν. ἄξιόν γʼ ἐκ τοῦ τοιαῦτα πεποιηκότος στόματος λόγον ἢ συμβουλήν τινʼ ἀκοῦσαι. ἀνάγνωθι δὴ καὶ τουτὶ τὸ καλὸν περὶ αὐτοῦ δόγμα. ΔΟΓΜΑ εἶτʼ οὐκ αἰσχύνεσθʼ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, εἰ οἱ μὲν ἐπὶ πονηρίᾳ καὶ τοῖς ἐσχάτοις ἐμπεπτωκότες εἰς τὸ οἴκημα τοσούτῳ τοῦτον ἡγήσανθʼ ἑαυτῶν εἶναι πονηρότερον ὥστʼ ἄμεικτον ἑαυτοῖς καταστῆσαι, ὑμεῖς δʼ ἐξεληλακότων τῶν νόμων αὐτὸν ἐκ τῆς πολιτείας εἰς ὑμᾶς αὐτοὺς καταμείξετε;

[¶12] 63. What did you find to commend in his life or conduct? Which of all his actions has failed to move your indignation? Is he not impious, blood-thirsty, unclean, and a black mailer?

> Greek: 63. τί τῶν πεπραγμένων ἢ βεβιωμένων ἐπαινέσαντες; ἢ τί τῶν πάντων οὐχὶ δυσχεράναντες; οὐκ ἀσεβής; οὐκ ὠμός; οὐκ ἀκάθαρτος; οὐ συκοφάντης;

[¶13] 64. And yet, in spite of his performances and his character, he misses no opportunity in the Assembly of bellowing, “I, only I, am your sincere well-wisher. All these others are in a cabal. You are betrayed. My patriotism is all you have left.” I should like to examine the source and origin of this great and wonderful patriotism of his, so that, if it is as he says, you may trust it and benefit by it; but if not, that you may be on your guard.

> Greek: 64. ἀλλʼ ὅμως τοιαῦτα ποιῶν καὶ τοιοῦτος ὢν ἐν ἁπάσαις ἀεὶ βοᾷ ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις ἐγὼ μόνος εὔνους ὑμῖν· πάντες οὗτοι συνεστᾶσιν· προδέδοσθε· ἡ παρʼ ἐμοὶ μόνον εὔνοια λοιπή. βούλομαι δὴ τὴν σφοδρὰν καὶ μεγάλην εὔνοιαν αὐτοῦ ταύτην ἐξετάσαι, πόθεν ἐστὶ καὶ ἐκ τίνος αὐτῷ γεγονυῖα, ἵνʼ εἰ μέν ἐστι τοιαύτη, χρῆσθʼ αὐτῇ καὶ πιστεύητε, εἰ δὲ μή, φυλάττησθε.

[¶14] 65. Because you condemned his father to death and sold his mother when she was found guilty of defrauding her emancipator, do you suppose that that makes him well-disposed to you? By Zeus and all the gods, that is absurd. For if he is well-disposed towards father and mother, and so observes the great law of nature, which is laid down alike for man and beast, that all should love their parents, then he must clearly be ill-disposed to those who have destroyed them and to their laws and their constitution.

> Greek: 65. πότερον γάρ, ὅτι τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ θάνατον κατέγνωτε καὶ τὴν μητέρʼ [αὐτοῦ] ὀφλοῦσαν ἀποστασίου ἀπέδοσθε, διὰ ταῦτʼ αὐτὸν ὑμῖν εὔνουν ὑπολαμβάνετʼ εἶναι; ἀλλʼ ἄτοπον νὴ τὸν Δία καὶ θεοὺς τοῦτό γε. εἰ μὲν γὰρ εὔνους ἐστὶν ἐκείνοις καὶ τὸν τῆς φύσεως διασῴζει νόμον, ὃς καὶ ἀνθρώποις καὶ θηρίοις εἷς καὶ ὁ αὐτὸς ἅπασιν ὥρισται, στέργειν τοὺς γονέας, κακόνους ἐστὶ τοῖς ἐκείνους ἀπολωλεκόσιν δῆλον ὅτι καὶ νόμοις καὶ πολιτείᾳ τῇ τούτων·

[¶15] 66. But if he has no regard for these things, I should like to know who that sees how he has renounced all affection for his parents, can believe in his pretended zeal for the people; for the man who neglects his parents I regard as unworthy of trust and hateful alike to gods and men.

> Greek: 66. εἰ δὲ μηδένα τούτων ὑπόλογον ποιεῖται, ἡδέως ἂν εἰδείην τίς ἐστιν ὁ τὴν πρὸς τοὺς γονέας εὔνοιαν ὁρῶν προδεδωκότα τοῦτον, ἣν πρὸς τὸν δῆμον νῦν ἔχειν ὑπισχνεῖται, πιστεύων· ἐγὼ μὲν γὰρ ἄπιστον καὶ θεοῖς ἐχθρόν, οὐ μόνον ἀνθρώποις, ὑπολαμβάνω τὸν τῶν γονέων ἀμελοῦντα.

[¶16] 67. But I shall be told it is because you condemned him on information laid and twice put him and his brother into prison; it is for this reason that he is your well-wisher. But that too is ridiculous. Or because you disqualified him for the office to which he had been allotted? Or because you found him guilty of a breach of the constitution? Or because you fined him ten talents? Or because you habitually point the finger of scorn at him as the vilest of all men in the world?

> Greek: 67. ἀλλὰ νὴ Δίʼ ὅτι τὰς ἐνδείξεις αὐτοῦ κατεψηφίσασθε, καὶ δὶς εἰς τὸ δεσμωτήριον κατέθεσθε καὶ αὐτὸν καὶ τὸν ἀδελφόν, διὰ ταῦθʼ ὑμῖν εὔνους ἐστίν. ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦτʼ ἄτοπον. ἀλλʼ ὅτι τὴν ἀρχὴν ἣν ἔλαχεν ⟨ἄρχειν⟩ ἀπεδοκιμάσατε;

[¶17] 68. Or because, as long as the present laws and constitution stand, he cannot clear himself of these reproaches? Then why is he well-disposed to you? It is because, in his own words, he is impudent. Why is the impudent man so called save because, being lost to a sense of shame, he dares to state what is not, and never will be, true? And that is precisely what the defendant does.

> Greek: 68. ἀλλʼ ὅτι παρανόμων αὐτοῦ κατέγνωτε; ἀλλʼ ὅτι πέντε ταλάντων πρὸς ἐτιμήσατε; ἀλλʼ ὅτι δακτυλοδεικτεῖτʼ ἐπὶ τῷ πονηρότατον τῶν ὄντων ἁπάντων δεικνύναι; ἀλλʼ ὅτι τῶν ὑπαρχόντων νόμων καὶ πολιτείας μενόντων οὐκ ἔνι τῶν αἰσχρῶν αὐτῷ τούτων ἀπαλλαγῆναι; ἀλλὰ διὰ τί ὑμῖν οὗτος εὔνους ἐστίν; ὅτι, φησίν, ἀναιδής ἐστιν. ὁ δʼ ἀναιδὴς ἐκ τίνος ὠνομάσθη τῶν ἄλλων ἀλλʼ ἢ ὅταν τὰ μήτʼ ὄντα μήτʼ ἂν γενόμενα, ταῦτα τολμᾷ λέγειν διʼ ἀναισχυντίαν, ὅπερ οὗτος ποιεῖ;

[¶18] 69. Now there are some facts about the information laid against him which Lycurgus seems to have passed over, but which I had better lay before you; for I think you should examine the defendant and the rights of the present case as carefully as you would scrutinize a private debt. Suppose then that A accused B of owing him money, and B denied it. If the registered terms of the loan were still to be read, or if the pillars which marked the mortgaged property were still standing, you would clearly regard as impudent the man who denied the transaction; but if it was shown that these proofs no longer existed, then you would regard the accuser as impudent. That is natural.

> Greek: 69. ἡγοῦμαι τοίνυν καὶ περὶ τῆς ἐνδείξεως, ἅ μοι παραλείπειν ἔδοξε Λυκοῦργος, βέλτιον εἶναι πρὸς ὑμᾶς εἰπεῖν. ἐγὼ γὰρ οἶμαι δεῖν ὑμᾶς, ὥσπερ ἂν εἰ χρέος ἐσκοπεῖτʼ ἴδιον, οὕτως ἐξετάσαι τοῦτον καὶ τὰ τουτουὶ τοῦ ἀγῶνος δίκαια. εἰ τοίνυν τις ὀφείλειν τινʼ ᾐτιᾶτο χρήματα, ὁ δʼ ἠρνεῖτο, εἰ μὲν ἐφαίνονθʼ αἵ τε συνθῆκαι καθʼ ἃς ἐδανείσατο κείμεναι καὶ οἱ τεθέντες ὅροι ἑστηκότες, τὸν ἀρνούμενον ἡγεῖσθʼ ἂν ἀναιδῆ δηλονότι, εἰ δʼ ἀνῃρημένα ταῦτα, τὸν ἐγκαλοῦντα· οὕτω ταῦτα πέφυκεν.

[¶19] 70. Well, of Aristogeiton’s debt to the State the terms still exist, namely the laws under which all defaulters are registered; and the pillar is the wooden table of the law deposited in the temple of the Goddess. Now if these have been destroyed and the debt wiped out, we are talking nonsense, or rather telling lies; but if they are still in existence and will remain valid until he pays his debt, then there is no truth in his plea, but he is committing a serious crime in trying to suppress the rights of the State.

> Greek: 70. εἰσὶ τοίνυν ὧν Ἀριστογείτων ὀφείλει τῇ πόλει συνθῆκαι μὲν οἱ νόμοι, καθʼ οὓς ἐγγράφονται πάντες οἱ ὀφλισκάνοντες, ὅρος δʼ ἡ σανὶς ἡ παρὰ τῇ θεῷ κειμένη. εἰ μὲν οὖν ἀνῄρηται ταῦτα καὶ ἐξαλήλιπται τὸ ὄφλημα, ἡμεῖς ληροῦμεν, μᾶλλον δὲ ψευδόμεθα· εἰ δʼ ἔτʼ ἔστι καὶ ἔσται τέωσπερ ἂν ἐκτείσῃ κείμενα, οὗτος οὐδὲν ἀληθὲς λέγει, ἀλλʼ ἀδικεῖ καὶ δεινὰ ποιεῖ τὰ κοινὰ δίκαιʼ ἀφανίζειν ἐπιχειρῶν.

[¶20] 71. For the point to be argued and decided is not whether all his debts are unpaid, but whether he is still in debt. Otherwise it would be hard on those who are registered for a debt of one drachma, if their indebtedness is to tell against them, because they have done some trifling wrong or even no wrong at all, whereas if a man has committed serious wrongs, he is to regain his civic rights by paying one or two instalments. Moreover, there are three distinct debts registered and forming the ground of the information. Two Aristogeiton has entered in the register; the third he has not registered, but he is prosecuting Aristo of Alopece for malicious entry.

> Greek: 71. οὐ γάρ, εἰ μὴ πᾶν ὅσον ὦφλεν ὀφείλει, νῦν ἡ κρίσις οὐδʼ ὁ λόγος, ἀλλʼ εἰ ὀφείλει. ἢ δεινά γʼ ἂν πάθοιεν οἱ δραχμὴν ἐγγεγραμμένοι μόνην, εἰ, διότι μικρὰ καὶ οὐδὲν ἠδικήκασιν, ἰσχύσει τὸ ὀφείλειν κατʼ αὐτῶν· ἐὰν δέ τις μεγάλʼ ἠδικηκὼς ᾖ, μίαν θεὶς ἢ δύο καταβολὰς ἐπίτιμος ἔσται. ἔτι τοίνυν τρίʼ ἐστὶν τὰ ὀφλήμαθʼ ἃ ἐγγέγραπται καὶ ἐφʼ οἷς ἐνδέδεικται. τὰ μὲν δὴ δύʼ ἐν ἀπογραφῇ πεποίηται, τὸ δʼ ἓν οὐδʼ ἀπογέγραπται, ἀλλὰ βουλεύσεως τὸν Ἀλωπεκῆθεν Ἀρίστωνα διώκει.

[¶21] 72. “Yes,” says he, “for he has registered my name as a debtor unjustly.” Of course it is evident that you have a right to satisfaction for this; but then you ought first to give satisfaction and abide by the penalty you have brought on yourself. Or again, for what do you expect to obtain satisfaction? If you are at liberty to do everything that other citizens do, how are you wronged?

> Greek: 72. ναί, φησίν· ἀδίκως γάρ μʼ ἐγγέγραφεν. δεῖ δή σε, ὡς ἔοικεν, δίκην λαβεῖν. οὐκοῦν ὑποσχεῖν πρῶτον καὶ μεῖναι ἐν οἷς πέπονθας ἀνάγκη. ἢ τίνος λήψει δίκην; εἰ γὰρ ἔξεστί σοι πάνθʼ ἅπερ τοῖς ἄλλοις, τί ἠδίκησαι;

[¶22] 73. I beg the jury in Heaven’s name to consider this point also. If he convicts Aristo of malicious intent, what will it mean? His name, of course, will be erased and Aristo’s substituted, because that is the law. Good! Then henceforward will this man, whose name has been erased, be a State-debtor, and will the other man, registered as a debtor, retain his full citizenship? That is what follows from the defendant’s claim, for if he is not a debtor when his name has been registered, then, when his name has been erased, he will obviously be a debtor. But that is absolutely untrue. No; when his name is erased, then he will be no longer a debtor. In that case the defendant is a debtor now.

> Greek: 73. φέρε δὴ πρὸς θεῶν κἀκεῖνο σκέψασθε. ἂν ἕλῃ τὸν Ἀρίστωνα τῆς βουλεύσεως, τί ἔσται; ἐξαλειφθήσεται νὴ Δία, ὁ δʼ ἀντεγγραφήσεται· ταῦτα γὰρ οἱ νόμοι λέγουσιν. καλῶς. πότερον οὖν ἀπὸ ταύτης τῆς ἡμέρας ὁδὶ μὲν ὀφειλήσει τῷ δημοσίῳ, ὁ ἐξαλειφθείς, ἐκεῖνος δʼ ἐπίτιμος ἔσται, ὁ ἐγγραφείς; ἐκ γὰρ ὧν νῦν ὅδʼ ἀξιοῖ, ταῦτα συμβαίνει· εἰ γὰρ ὅτʼ ἐγγέγραπται μὴ ὀφείλει, ἐπειδὰν ἐξαλειφθῇ, ὀφειλήσει δηλονότι. ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἔστι ταῦτα, οὐκ ἔστιν, ἀλλʼ ὅταν ἐξαλειφθῇ, τότʼ οὐκ ὀφειλήσει· οὐκοῦν νῦν ὀφείλει.

[¶23] 74. Again; if Aristo is acquitted, to whom is the State to look for compensation for the defendant’s illegal acts? And what about the men whose execution and imprisonment he tries to procure, as he bustles to and fro in the court? How will they recover their lives or escape from the sufferings they have already endured? For this man, to whom the laws refuse a share in our common everyday privileges, is the cause of intolerable wrongs to others by methods that are neither correct nor constitutional nor convenient.

> Greek: 74. τί δʼ; ἂν αὐτὸν ἀποφύγῃ, παρὰ τοῦ κομιεῖται ταῦθʼ ἡ πόλις ἃ νῦν οὐκ ἐξὸν οὗτος ποιεῖ; πόθεν δέ, οἷς οὗτος θανάτου τιμᾶται καὶ δεσμοῦ περιιὼν ἐν τῷ δικαστηρίῳ, οἱ μὲν τὰς ψυχάς, οἱ δὲ τὸ μὴ δεινὰ πεπονθέναι κομιοῦνται; ᾧ γὰρ οὐδὲ τῶν ἴσων οὐδὲ τῶν ἐγκυκλίων δικαίων μετουσίαν διδόασιν οἱ νόμοι, οὗτος τῶν ἀνηκέστων ἑτέροις αἴτιος γίγνεται, οὐκ ὀρθῶς οὐδὲ πολιτικῶς οὐδʼ ὡς συμφέρει γιγνομένων τούτων.

[¶24] 75. When I see all this, I wonder what meaning you attach to the phrase “upside down.” Is it for the earth to be up there and the stars down here? That is impossible, and let us hope it always will be. But when those who have no rights enjoy rights at your pleasure, when villainy is honored and virtue spurned, when justice and expediency are sacrificed to personal spite, then we must suppose that the universe has indeed been turned upside down.

> Greek: 75. ἀλλʼ ἔγωγε ταῦθʼ ὁρῶν θαυμάζω, τὸ τἄνω κάτω γεγενῆσθαι τί ποτʼ οἴεσθʼ εἶναι. ἐὰν ἡ γῆ μὲν ἄνω, τὰ δʼ ἄστρα κάτω γένηται; οὐκ ἔστι τοῦτο γενέσθαι, μηδὲ γένοιτο. ἀλλʼ ὅταν, οἷς ἐκ τῶν νόμων μὴ ἔξεστιν, ἐκ τῶν ὑμετέρων βουλήσεων ἐξῇ, ὅταν ἡ μὲν πονηρία τιμᾶται, τὰ χρηστὰ δʼ ἀπορρίπτηται, ὅταν τὸ δίκαιον καὶ τὸ συμφέρον ἡττᾶται τοῦ φθόνου, τότʼ ἄνω κάτω πάντα χρὴ νομίζειν τετράφθαι.

[¶25] 76. I have before now seen men on their trial, who were being convicted by the actual facts and were unable to prove their innocence, taking refuge some of them in the respectability and moderation of their lives, others in the achievements or public services of their ancestors, or in similar pleas, by which they succeeded in moving their judges to compassion and goodwill. But I cannot see that any one of these topics offers an easy path for the defendant; there is nothing before him but precipices, ravines, and gulfs.

> Greek: 76. ἤδη τοίνυν τινὰς εἶδον τῶν ἀγωνιζομένων οἳ τοῖς πράγμασιν αὐτοῖς ἁλισκόμενοι, καὶ οὐκ ἔχοντες ὡς οὐκ ἀδικοῦσι δεῖξαι, οἱ μὲν εἰς τὴν τοῦ βίου μετριότητα καὶ σωφροσύνην κατέφυγον, οἱ δʼ εἰς τὰ τῶν προγόνων ἔργα καὶ λῃτουργίας, οἱ δʼ εἰς ἕτερα τοιαῦτα διʼ ὧν εἰς ἔλεον καὶ φιλανθρωπίαν τοὺς δικάζοντας ἤγαγον. τούτῳ δʼ οὐδένʼ ὁρῶ τῶν τόπων τούτων βάσιμον ὄντα, ἀλλὰ πάντʼ ἀπόκρημνα, φάραγγας, βάραθρα.

[¶26] 77. What true plea can he find? Something perhaps that his father did? But you yourselves condemned that father to death in these very courts as a detected rascal who deserved his doom. Or perhaps, if there is a difficulty about his father, he will appeal to the sobriety and respectability of his own life. What life? Where has he lived it? For the life that you have all seen him leading is not of that description.

> Greek: 77. τί γὰρ ὡς ἀληθῶς ἐρεῖ; ὧν ὁ πατήρ τι πεποίηκε νὴ Δία. ἀλλὰ κατεγνώκαθʼ ὑμεῖς ἐν τουτοισὶ τοῖς δικαστηρίοις αὐτοῦ θάνατον, ὡς πονηροῦ δηλονότι καὶ ἀξίου τεθνάναι. ἀλλὰ νὴ Δία, εἰ ταῦτʼ ἐστὶν αὐτῷ δυσχερῆ τὰ περὶ τὸν πατέρα, εἰς τὸν ἑαυτοῦ βίον καταφεύξεται ὡς σώφρονα καὶ μέτριον. ποῖον; ὃν ποῦ βεβίωκεν; ὃν μὲν γὰρ ἅπαντες ὑμεῖς ἑοράκατε, οὐκ ἔστι τοιοῦτος.

[¶27] 78. “But, my dear sir, he will rely on public services.” When and where performed? His father’s? Why, there are none. His own? You will find record of delations, arrests, informations—but no services. Or perhaps, putting these aside, his numerous and highly respectable kinsmen will come forward and beg him off. But there are none and never were. How could there be, when he is not even a free-born citizen?

> Greek: 78. ἀλλʼ ὦ τᾶν, εἰς τὰς λῃτουργίας ἀποχωρήσεται. τὰς πότʼ ἢ ποῦ γεγονυίας; τὰς τοῦ πατρός; ἀλλʼ οὐκ εἰσίν. ἀλλὰ τὰς ἑαυτοῦ; φάσεις, ἀπαγωγάς, ἐνδείξεις, οὐχὶ λῃτουργίας εὑρήσετε. ἀλλὰ νὴ Δία καὶ χωρὶς τούτων συγγενεῖς πολλοὶ καὶ καλοὶ κἀγαθοὶ παραστάντες αὐτὸν ἐξαιτήσονται. ἀλλʼ οὔτʼ εἰσὶν οὔτʼ ἐγένοντο πώποτε· πῶς γὰρ τῷ γε μηδʼ ἐλευθέρῳ;

[¶28] 79. No; I am wrong. He has a brother, who is present here in court and who brought that precious action against him. What need to say anything about him? He is own brother to the defendant, born of the same father and mother, and, to add to his misfortunes, he is his twin. It was this brother—I pass over the other facts—who got possession of the drugs and charms from the servant of Theoris of Lemnos, the filthy sorceress whom you put to death on that account with all her family.

> Greek: 79. πλὴν ἔστι νὴ Δία, ἔστιν ἀδελφός τις οὗτος αὐτῷ, ὁ παρὼν καὶ τὴν καλὴν δίκην [αὐτῷ] λαχών. περὶ οὗ τὰ μὲν ἄλλα τί δεῖ λέγειν; ἀδελφὸς δʼ ἐστὶ τούτου ὁμομήτριος καὶ ὁμοπάτριος καὶ πρὸς τοῖς ἄλλοις κακοῖς δίδυμος. οὑτοσί—τὰ μὲν ἄλλα σιωπῶ, ἀλλʼ ἐφʼ οἷς ὑμεῖς τὴν μιαρὰν Θεωρίδα, τὴν Λημνίαν, τὴν φαρμακίδα, καὶ αὐτὴν καὶ τὸ γένος ἅπαν ἀπεκτείνατε, ταῦτα λαβὼν τὰ φάρμακα καὶ τὰς ἐπῳδὰς παρὰ τῆς θεραπαίνης αὐτῆς, ἣ κατʼ ἐκείνης τότʼ ἐμήνυσεν, ἐξ ἧσπερ ὁ βάσκανος οὗτος πεπαιδοποίηται, μαγγανεύει καὶ φενακίζει καὶ τοὺς ἐπιλήπτους φησὶν ἰᾶσθαι, αὐτὸς ὢν ἐπίληπτος πάσῃ πονηρίᾳ.

[¶29] 80. She gave information against her mistress, and this rascal has had children by her, and with her help he plays juggling tricks and professes to cure fits, being himself subject to fits of wickedness of every kind. So this is the man who will beg him off! This poisoner, this public pest, whom any man would ban at sight as an evil omen rather than choose to accost him, and who has pronounced himself worthy of death by bringing such an action. What help, then, remains for him, Athenians? The help, I suppose, that comes to all defendants alike from the natural temper of the jury, the help that no man on his trial provides for himself, but that each of you brings with him from home to the court—I mean pity, pardon, benevolence. But of such help religion and justice alike demand that this unclean wretch should receive no share. Why? Because whatever law each man’s nature prompts him to apply to his neighbors, that law it is only fair that they should apply to him.

> Greek: 80. οὗτος οὖν αὐτὸν ἐξαιρήσεται, ὁ φαρμακός, ὁ λοιμός, ὃν οἰωνίσαιτʼ ἄν τις μᾶλλον ἰδὼν ἢ προσειπεῖν βούλοιτο, ὃς αὐτὸς αὑτῷ θανάτου τετίμηκεν ὅτε τοιαύτην δίκην ἔλαχεν. τί οὖν λοιπόν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι; ἃ κοινὰ νὴ Δία πᾶσιν ὑπάρχει τοῖς ἀγωνιζομένοις παρὰ τῆς τῶν ἄλλων ὑμῶν φύσεως, καὶ οὐδεὶς αὐτὸς ἑαυτῷ ταῦτα φέρει τῶν κρινομένων, ἀλλʼ ὑμῶν ἕκαστος ἔχων οἴκοθεν ἔρχεται, ἔλεον, συγγνώμην, φιλανθρωπίαν. ἀλλὰ τούτων γʼ οὔθʼ ὅσιον οὔτε θέμις τῷ μιαρῷ τούτῳ μεταδοῦναι. διὰ τί; ὅτι ὃν ἂν αὐτὸς ἕκαστος νόμον τῇ φύσει κατὰ πάντων ἔχῃ, τούτου τυγχάνειν παρʼ ἑκάστου δίκαιός ἐστι καὶ αὐτός.

[¶30] 82. What law do you think Aristogeiton applies to all other men, and what are his wishes concerning them? Does he wish to see them enjoying prosperity, happiness and good fame? If so, what becomes of his livelihood? For he thrives on the misfortunes of others. Therefore he likes to see everyone involved in trials, lawsuits and vile charges. That is the crop he sows; that is the trade he plies. Men of Athens, what sort of man deserves to be called the complete villain, the thrice-accursed, the common foe, the universal enemy, against whom one prays that the earth may neither yield him fruit nor receive him after death? Is it not such a man as this? That is my opinion.

> Greek: 82. τίνʼ οὖν νόμον ὑμῖν ἢ τίνα βούλησιν ἔχειν Ἀριστογείτων κατὰ πάντων δοκεῖ; πότερʼ εὐτυχοῦντας ὁρᾶν καὶ ἐν εὐδαιμονίᾳ καὶ χρηστῇ δόξῃ διάγοντας; καὶ τί ποιῶν ζήσεται; τὰ γὰρ τῶν ἄλλων κακὰ τοῦτον τρέφει. οὐκοῦν ἐν κρίσεσι καὶ ἀγῶσι καὶ πονηραῖς αἰτίαις ἅπαντας εἶναι βούλεται· ταῦτα γεωργεῖ, ταῦτʼ ἐργάζεται. ὁ δὲ ποῖός τις, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, καλοῖτʼ ἂν δικαίως ὁ τρισκατάρατος, ὁ κοινὸς ἐχθρός, ὁ πᾶσι δυσμενής, ὅτῳ μήτε γῆ φέροι καρπὸν μήτʼ ἀποθανόντα δέξαιτο; οὐχ ὁ τοιοῦτος; ἔγωγε νομίζω.

[¶31] 83. What pardon, what pity did the victims of his blackmail obtain from him, the men whose execution he was always demanding in your courts—yes, even before the first verdict was decided? Those against whom this wretch showed such cruelty and bitterness were saved from death by the righteous conduct of those of you who had been allotted to try their case, who acquitted the men he was falsely accusing and withheld from him the necessary fifth part of the votes.

> Greek: 83. τίνος δὲ συγγνώμης ἢ ποίων ἐλέων οἱ σεσυκοφαντημένοι τετυχήκασιν παρὰ τούτου, οἷς οὗτος θανάτου πᾶσιν ἐτιμᾶτʼ ἐν τουτοισὶ τοῖς δικαστηρίοις, καὶ ταῦτα πρὶν τὴν πρώτην ψῆφον διενεχθῆναι; καὶ ἐφʼ οἷς ὁ βάσκανος οὗτος οὕτως ὠμῶς καὶ πικρῶς εἶχεν, τούτους ὑμῶν οἱ λαχόντες, ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τὰ δίκαια ποιοῦντες ἔσῳζον, καὶ τοὺς ὑπὸ τούτου συκοφαντουμένους ἀπεψηφίζοντο, καὶ τὸ πέμπτον μέρος τῶν ψήφων οὐ μετεδίδοσαν τούτῳ.

[¶32] 84. But his bitterness, cruelty and blood-thirstiness were displayed and proved. The sight of the children of some of the defendants and their aged mothers standing in court did not move him to pity? And do you, Aristogeiton, look for pardon? Whence? From whom? Are your children to be pitied? Far from it. You have yourself thrown away their right to pity; nay, you have destroyed it once for all. Do not then seek anchorage in harbors that you have yourself blocked up and filled with stakes; for that is unfair.

> Greek: 84. ἀλλʼ ἥ γε τούτου πικρία καὶ μιαιφονία καὶ ὠμότης παρῆν καὶ ἐξητάζετο. οὐχὶ παιδία, οὐχὶ μητέρας τῶν κρινομένων ἐνίων γραῦς παρεστώσας ὁρῶν οὗτος ἠλέει. εἶτα σοὶ συγγνώμη; πόθεν ἢ παρὰ τοῦ; ἢ τοῖς σοῖς παιδίοις ἔλεος; πολλοῦ γε καὶ δεῖ. σὺ τὸν εἰς ταῦτʼ ἔλεον προδέδωκας, Ἀριστογεῖτον, μᾶλλον δʼ ἀνῄρηκας ὅλως. μὴ δὴ πρὸς οὓς αὐτὸς ἔχωσας λιμένας καὶ προβόλων ἐνέπλησας, πρὸς τούτους προσορμίζου· οὐ γὰρ δίκαιον.

[¶33] 85. If you heard the slanderous language that he used against you, as he paraded the market-place, you would hate him even more than you do, and with justice. For he says there are many men in debt to the treasury, and all of them in the same case as himself. I admit that these unfortunate men are “many,” though there are but a couple of them; for every state-debtor is one too many, and no others ought to be in debt to the State. But I solemnly swear that their case is not the same as the defendant’s, nor anything like it, but quite the contrary. Look at it in this way.

> Greek: 85. εἰ τοίνυν ἀκούσαιτε καὶ τὰς βλασφημίας ἃς κατὰ τὴν ἀγορὰν περιιὼν καθʼ ὑμῶν ἔλεγεν, ἔτι μᾶλλον ἂν αὐτὸν μισήσαιτε, καὶ δικαίως. φησὶ γὰρ πολλοὺς ὀφείλειν τῷ δημοσίῳ, τούτους δʼ ἅπαντας ὁμοίους ὑπάρχειν ἑαυτῷ. ἐγὼ δὲ πολλοὺς μὲν εἶναι τοὺς ἠτυχηκότας, εἰ καὶ δύʼ εἰσὶ μόνοι, συγχωρῶ· παντὶ γὰρ πλείους εἰσὶ τοῦ δέοντος, καὶ οὐδένα τῶν ἄλλων ὀφείλειν ἔδει. οὐ μέντοι μὰ τοὺς θεοὺς τούτῳ γʼ ὑπάρχειν ὁμοίους οἴομαι τούτους, οὐδὲ πολλοῦ δεῖ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὐναντίον.

[¶34] 86. And do not imagine, Athenians, that I am debating the point with you, as if you were debtors to the treasury. That is not so, and I hope it never may be; it is no idea of mine. But if any of you has a friend or acquaintance among the debtors, I propose to show you that for that friend’s sake he ought to hate the defendant. My first reason is that honest folk, who are hampered by security for others and kind offices and private debts involving no wrong to the State, but who happen to have been unlucky, are placed by him in the same infamous category as himself, contrary to what is right and fitting.

> Greek: 86. οὑτωσὶ δὲ λογίζεσθε. καὶ μή μʼ ὑπολάβητʼ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ὡς πρὸς ὀφείλοντας ὑμᾶς τῷ δημοσίῳ διαλέγεσθαι· οὔτε γὰρ ἔστιν μήτε γένοιτο τοῦτο, οὔτʼ ἐγὼ νομίζω. ἀλλʼ εἴ τῴ τις ἄρʼ ἢ φίλος ἢ γνώριμός ἐστιν ἐν τούτοις, ὡς ὑπὲρ τούτου τοῦτον προσήκει μισεῖν, τοῦτο βούλομαι δεῖξαι. πρῶτον μὲν ὅτι ἀνθρώπους ἐπιεικεῖς, οἷς ἐγγύαι καὶ φιλανθρωπίαι γίγνονται καὶ ὀφλήματʼ ἴδια, οἷς οὐ πρόσεστι κοίνʼ ἀδικήματα, ἠτυχηκέναι δὲ συμβέβηκεν, εἰς τὴν ὁμοίαν τάξιν ἑαυτῷ καὶ βλασφημίαν ἄγει, οὐκ ὀρθῶς οὐδὲ προσηκόντως.

[¶35] 87. When you, Aristogeiton, were convicted of a breach of the constitution for having moved that three citizens should be executed without trial, and you escaped with a fine, though you ought to have suffered the extreme penalty, there is no parallel, not the slightest, between your case and that of a man who has gone bail for a friend and then finds himself unable to pay an unexpected fine. My second reason is that the bond of mutual kindness, which you yourselves naturally preserve towards one another, is broken and destroyed by Aristogeiton, as far as in him lies. You will understand this from what I am going to say. For you, Athenians, observing what I have called the natural bond of mutual kindness, live as a corporate body in this city just as families live in their private homes.

> Greek: 87. οὐ γὰρ ὅμοιόν ἐστιν, Ἀριστογεῖτον, οὐδὲ πολλοῦ δεῖ, γράψαντά σε τῶν πολιτῶν τρεῖς ἀκρίτους ἀποκτεῖναι γραφὴν ἁλῶναι παρανόμων καὶ δέον σε τεθνάναι [ἐπὶ ταύτῃ] τιμήματος τυχεῖν, καὶ φίλον ἐγγυησάμενον μὴ δύνασθαι ζημίαν ἀπροσδόκητον ἐνεγκεῖν· οὐχ ὅμοιον, οὔ. ἔπειθʼ ὅτι τὴν κοινὴν φιλανθρωπίαν ἣν ὑμεῖς ἔχετʼ ἐκ φύσεως πρὸς ἀλλήλους οὗτος ἀναιρεῖ καὶ διαφθείρει. ὑμεῖς γάρ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τῇ τῆς φύσεως πρὸς ἀλλήλους, ὅπερ εἶπον, χρώμενοι φιλανθρωπίᾳ, ὥσπερ αἱ συγγένειαι τὰς ἰδίας οἰκοῦσιν οἰκίας, οὕτω τὴν πόλιν οἰκεῖτε δημοσίᾳ.

[¶36] 88. How then do such families live? Where there is a father and grown-up sons and possibly also grandchildren, there are bound to be many divergent wishes; for youth and age do not talk or act in the same way. Nevertheless whatever the young men do, if they are modest, they do in such a way as to avoid notice; or if this is impossible, at any rate they make it that such was their intention. The elders in their turn, if they see any lack of moderation in spending or drinking or amusement, manage to see it without showing that they have seen it. The result is that everything that their various natures suggest is done, and done satisfactorily.

> Greek: 88. πῶς οὖν ἐκεῖναι; ὅπου πατήρ ἐστι καὶ υἱεῖς ἄνδρες, τυχὸν δὲ καὶ τούτων παῖδες, ἐνταῦθʼ ἀνάγκη πολλὰς καὶ μηδὲν ὁμοίας εἶναι βουλήσεις· οὐ γὰρ τῶν αὐτῶν οὔτε λόγων οὔτʼ ἔργων ἐστὶν ἡ νεότης τῷ γήρᾳ. ἀλλʼ ὅμως οἵ τε νέοι πάνθʼ ὅσʼ ἂν πράττωσιν, ἄνπερ ὦσιν μέτριοι, οὕτω ποιοῦσιν ὥστε μάλιστα μὲν πειρᾶσθαι λανθάνειν, εἰ δὲ μή, φανεροί γʼ εἶναι τοῦτο βουλόμενοι ποιεῖν· οἵ τε πρεσβύτεροι πάλιν, ἂν ἄρʼ ἴδωσιν ἢ δαπάνην ἢ πότον ἢ παιδιὰν πλείω τῆς μετρίας, οὕτω ταῦθʼ ὁρῶσιν ὥστε μὴ δοκεῖν ἑορακέναι. ἐκ δὲ τούτων γίγνεταί τε πάνθʼ ἃ φέρουσιν αἱ φύσεις καὶ καλῶς γίγνεται.

[¶37] 89. And that is just how you, men of Athens, live in this community on humane and brotherly principles, one class watching the proceedings of the unfortunate in such a way that, as the saying runs, “seeing, they see not; hearing, do not hear”; while the others by their behavior show that they are both on their guard and alive to a sense of shame. Hence it is that that general harmony, which is the source of all our blessings, is firmly established in our city.

> Greek: 89. τὸν αὐτὸν τοίνυν τρόπον ὑμεῖς, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τὴν πόλιν οἰκεῖτε συγγενικῶς καὶ φιλανθρώπως, οἱ μὲν οὕτως ὁρῶντες τὰ τῶν ἠτυχηκότων ἔργα ὥστε, τὸ τῆς παροιμίας, ὁρῶντας μὴ ὁρᾶν καὶ ἀκούοντας μὴ ἀκούειν, οἱ δʼ οὕτω ποιοῦντες ἃ πράττουσιν ὥστʼ εἶναι φανεροὶ καὶ φυλαττόμενοι καὶ αἰσχυνόμενοι. ἐκ δὲ τούτων ἡ κοινὴ καὶ πάντων τῶν ἀγαθῶν αἰτία τῇ πόλει μένει καὶ συνέστηκεν ὁμόνοια.

[¶38] 90. Those feelings, so happily implanted in your nature and your habits, Aristogeiton would change and remove and overturn. What every other citizen does with as little noise as possible, he performs, one might almost say, with a peal of bells hung about his neck. Neither the president nor the crier nor the chairman nor the tribe on duty can control him.

> Greek: 90. ταῦτα τοίνυν Ἀριστογείτων τὰ καλῶς οὕτω πεπηγότα τῇ φύσει καὶ τοῖς ἤθεσι τοῖς ὑμετέροις κινεῖν καὶ ἀναιρεῖ καὶ μεταρρίπτει, καὶ ἃ τῶν ἄλλων τῶν ἠτυχηκότων ἕκαστος ἀψοφητεὶ ποιεῖ, ταῦθʼ οὗτος μόνον οὐ κώδωνας ἐξαψάμενος διαπράττεται. οὐ πρυτάνεις, οὐ κῆρυξ, οὐκ ἐπιστάτης, οὐχ ἡ προεδρεύουσα φυλὴ τούτου κρατεῖν δύναται.

[¶39] 91. So when any of you, annoyed at his outrageous conduct, cries, “To think that he should act like this, and he a debtor to the treasury!” the reply is, “What! Is not So-and-so a debtor too?”—each man suggesting his personal enemy. Thus his wickedness is the cause of the scandals which are circulated about men who do not resemble him.

> Greek: 91. ἐπειδὰν οὖν τις ὑμῶν ἐφʼ οἷς οὗτος ἀσελγαίνει λυπηθεὶς εἴπῃ τοῦτον δὲ ταῦτα ποιεῖν, καὶ ταῦτʼ ὀφείλοντα τῷ δημοσίῳ, τί δʼ; οὐ καὶ ὁ δεῖνα φησὶν ὀφείλει; τὸν ἐχθρὸν ἕκαστος ὑπειπὼν τὸν αὑτοῦ· ὥστε τὴν πονηρίαν τὴν τούτου αἰτίαν εἶναι τῶν βλασφημιῶν αἳ περὶ τῶν οὐχ ὁμοίων τούτῳ διὰ τοῦτον γίγνονται.

[¶40] 92. Therefore the one thing left, men of Athens, for those who wish to get rid of this man, now that they can charge him with a clear and manifest offence against the laws, is, if possible, to punish him with death, or, if not, to impose such a money fine as he will not be able to pay. For depend upon it, there is no other way to be rid of him.

> Greek: 92. λοιπὸν τοίνυν ἐστίν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τοῖς ἀπαλλαγῆναι βουλομένοις τούτου, ἀδίκημα σαφὲς καὶ ἐναργὲς ἔχοντας ἐκ τῶν νόμων, μάλιστα μὲν αὐτῷ θανάτου τιμῆσαι, εἰ δὲ μή, τοσοῦτον ἀναθεῖναι τίμημα χρημάτων ὅσον μὴ δυνήσεται φέρειν· ἄλλη γὰρ οὐκ ἔστιν ἀπαλλαγὴ τούτου, σαφῶς ἐπίστασθε.

[¶41] 93. Among other men, Athenians, you may see the best and most respectable ready at the prompting of nature to do what is right; those who are worse men, but are not classed as the very bad, are careful of offending, because they are afraid of you and are sensitive to disgrace and reproach; the utterly wicked, the moral lepers, as we call them, are said to be taught wisdom only by suffering.

> Greek: 93. καὶ γάρ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τῶν μὲν ἄλλων ἀνθρώπων ἄν τις ἴδοι τοὺς μὲν βελτίστους καὶ μετριωτάτους αὐτῇ τῇ φύσει πάντα ποιοῦντας ἑκόντας ἃ δεῖ, τοὺς δὲ χείρους μὲν τούτων, ἔξω δὲ τοῦ πονηροὺς ἄγαν κληθῆναι, τῷ φόβῳ τῷ πρὸς ὑμᾶς καὶ τῷ τοῖς αἰσχροῖς καὶ λόγοις καὶ ὀνείδεσιν ἀλγεῖν εὐλαβουμένους ἐξαμαρτάνειν· τοὺς δὲ πονηροτάτους καὶ ἐξαγίστους ὀνομαζομένους τάς γε συμφορὰς σωφρονίζειν λέγουσιν.

[¶42] 94. Now here is Aristogeiton, who has so far outstripped all men in wickedness that his punishments have not disciplined him and he is once more detected in the same illegal and rapacious acts. Also he is the more deserving of your anger now than before, inasmuch as previously it was only by moving decrees that he ventured to transgress the laws, but now he transgresses them in every possible way—by accusations, by public speeches, by calumnies, by demanding the death penalty, by impeaching and maligning the fully qualified citizens, when he himself is a state-debtor. For nothing is more abominable than that.

> Greek: 94. οὑτοσὶ τοίνυν Ἀριστογείτων τοσοῦτον ὑπερῆρκεν ἅπαντας ἀνθρώπους πονηρίᾳ ὥστʼ οὐδὲ παθὼν ἐνουθετήθη, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἀδικήμασι καὶ πλεονεκτήμασιν πάλιν εἴληπται. καὶ τοσούτῳ πλείονος ὀργῆς ἄξιός ἐστιν νῦν ἢ πρότερον, ὅσῳ τότε μὲν γράφειν μόνον ᾤετο δεῖν παρὰ τοὺς νόμους, νυνὶ δὲ πάντα ποιεῖν, αἰτιᾶσθαι, λέγειν, διαβάλλειν, βλασφημεῖν, θανάτου τιμᾶσθαι, εἰσαγγέλλειν, κακολογεῖν τοὺς ἐπιτίμους αὐτὸς ὀφείλων τῷ δημοσίῳ· τούτου γὰρ οὐδέν ἐστι δεινότερον.

[¶43] 95. Surely, then, to admonish such a fellow is madness. A man who never yielded or shrank before the storm of protest with which the whole Assembly admonishes those who offend it, would readily heed the protest of an individual! His case is incurable, men of Athens, quite incurable. Just as physicians, when they detect a cancer or an ulcer or some other incurable growth, cauterize it or cut it away, so you ought all to unite in exterminating this monster. Cast him out of your city; destroy him. Take your precautions in time and do not wait for the evil consequences, which I pray may never fall either on individuals or on the community.

> Greek: 95. τὸ μὲν οὖν νουθετεῖν τοῦτον μανία· ὃς γὰρ οἷς ὁ δῆμος ἅπας τοὺς ἐνοχλοῦντας ἑαυτὸν νουθετεῖ θορύβοις μηδεπώποθʼ ὑπεῖξε μηδὲ διετράπη, ταχύ γʼ ἂν φροντίσειέ τι τοῦ παρʼ ἑνὸς λόγου. ἀνίατον, ἀνίατον, ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τὸ πρᾶγμʼ ἔστι τὸ τούτου. δεῖ δὴ πάντας, ὥσπερ οἱ ἰατροί, ὅταν καρκίνον ἢ φαγέδαιναν ἢ τῶν ἀνιάτων τι κακῶν ἴδωσιν, ἀπέκαυσαν ἢ ὅλως ἀπέκοψαν, οὕτω τοῦτο τὸ θηρίον ὑμᾶς ἐξορίσαι, ῥῖψαι ἐκ τῆς πόλεως, ἀνελεῖν, μὴ περιμείναντάς τι παθεῖν, ὃ μήτʼ ἰδίᾳ μήτε δημοσίᾳ γένοιτο, ἀλλὰ προευλαβηθέντας.

[¶44] 96. Let me put it in this way. Perhaps none of you has ever been bitten by an adder or a tarantula, and I hope he never may be. All the same, whenever you see such creatures, you promptly kill them all. In just the same way, men of Athens, whenever you see a false accuser, a man with the venom of a viper in his nature, do not wait for him to bite one of you, but always let the man who comes across him exact punishment.

> Greek: 96. ὡδὶ γὰρ ὁρᾶτε. οὐδένα πώποτʼ ἴσως ὑμῶν ἔχις ἔδακεν οὐδὲ φαλάγγιον, μηδὲ δάκοι· ἀλλʼ ὅμως ἅπαντα τὰ τοιαῦτα, ἐπὰν ἴδητε, ἀποκτείνετε. τὸν αὐτὸν τοίνυν τρόπον, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, καὶ ὅταν συκοφάντην καὶ πικρὸν καὶ ἔχιν τὴν φύσιν ἄνθρωπον ἴδητε, μὴ πόθʼ ἕκαστον ὑμῶν δήξεται περιμένετε, ἀλλʼ ὁ προστυχὼν ἀεὶ τιμωρησάσθω.

[¶45] 97. Lycurgus did well to call Athena and the Mother of the gods to witness. But I will invoke your ancestors and the virtues of your ancestors, whose memory time has not effaced. It is right that I should do so; for their policy was not to lend themselves to cooperation with the worst of rascals and false accusers, not to foster the mutual jealousy that lurks within doors, but to honor those public and private men who were wise and good, and to loathe and chastise those who were wicked and unscrupulous; and that was how they all became competitors in the rivalry of noble deeds.

> Greek: 97. Λυκοῦργος μὲν οὖν τὴν Ἀθηνᾶν ἐμαρτύρετο καὶ τὴν μητέρα τῶν θεῶν, καὶ καλῶς ἐποίει. ἐγὼ δὲ τοὺς προγόνους τοὺς ὑμετέρους καὶ τὰς ἀρετὰς τὰς ἐκείνων ἀνακαλῶ, ὧν οὐδʼ ὁ χρόνος τὴν μνήμην ἠφάνικεν, εἰκότως· ἐπολιτεύοντο γὰρ οὐχὶ τοῖς πονηροτάτοις καὶ συκοφάνταις συνεργεῖν διδόντες ἑαυτούς, οὐδὲ τὸν ἐντὸς τείχους φθόνον ἀσκοῦντες ἐπʼ ἀλλήλους, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ῥητόρων καὶ τῶν ἰδιωτῶν τοὺς μὲν σώφρονας καὶ χρηστοὺς τιμῶντες, τοὺς δὲ πονηροὺς καὶ θρασεῖς μισοῦντες καὶ κολάζοντες. ἐξ ὧν πάντες ἀθληταὶ τῶν καλῶν ἔργων ἐγένοντο.

[¶46] 98. One more thing I have to say before I sit down. You will soon be leaving this court-house, and you will be watched by the bystanders, both aliens and citizens; they will scan each one as he appears, and detect by their looks those who have voted for acquittal. What will you have to say for yourselves, Athenians, if you emerge after betraying the laws? With what expression, with what look will you return their gaze?

> Greek: 98. ἓν δʼ εἰπὼν ἔτι παύσασθαι βούλομαι. ἔξιτʼ αὐτίκα δὴ μάλʼ ἐκ τοῦ δικαστηρίου, θεωρήσουσι δʼ ὑμᾶς οἱ περιεστηκότες καὶ ξένοι καὶ πολῖται, καὶ κατʼ ἄνδρʼ εἰς ἕκαστον τὸν παριόντα βλέψονται καὶ φυσιογνωμονήσουσι τοὺς ἀπεψηφισμένους. τί οὖν ἐρεῖτʼ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, εἰ προέμενοι τοὺς νόμους ἔξιτε; ποίοις προσώποις ἢ τίσιν ὀφθαλμοῖς πρὸς ἕκαστον τούτων ἀντιβλέψεσθε;

[¶47] 99. How will you make your way to the Sanctuary of the Mother-goddess, if you wish to do so? For surely you will never go individually to consult the laws as if they were still valid, unless you have now collectively confirmed them before you depart. How on the first of each month will you climb the Acropolis and pray for blessings on the State and on yourselves, when the defendant and his worthy father are registered there, and you have given your verdict clean against your oaths and the documents there preserved?

> Greek: 99. πῶς δʼ εἰς τὸ μητρῷον βαδιεῖσθε, ἄν τι βούλησθε; οὐ γὰρ δήπου καθʼ ἕνʼ ὑμῶν ἕκαστος ὡς ἐπὶ κυρίους τοὺς νόμους πορεύσεται, εἰ νῦν μὴ βεβαιώσαντες αὐτοὺς ἔξιθʼ ἅπαντες κοινῇ. πῶς δὲ ταῖς νουμηνίαις εἰς ἀκρόπολιν ἀναβαίνοντες τἀγαθὰ τῇ πόλει διδόναι καὶ ἕκαστος ἑαυτῷ τοῖς θεοῖς εὔξεσθε, ὅταν ὄντος τούτου ἐκεῖ καὶ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ τοῦ χρηστοῦ τἀναντία τοῖς ὅρκοις καὶ τοῖς ἐκεῖ γράμμασιν ἐγνωκότες ἦτε;

[¶48] 100. Or what will you say, Athenians, what will you say, if someone detects and questions those of you who have voted for acquittal? What will you answer? That you were satisfied with him? But who will dare to say that? Who will choose to inherit this fellow’s wickedness, with the execration and infamy that it entails? Will each of you deny that he acquitted him? In that case you will have to invoke a curse on the acquitters, as a guarantee from each of you that he was not himself one of them.

> Greek: 100. τί ἐρεῖτʼ, ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τί ἐρεῖτε, ἄν τις ὑμᾶς ἐρωτᾷ γνωρίσας τοὺς ἀπεψηφισμένους; τί φήσετε; ἀρέσκειν τοῦτον ὑμῖν; καὶ τίς ὁ τοῦτο τολμήσων εἰπεῖν; τίς ὁ τῆς τούτου πονηρίας μετʼ ἀρᾶς καὶ κακῆς δόξης κληρονομεῖν βουλησόμενος; ἀλλʼ οὐκ αὐτὸς ἕκαστος ⟨οὐκ⟩ ἀποψηφίσασθαι; οὐκοῦν καταράσεσθε τοῖς ἀποψηφισαμένοις, τοῦτο τὸ πιστὸν ἕκαστος διδοὺς ὡς οὐκ αὐτὸς οὗτός ἐστι.

[¶49] 101. What need to do this, when you can keep your lips undefiled, and can all of you pray for every blessing upon all, both on yourselves and on all other citizens and, I may add, on all aliens and women and children? For the evil influence of the defendant has.extended, yes, extended to all classes, and all alike are anxious to be rid of his wickedness and to see that he has paid the penalty.

> Greek: 101. καὶ τί δεῖ ταῦτα ποιεῖν, ἐξὸν εὐφημεῖν καὶ ἅπαντας ἅπασι πάντα τἀγάθʼ εὔχεσθαι, καὶ ὑμᾶς ὑμῖν αὐτοῖς καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους Ἀθηναίους ἅπαντας ὑμῖν, προσθήσω δὲ καὶ τοὺς ξένους καὶ παῖδας καὶ γυναῖκας; ἐφῖκται γάρ, ἐφῖκται πάντων ἡ τούτου κακοπραγμοσύνη, καὶ πᾶσι βουλομένοις ἐστὶν ἀπαλλαγῆναι τῆς τούτου πονηρίας καὶ δίκην δεδωκότʼ ἰδεῖν.