259. I could, perhaps, say much harsher things of them than they of me, but I refrain for a double reason. I want neither to descend to the level of men whom envy has made blind nor to censure men who, although they do no actual harm to their pupils are less able to benefit them than are other teachers. I shall, however, say a few words about them, first because they also have paid their compliments to me; second, in order that you, being better informed as to their powers, may estimate us justly in relation to each other;
259. περὶ ὧν δυνηθείην μὲν ἂν ἴσως διαλεχθῆναι πολὺ πικρότερον ἢ ʼκεῖνοι περὶ ἡμῶν, οὐδέτερον δʼ οἶμαι δεῖν, οὔθʼ ὅμοιος γίγνεσθαι τοῖς ὑπὸ τοῦ φθόνου διεφθαρμένοις, οὔτε ψέγειν τοὺς μηδὲν μὲν κακὸν τοὺς συνόντας ἐργαζομένους, ἧττον δʼ ἑτέρων εὐεργετεῖν δυναμένους. οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ μικρά γε μνησθήσομαι περὶ αὐτῶν, μάλιστα μὲν ὅτι κἀκεῖνοι περὶ ἡμῶν, ἔπειθʼ ὅπως ἂν ὑμεῖς σαφέστερον εἰδότες τὴν δύναμιν αὐτῶν οὕτω διακέησθε πρὸς ἑκάστους ἡμῶν ὥσπερ δίκαιόν ἐστι, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις ἵνα καὶ τοῦτο ποιήσω φανερόν, ὅτι περὶ τοὺς πολιτικοὺς λόγους ἡμεῖς ὄντες, οὓς ἐκεῖνοί φασιν εἶναι φιλαπεχθήμονας, πολὺ πραότεροι τυγχάνομεν αὐτῶν ὄντες·
260. and, furthermore, that I may show you clearly that we who are occupied with political discourse and whom they call contentious are more considerate than they; for although they are always saying disparaging things of me, I shall not answer them in kind but shall confine myself to the simple truth.
260. οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἀεί τι περὶ ἡμῶν φλαῦρον λέγουσιν, ἐγὼ δʼ οὐδὲν ἂν εἴποιμι τοιοῦτον, ἀλλὰ ταῖς ἀληθείαις χρήσομαι περὶ αὐτῶν.
261. For I believe that the teachers who are skilled in disputation and those who are occupied with astronomy and geometry and studies of that sort do not injure but, on the contrary, benefit their pupils, not so much as they profess, but more than others give them credit for.
261. ἡγοῦμαι γὰρ καὶ τοὺς ἐν τοῖς ἐριστικοῖς λόγοις δυναστεύοντας καὶ τοὺς περὶ τὴν ἀστρολογίαν καὶ τὴν γεωμετρίαν καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα τῶν μαθημάτων διατρίβοντας οὐ βλάπτειν ἀλλʼ ὠφελεῖν τοὺς συνόντας, ἐλάττω μὲν ὧν ὑπισχνοῦνται, πλείω δʼ ὧν τοῖς ἄλλοις δοκοῦσιν.
262. Most men see in such studies nothing but empty talk and hair-splitting; for none of these disciplines has any useful application either to private or to public affairs; nay, they are not even remembered for any length of time after they are learned because they do not attend us through life nor do they lend aid in what we do, but are wholly divorced from our necessities.
262. οἱ μὲν γὰρ πλεῖστοι τῶν ἀνθρώπων ὑπειλήφασιν ἀδολεσχίαν καὶ μικρολογίαν εἶναι τὰ τοιαῦτα τῶν μαθημάτων· οὐδὲν γὰρ αὐτῶν οὔτʼ ἐπὶ τῶν ἰδίων οὔτʼ ἐπὶ τῶν κοινῶν εἶναι χρήσιμον, ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ἐν ταῖς μνείαις οὐδὲνα χρόνον ἐμμένειν ταῖς τῶν μαθόντων διὰ τὸ μήτε τῷ βίω παρακολουθεῖν μήτε ταῖς πράξεσιν ἐπαμύνειν, ἀλλʼ ἔξω παντάπασιν εἶναι τῶν ἀναγκαίων.
263. But I am neither of this opinion nor am I far removed from it; rather it seems to me both that those who hold that this training is of no use in practical life are right and that those who speak in praise of it have truth on their side. If there is a contradiction in this statement, it is because these disciplines are different in their nature from the other studies which make up our education;
263. ἐγὼ δʼ οὔθʼ οὕτως οὔτε πόρρω τούτων ἔγνωκα περὶ αὐτῶν, ἀλλʼ οἵ τε νομίζοντες μηδὲν χρησίμην εἶναι τὴν παιδείαν ταύτην πρὸς τὰς πράξεις ὀρθῶς μοι δοκοῦσι γιγνώσκειν, οἵ τʼ ἐπαινοῦντες αὐτὴν ἀληθῆ λέγειν. διὰ τοῦτο δʼ οὐχ ὁμολογούμενον αὐτὸν αὑτῷ τὸν λόγον εἴρηκα, διότι καὶ ταῦτα τὰ μαθήματα τὴν φύσιν οὐδὲν ὁμοίαν ἔχει τοῖς ἄλλοις οἷς διδασκόμεθα.
264. for the other branches avail us only after we have gained a knowledge of them, whereas these studies can be of no benefit to us after we have mastered them unless we have elected to make our living from this source, and only help us while we are in the process of learning. For while we are occupied with the subtlety and exactness of astronomy and geometry and are forced to apply our minds to difficult problems, and are, in addition, being habituated to speak and apply ourselves to what is said and shown to us, and not to let our wits go wool-gathering, we gain the power, after being exercised and sharpened on these disciplines, of grasping and learning more easily and more quickly those subjects which are of more importance and of greater value.
264. τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἄλλα τότʼ ὠφελεῖν ἡμᾶς πέφυκεν, ὅταν λάβωμεν αὐτῶν τὴν ἐπιστήμην, ταῦτα δὲ τοὺς μὲν ἀπηκριβωμένους οὐδὲν ἂν εὐεργετήσειε, πλὴν τοὺς ἐντεῦθεν ζῆν προῃρημένους, τοὺς δὲ μανθάνοντας ὀνίνησι· περὶ γὰρ τὴν περιττολογίαν καὶ τὴν ἀκρίβειαν τῆς ἀστρολογίας καὶ γεωμετρίας διατρίβοντες, καὶ δυσκαταμαθήτοις πράγμασιν ἀναγκαζόμενοι προσέχειν τὸν νοῦν, ἔτι δὲ συνεθιζόμενοι λέγειν καὶ πονεῖν ἐπὶ τοῖς λεγομένοις καὶ δεικνυμένοις καὶ μὴ πεπλανημένην ἔχειν τὴν διάνοιαν, ἐν τούτοις γυμνασθέντες καὶ παροξυνθέντες ῥᾷον καὶ θᾶττον τὰ σπουδαιότερα καὶ πλέονος ἄξια τῶν πραγμάτων ἀποδέχεσθαι καὶ μανθάνειν δύνανται.
266. I do not, however, think it proper to apply the term “philosophy” to a training which is no help to us in the present either in our speech or in our actions, but rather I would call it a gymnastic of the mind and a preparation for philosophy. It is, to be sure, a study more advanced than that which boys in school pursue, but it is for the most part the same sort of thing;
266. φιλοσοφίαν μὲν οὖν οὐκ οἶμαι δεῖν προσαγορεύειν τὴν μηδὲν ἐν τῷ παρόντι μήτε πρὸς τὸ λέγειν μήτε πρὸς τὸ πράττειν ὠφελοῦσαν, γυμνασίαν μέντοι τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ παρασκευὴν φιλοσοφίας καλῶ τὴν διατριβὴν τὴν τοιαύτην, ἀνδρικωτέραν μὲν ἧς οἱ παῖδες ἐν τοῖς διδασκαλείοις ποιοῦνται, τὰ δὲ πλεῖστα παραπλησίαν·
267. for they also when they have labored through their lessons in grammar, music, and the other branches, are not a whit advanced in their ability to speak and deliberate on affairs, but they have increased their aptitude for mastering greater and more serious studies.
267. καὶ γὰρ ἐκείνων οἱ περὶ τὴν γραμματικὴν καὶ τὴν μουσικὴν καὶ τὴν ἄλλην παιδείαν διαπονηθέντες πρὸς μὲν τὸ βέλτιον εἰπεῖν ἢ βουλεύσασθαι περὶ τῶν πραγμάτων οὐδεμίαν πω λαμβάνουσιν ἐπίδοσιν, αὐτοὶ δʼ αὑτῶν εὐμαθέστεροι γίγνονται πρὸς τὰ μείζω καὶ σπουδαιότερα τῶν μαθημάτων.
268. I would, therefore, advise young men to spend some time on these disciplines, but not to allow their minds to be dried up by these barren subtleties, nor to be stranded on the speculations of the ancient sophists, who maintain, some of them, that the sum of things is made up of infinite elements; Empedocles that it is made up of four, with strife and love operating among them; Ion, of not more than three; Alcmaeon, of only two; Parmenides and Melissus, of one; and Gorgias, of none at all.
268. διατρῖψαι μὲν οὖν περὶ τὰς παιδείας ταύτας χρόνον τινὰ συμβουλεύσαιμʼ ἂν τοῖς νεωτέροις, μὴ μέντοι περιιδεῖν τὴν αὑτῶν κατασκελετευθεῖσαν ἐπὶ τούτοις, μηδʼ ἐξοκείλασαν εἰς τοὺς λόγους τοὺς τῶν παλαιῶν σοφιστῶν, ὧν ὁ μὲν ἄπειρον τὸ πλῆθος ἔφησεν εἶναι τῶν ὄντων, Ἐμπεδοκλῆς δὲ τέτταρα, καὶ νεῖκος καὶ φιλίαν ἐν αὐτοῖς, Ἴων δʼ οὐ πλείω τριῶν, Ἀλκμαίων δὲ δύο μόνα, Παρμενίδης δὲ καὶ Μέλισσος ἕν, Γοργίας δὲ παντελῶς οὐδέν.
269. For I think that such curiosities of thought are on a par with jugglers’ tricks which, though they do not profit anyone, yet attract great crowds of the empty-minded, and I hold that men who want to do some good in the world must banish utterly from their interests all vain speculations and all activities which have no bearing on our lives.
269. ἡγοῦμαι γὰρ τὰς μὲν τοιαύτας περιττολογίας ὁμοίας εἶναι ταῖς θαυματοποιίαις, ταῖς οὐδὲν μὲν ὠφελούσαις ὑπὸ δὲ τῶν ἀνοήτων περιστάτοις γιγνομέναις, δεῖν δὲ τοὺς προὔργου τι ποιεῖν βουλομένους καὶ τῶν λόγων τοὺς ματαίους καὶ τῶν πράξεων τὰς μηδὲν πρὸς τὸν βίον φερούσας ἀναιρεῖν ἐξ ἁπασῶν τῶν διατριβῶν.
270. Now I have spoken and advised you enough on these studies for the present. It remains to tell you about “wisdom” and “philosophy.” It is true that if one were pleading a case on any other issue it would be out of place to discuss these words (for they are foreign to all litigation), but it is appropriate for me, since I am being tried on such an issue, and since I hold that what some people call philosophy is not entitled to that name, to define and explain to you what philosophy, properly conceived, really is.
270. περὶ μὲν οὖν τούτων ἀπόχρη μοι τὸ νῦν εἶναι ταῦτʼ εἰρηκέναι καὶ συμβεβουλευκέναι· περὶ δὲ σοφίας καὶ φιλοσοφίας τοῖς μὲν περὶ ἄλλων τινῶν ἀγωνιζομένοις οὐκ ἂν ἁρμόσειε λέγειν περὶ τῶν ὀνομάτων τούτων (ἔστι γὰρ ἀλλότρια πάσαις ταῖς πραγματείαις), ἐμοὶ δʼ ἐπειδὴ καὶ κρίνομαι περὶ τῶν τοιούτων καὶ τὴν καλουμένην ὑπό τινων φιλοσοφίαν οὐκ εἶναι φημί, προσήκει τὴν δικαίως ἂν νομιζομένην ὁρίσαι καὶ δηλῶσαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς. ἁπλῶς δέ πως τυγχάνω γιγνώσκων περὶ αὐτῶν.
271. My view of this question is, as it happens, very simple. For since it is not in the nature of man to attain a science by the possession of which we can know positively what we should do or what we should say, in the next resort I hold that man to be wise who is able by his powers of conjecture to arrive generally at the best course, and I hold that man to be a philosopher who occupies himself with the studies from which he will most quickly gain that kind of insight.
271. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ οὐκ ἔνεστιν ἐν τῇ φύσει τῇ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐπιστήμην λαβεῖν ἣν ἔχοντες ἂν εἰδεῖμεν ὅ τι πρακτέον ἤ λεκτέον ἐστίν, ἐκ τῶν λοιπῶν σοφοὺς μὲν νομίζω τοὺς ταῖς δόξαις ἐπιτυγχάνειν ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολὺ τοῦ βελτίστου δυναμένους, φιλοσόφους δὲ τοὺς ἐν τούτοις διατρίβοντας ἐξ ὧν τάχιστα λήψονται τὴν τοιαύτην φρόνησιν.
272. What the studies are which have this power I can tell you, although I hesitate to do so; they are so contrary to popular belief and so very far removed from the opinions of the rest of the world, that I am afraid lest when you first hear them you will fill the whole court-room with your murmurs and your cries. Nevertheless, in spite of my misgivings, I shall attempt to tell you about them; for I blush at the thought that anyone might suspect me of betraying the truth to save my old age and the little of life remaining to me.
272. ἃ δʼ ἐστὶ τῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων ταύτην ἔχοντα τὴν δύναμιν, ἔχω μὲν εἰπεῖν, ὀκνῶ δὲ λέγειν· οὕτω γάρ ἐστι σφόδρα καὶ παράδοξα καὶ πολὺ τῆς τῶν ἄλλων ἀφεστῶτα διανοίας, ὥστε φοβοῦμαι μὴ τὴν ἀρχὴν αὐτῶν ἀκούσαντες θορύβου καὶ βοῆς ἅπαν ἐμπλήσητε τὸ δικαστήριον. ὅμως δὲ καὶ περ οὕτω διακείμενος ἐπιχειρήσω διαλεχθῆναι περὶ αὐτῶν· αἰσχύνομαι γὰρ εἴ τισι δόξω δεδιὼς ὑπὲρ γήρως καὶ μικροῦ βίου προδιδόναι τὴν ἀλήθειαν.
273. But, I beg of you, do not, before you have heard me, judge that I could have been so mad as to choose deliberately, when my fate is in your hands, to express to you ideas which are repugnant to your opinions if I had not believed that these ideas follow logically on what I have previously said, and that I could support them with true and convincing proofs.
273. δέομαι δʼ ὑμῶν μὴ προκαταγνῶναί μου τοιαύτην μανίαν, ὡς ἄρʼ ἐγὼ κινδυνεύων προειλόμην ἂν λόγους εἰπεῖν ἐναντίους ταῖς ὑμετέραις γνώμαις, εἰ μὴ καὶ τοῖς προειρημένοις ἀκολούθους αὐτοὺς ἐνόμιζον εἶναι, καὶ τὰς ἀποδείξεις ἀληθεῖς καὶ σαφεῖς ᾤμην ἔχειν ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν.
274. I consider that the kind of art which can implant honesty and justice in depraved natures has never existed and does not now exist, and that people who profess that power will grow weary and cease from their vain pretensions before such an education is ever found. But I do hold that people can become better and worthier if they conceive an ambition to speak well, if they become possessed of the desire to be able to persuade their hearers, and, finally, if they set their hearts on seizing their advantage—I do not mean “advantage” in the sense given to that word by the empty-minded, but advantage in the true meaning of that term;
274. ἡγοῦμαι δὲ τοιαύτην μὲν τέχνην, ἥτις τοῖς κακῶς πεφυκόσιν ἀρετὴν ἐνεργάσαιτʼ ἂν καὶ δικαιοσύνην, οὔτε πρότερον οὔτε νῦν οὐδεμίαν εἶναι, τούς τε τὰς ὑποσχέσεις ποιουμένους περὶ αὐτῶν πρότερον ἀπερεῖν καὶ παύσεσθαι ληροῦντας, πρὶν εὑρεθῆναί τινα παιδείαν τοιαύτην, οὐ μὴν ἀλλʼ αὐτούς γʼ αὑτῶν βελτίους ἂν γίγνεσθαι καὶ πλέονος ἀξίους, εἰ πρός τε τὸ λέγειν εὖ φιλοτίμως διατεθεῖεν, καὶ τοῦ πείθειν δύνασθαι τοὺς ἀκούοντας ἐρασθεῖεν, καὶ πρὸς τούτοις τῆς πλεονεξίας ἐπιθυμήσαιεν, μὴ τῆς ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνοήτων νομιζομένης, ἀλλὰ τῆς ὡς ἀληθῶς τὴν δύναμιν ταύτην ἐχούσης.
276. and that this is so I think I shall presently make clear. For, in the first place, when anyone elects to speak or write discourses which are worthy of praise and honor, it is not conceivable that he will support causes which are unjust or petty or devoted to private quarrels, and not rather those which are great and honorable, devoted to the welfare of man and our common good; for if he fails to find causes of this character, he will accomplish nothing to the purpose.
276. καὶ ταῦθʼ ὡς οὕτω πέφυκε, ταχέως οἶμαι δηλώσειν. πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ ὁ λέγειν ἢ γράφειν προαιρούμενος λόγους ἀξίους ἐπαίνου καὶ τιμῆς οὐκ ἔστιν ὅπως ποιήσεται τὰς ὑποθέσεις ἀδίκους ἢ μικρὰς ἢ περὶ τῶν ἰδίων συμβολαίων, ἀλλὰ μεγάλας καὶ καλὰς καὶ φιλανθρώπους καὶ περὶ τῶν κοινῶν πραγμάτων· μὴ γὰρ τοιαύτας εὑρίσκων οὐδὲν διαπράξεται τῶν δεόντων.
277. In the second place, he will select from all the actions of men which bear upon his subject those examples which are the most illustrious and the most edifying; and, habituating himself to contemplate and appraise such examples, he will feel their influence not only in the preparation of a given discourse but in all the actions of his life. It follows, then, that the power to speak well and think right will reward the man who approaches the art of discourse with love of wisdom and love of honor.
277. ἔπειτα τῶν πράξεων τῶν συντεινουσῶν πρὸς τὴν ὑπόθεσιν ἐκλέξεται τὰς πρεπωδεστάτας καὶ μάλιστα συμφερούσας· ὁ δὲ τὰς τοιαύτας συνεθιζόμενος θεωρεῖν καὶ δοκιμάζειν οὐ μόνον περὶ τὸν ἐνεστῶτα λόγον ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ τὰς ἄλλας πράξεις τὴν αὐτὴν ἕξει ταύτην δύναμιν, ὥσθʼ ἅμα τὸ λέγειν εὖ καὶ τὸ φρονεῖν παραγενήσεται τοῖς φιλοσόφως καὶ φιλοτίμως πρὸς τοὺς λόγους διακειμένοις.
278. Furthermore, mark you, the man who wishes to persuade people will not be negligent as to the matter of character; no, on the contrary, he will apply himself above all to establish a most honorable name among his fellow-citizens; for who does not know that words carry greater conviction when spoken by men of good repute than when spoken by men who live under a cloud, and that the argument which is made by a man’s life is of more weight than that which is furnished by words? Therefore, the stronger a man’s desire to persuade his hearers, the more zealously will he strive to be honorable and to have the esteem of his fellow-citizens.
278. καὶ μὴν οὐδʼ ὁ πείθειν τινὰς βουλόμενος ἀμελήσει τῆς ἀρετῆς, ἀλλὰ τούτῳ μάλιστα προσέξει τὸν νοῦν, ὅπως δόξαν ὡς ἐπιεικεστάτην λήψεται παρὰ τοῖς συμπολιτευομένοις. τίς γὰρ οὐκ οἶδε καὶ τοὺς λόγους ἀληθεστέρους δοκοῦντας εἶναι τοὺς ὑπὸ τῶν εὖ διακειμένων λεγομένους ἢ τοὺς ὑπὸ τῶν διαβεβλημένων, καὶ τὰς πίστεις μεῖζον δυναμένας τὰς ἐκ τοῦ βίου γεγενημένας ἢ τὰς ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου πεπορισμένας; ὥσθʼ ὅσῳ ἄν τις ἐρρωμενεστέρως ἐπιθυμῇ πείθειν τοὺς ἀκούοντας, τοσούτῳ μᾶλλον ἀσκήσει καλὸς κἀγαθὸς εἶναι καὶ παρὰ τοῖς πολίταις εὐδοκιμεῖν.
279. And let no one of you suppose that while all other people realize how much the scales of persuasion incline in favor of one who has the approval of his judges, the devotees of philosophy alone are blind to the power of good will. In fact, they appreciate this even more thoroughly than others, and they know, furthermore, that probabilities and proofs and all forms of persuasion support only the points in a case to which they are severally applied, whereas an honorable reputation not only lends greater persuasiveness to the words of the man who possesses it, but adds greater lustre to his deeds, and is, therefore, more zealously to be sought after by men of intelligence than anything else in the world.
279. καὶ μηδεὶς ὑμῶν οἰέσθω τοὺς μὲν ἄλλους ἅπαντας γιγνώσκειν ὅσην ἔχει ῥοπὴν εἰς τὸ πείθειν τὸ τοῖς κρίνουσιν ἀρέσκειν, τοὺς δὲ περὶ τὴν φιλοσοφίαν ὄντας μόνους ἀγνοεῖν τὴν τῆς εὐνοίας δύναμιν· πολὺ γὰρ ἀκριβέστερον τῶν ἄλλων καὶ ταῦτʼ ἴσασι, καὶ πρὸς τούτοις ὅτι τὰ μὲν εἰκότα καὶ τὰ τεκμήρια καὶ πᾶν τὸ τῶν πίστεων εἶδος τοῦτο μόνον ὠφελεῖ τὸ μέρος, ἐφʼ ᾧ ἂν αὐτῶν ἕκαστον τύχῃ ῥηθέν, τὸ δὲ δοκεῖν εἶναι καλὸν κἀγαθὸν οὐ μόνον τὸν λόγον πιστότερον ἐποίησεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰς πράξεις τοῦ τὴν τοιαύτην δόξαν ἔχοντος ἐντιμοτέρας κατέστησεν, ὑπὲρ οὗ σπουδαστέον ἐστὶ τοῖς εὖ φρονοῦσι μᾶλλον ἢ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων.
281. I come now to the question of “advantage” —the most difficult of the points I have raised. If anyone is under the impression that people who rob others or falsify accounts or do any evil thing get the advantage, he is wrong in his thinking; for none are at a greater disadvantage throughout their lives than such men; none are found in more difficult straits, none live in greater ignominy; and, in a word, none are more miserable than they.
281. τὸ τοίνυν περὶ τὴν πλεονεξίαν, ὃ δυσχερέστατον ἦν τῶν ῥηθέντων· εἰ μέν τις ὑπολαμβάνει τοὺς ἀποστεροῦντας ἢ παραλογιζομένους ἢ κακόν τι ποιοῦντας πλεονεκτεῖν, οὐκ ὀρθῶς ἔγνωκεν· οὐδένες γὰρ ἐν ἅπαντι τῷ βίῳ μᾶλλον ἐλαττοῦνται τῶν τοιούτων, οὐδʼ ἐν πλέοσιν ἀπορίαις εἰσίν, οὐδʼ ἐπονειδιστότερον ζῶσιν, οὐδʼ ὅλως ἀθλιώτεροι τυγχάνουσιν ὄντες·
282. No, you ought to believe rather that those are better off now and will receive the advantage in the future at the hands of the gods who are the most righteous and the most faithful in their devotions, and that those receive the better portion at the hands of men who are the most conscientious in their dealings with their associates, whether in their homes or in public life, and are themselves esteemed as the noblest among their fellows.
282. χρὴ δὲ καὶ νῦν πλέον ἔχειν ἡγεῖσθαι καὶ πλεονεκτήσειν νομίζειν παρὰ μὲν τῶν θεῶν τοὺς εὐσεβεστάτους καὶ τοὺς περὶ τὴν θεραπείαν τὴν ἐκείνων ἐπιμελεστάτους ὄντας, παρὰ δὲ τῶν ἀνθρώπων τοὺς ἄριστα πρὸς τούτους μεθʼ ὧν ἂν οἰκῶσι καὶ πολιτεύωνται διακειμένους καὶ τοὺς βελτίστους αὐτοὺς εἶναι δοκοῦντας.
283. This is verily the truth, and it is well for us to adopt this way of speaking on the subject, since, as things now are, Athens has in many respects been plunged into such a state of topsy-turvy and confusion that some of our people no longer use words in their proper meaning but wrest them from the most honorable associations and apply them to the basest pursuits.
283. καὶ ταῦτα καὶ ταῖς ἀληθείαις οὕτως ἔχει, καὶ συμφέρει τὸν τρόπον τοῦτον λέγεσθαι περὶ αὐτῶν, ἐπεὶ νῦν γʼ οὕτως ἀνέστραπται καὶ συγκέχυται πολλὰ τῶν κατὰ τὴν πόλιν, ὥστʼ οὐδὲ τοῖς ὀνόμασιν ἔνιοί τινες ἔτι χρῶνται κατὰ φύσιν, ἀλλὰ μεταφέρουσιν ἀπὸ τῶν καλλίστων πραγμάτων ἐπὶ τὰ φαυλότατα τῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων.
284. On the one hand, they speak of men who play the buffoon and have a talent for mocking and mimicking as “gifted” —an appellation which should be reserved for men endowed with the highest excellence; while, on the other hand, they think of men who indulge their depraved and criminal instincts and who for small gains acquire a base reputation as “getting the advantage,” instead of applying this term to the most righteous and the most upright, that is, to men who take advantage of the good and not the evil things of life.
284. τοὺς μέν γε βωμολοχευομένους καὶ σκώπτειν καὶ μιμεῖσθαι δυναμένους εὐφυεῖς καλοῦσι, προσῆκον τῆς προσηγορίας ταύτης τυγχάνειν τοὺς ἄριστα πρὸς ἀρετὴν πεφυκότας· τοὺς δὲ ταῖς κακοηθείαις καὶ ταῖς κακουργίαις χρωμένους, καὶ μικρὰ μὲν λαμβάνοντας πονηρὰν δὲ δόξαν κτωμένους, πλεονεκτεῖν νομίζουσιν, ἀλλʼ οὐ τοὺς ὁσιωτάτους καὶ δικαιοτάτους, οἳ περὶ τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἀλλʼ οὐ τῶν κακῶν πλεονεκτοῦσι·
285. They characterize men who ignore our practical needs and delight in the mental juggling of the ancient sophists as “students of philosophy,” but refuse this name to whose who pursue and practise those studies which will enable us to govern wisely both our own households and the commonwealth—which should be the objects of our toil, of our study, and of our every act. It is from these pursuits that you have for a long time now been driving away our youth, because you accept the words of those who denounce this kind of education.
285. τοὺς δὲ τῶν μὲν ἀναγκαίων ἀμελοῦντας, τὰς δὲ τῶν παλαιῶν σοφιστῶν τερατολογίας ἀγαπῶντας φιλοσοφεῖν φασιν, ἀλλʼ οὐ τοὺς τὰ τοιαῦτα μανθάνοντας καὶ μελετῶντας ἐξ ὧν καὶ τὸν ἴδιον οἶκον καὶ τὰ κοινὰ τὰ τῆς πόλεως καλῶς διοικήσουσιν, ὧνπερ ἕνεκα καὶ πονητέον καὶ φιλοσοφητέον καὶ πάντα πρακτέον ἐστίν. ἀφʼ ὧν ὑμεῖς πολὺν ἤδη χρόνον ἀπελαύνετε τοὺς νεωτέρους, ἀποδεχόμενοι τοὺς λόγους τῶν διαβαλλόντων τὴν τοιαύτην παιδείαν.
286. Yes, and you have brought it about that the most promising of our young men are wasting their youth in drinking-bouts, in parties, in soft living and childish folly, to the neglect of all efforts to improve themselves; while those of grosser nature are engaged from morning until night in extremes of dissipation which in former days an honest slave would have despised.
286. καὶ γάρ τοι πεποιήκατε τοὺς μὲν ἐπιεικεστάτους αὐτῶν ἐν πότοις καὶ συνουσίαις καὶ ῥᾳθυμίαις καὶ παιδιαῖς τὴν ἡλικίαν διάγειν, ἀμελήσαντας τοῦ σπουδάζειν ὅπως ἔσονται βελτίους, τοὺς δὲ χείρω τὴν φύσιν ἔχοντας ἐν τοιαύταις ἀκολασίαις ἡμερεύειν, ἐν αἷς πρότερον οὐδʼ ἂν οἰκέτης ἐπιεικὴς οὐδεὶς ἐτόλμησεν·
287. You see some of them chilling their wine at the “Nine-fountains”; others, drinking in taverns; others, tossing dice in gambling dens; and many, hanging about the training-schools of the flute-girls. And as for those who encourage them in these things, no one of those who profess to be concerned for our youth has ever haled them before you for trial, but instead they persecute me, who, whatever else I may deserve, do at any rate deserve thanks for this, that I discourage such habits in my pupils.
287. οἱ μὲν γὰρ αὐτῶν ἐπὶ τῆς Ἐννεακρούνου ψύχουσιν οἶνον, οἱ δʼ ἐν τοῖς καπηλείοις πίνουσιν, ἕτεροι δʼ ἐν τοῖς σκιραφείοις κυβεύουσι, πολλοὶ δʼ ἐν τοῖς τῶν αὐλητρίδων διδασκαλείοις διατρίβουσι. καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἐπὶ ταῦτα προτρέποντας οὐδεὶς πώποτε τῶν κήδεσθαι φασκόντων τῆς ἡλικίας ταύτης εἰς ὑμᾶς εἰσήγαγεν· ἡμῖν δὲ κακὰ παρέχουσιν, οἷς ἄξιον ἦν, εἰ καὶ μηδενὸς ἄλλου, τούτου γε χάριν ἔχειν, ὅτι τοὺς συνόντας τῶν τοιούτων ἐπιτηδευμάτων ἀποτρέπομεν.
288. But so inimical to all the world is this race of sycophants that when men pay a ransom of a hundred and thirty minae for women who bid fair to help them make away with the rest of their property besides, so far from reproaching them, they actually rejoice in their extravagance; but when men spend any amount, however small, upon their education, they complain that they are being corrupted. Could any charge be more unjust than this against our students?
288. οὕτω δʼ ἐστὶ δυσμενὲς ἅπασι τὸ τῶν συκοφαντῶν γένος, ὥστε τοῖς μὲν λυομένοις εἴκοσι καὶ τριάκοντα μνῶν τὰς μελλούσας καὶ τὸν ἄλλον οἶκον συναναιρήσειν οὐχ ὅπως ἂν ἐπιπλήξειαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ συγχαίρουσι ταῖς ἀσωτίαις αὐτῶν, τοὺς δʼ εἰς τὴν αὑτῶν παιδείαν ὁτιοῦν ἀναλίσκοντας διαφθείρεσθαί φασιν. ὧν τίνες ἂν ἀδικώτερον ἔχοιεν τὴν αἰτίαν ταύτην;
289. For, while in the prime of vigor, when most men of their age are most inclined to indulge their passions, they have disdained a life of pleasure; when they might have saved expense and lived softly, they have elected to pay out money and submit to toil; and, though hardly emerged from boyhood, they have come to appreciate what most of their elders do not know, namely, that if one is to govern his youth rightly and worthily and make the proper start in life, he must give more heed to himself than to his possessions, he must not hasten and seek to rule over others before he has found a master to direct his own thoughts, and he must not take as great pleasure or pride in other advantages as in the good things which spring up in the soul under a liberal education.
289. οἵτινες ἐν ταύταις μὲν ταῖς ἀκμαῖς ὄντες ὑπερεῖδον τὰς ἡδονάς, ἐν αἷς οἱ πλεῖστοι τῶν τηλικούτων μάλιστʼ αὐτῶν ἐπιθυμοῦσιν, ἐξὸν δʼ αὐτοῖς ῥᾳθυμεῖν μηδὲν δαπανωμένοις εἵλοντο πονεῖν χρήματα τελέσαντες, ἄρτι δʼ ἐκ παίδων ἐξεληλυθότες ἔγνωσαν ἃ πολλοὶ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων οὐκ ἴσασιν, ὅτι δεῖ τὸν ὀρθῶς καὶ πρεπόντως προεστῶτα τῆς ἡλικίας καὶ καλὴν ἀρχὴν τοῦ βίου ποιούμενον αὑτοῦ πρότερον ἢ τῶν αὑτοῦ ποιήσασθαι τὴν ἐπιμέλειαν, καὶ μὴ σπεύδειν μηδὲ ζητεῖν ἑτέρων ἄρχειν πρὶν ἂν τῆς αὑτοῦ διανοίας λάβῃ τὸν ἐπιστατήσοντα, μηδʼ οὕτω χαίρειν μηδὲ μέγα φρονεῖν ἐπὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀγαθοῖς ὡς ἐπὶ τοῖς ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ διὰ τὴν παιδείαν ἐγγιγνομένοις.
290. I ask you, then, when young men have governed themselves by these principles, ought they not to be praised rather than censured, ought they not to be recognized as the best and the most sober-minded among their fellows?
290. καί τοι τοὺς τοιούτῳ λογισμῷ κεχρημένους πῶς οὐκ ἐπαινεῖσθαι χρὴ μᾶλλον ἢ ψέγεσθαι, καὶ νομίζεσθαι βελτίστους εἶναι καὶ σωφρονεστάτους τῶν ἡλικιωτῶν;
291. I marvel at men who felicitate those who are eloquent by nature on being blessed with a noble gift, and yet rail at those who wish to become eloquent, on the ground that they desire an immoral and debasing education. Pray, what that is noble by nature becomes shameful and base when one attains it by effort? We shall find that there is no such thing, but that, on the contrary, we praise, at least in other fields, those who by their own devoted toil are able to acquire some good thing more than we praise those who inherit it from their ancestors.
291. θαυμάζω δʼ ὅσοι τοὺς μὲν φύσει δεινοὺς ὄντας εἰπεῖν εὐδαιμονίζουσιν ὡς ἀγαθοῦ καὶ καλοῦ πράγματος αὐτοῖς συμβεβηκότος, τοὺς δὲ τοιούτους γενέσθαι βουλομένους λοιδοροῦσιν ὡς ἀδίκου καὶ κακοῦ παιδεύματος ἐπιθυμοῦντας. καί τοι τί τῶν φύσει καλῶν ὄντων μελέτῃ κατεργασθὲν αἰσχρὸν ἢ κακόν ἐστιν; οὐδὲν γὰρ εὑρήσομεν τοιοῦτον, ἀλλʼ ἔν γε τοῖς ἄλλοις ἐπαινοῦμεν τοὺς ταῖς φιλοπονίαις ταῖς αὑτῶν ἀγαθόν τι κτήσασθαι δυνηθέντας μᾶλλον ἢ τοὺς παρὰ τῶν προγόνων παραλαβόντας, εἰκότως·
292. And rightly so; for it is well that in all activities, and most of all in the art of speaking, credit is won, not by gifts of fortune, but by efforts of study. For men who have been gifted with eloquence by nature and by fortune, are governed in what they say by chance, and not by any standard of what is best, whereas those who have gained this power by the study of philosophy and by the exercise of reason never speak without weighing their words, and so are less often in error as to a course of action.
292. συμφέρει γὰρ ἐπί τε τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων, καὶ μάλιστʼ ἐπὶ τῶν λόγων, μὴ τὰς εὐτυχίας ἀλλὰ τὰς ἐπιμελείας εὐδοκιμεῖν. οἱ μὲν γὰρ φύσει καὶ τύχῃ δεινοὶ γενόμενοι λέγειν οὐ πρὸς τὸ βέλτιστον ἀποβλέπουσιν, ἀλλʼ ὅπως ἂν τύχωσιν, οὕτω χρῆσθαι τοῖς λόγοις εἰώθασιν· οἱ δὲ φιλοσοφίᾳ καὶ λογισμῷ τὴν δύναμιν ταύτην λαβόντες, οὐδὲν ἀσκέπτως λέγοντες, ἧττον περὶ τὰς πράξεις πλημμελοῦσιν.
293. Therefore, it behoves all men to want to have many of their youth engaged in training to become speakers, and you Athenians most of all. For you, yourselves, are pre-eminent and superior to the rest of the world, not in your application to the business of war, nor because you govern yourselves more excellently or preserve the laws handed down to you by your ancestors more faithfully than others, but in those qualities by which the nature of man rises above the other animals, and the race of the Hellenes above the barbarians, namely, in the fact that you have been educated as have been no other people in wisdom and in speech.
293. ὥσθʼ ἅπασι μὲν βούλεσθαι προσήκει πολλοὺς εἶναι τοὺς ἐκ παιδείας δεινοὺς εἰπεῖν γιγνομένους, μάλιστα δʼ ὑμῖν· καὶ γὰρ αὐτοὶ προέχετε καὶ διαφέρετε τῶν ἄλλων οὐ ταῖς περὶ τὸν πόλεμον ἐπιμελείαις, οὐδʼ ὅτι κάλλιστα πολιτεύεσθε καὶ μάλιστα φυλάττετε τοὺς νόμους οὓς ὑμῖν οἱ πρόγονοι κατέλιπον, ἀλλὰ τούτοις οἷς περ ἡ φύσις ἡ τῶν ἀνθρώπων τῶν ἄλλων ζώων, καὶ τὸ γένος τὸ τῶν Ἑλλήνων τῶν βαρβάρων, τῷ καὶ πρὸς τὴν φρόνησιν καὶ πρὸς τοὺς λόγους ἄμεινον πεπαιδεῦσθαι τῶν ἄλλων.
294. So, then, nothing more absurd could happen than for you to declare by your votes that students who desire to excel their companions in those very qualities in which you excel mankind, are being corrupted, and to visit any misfortune upon them for availing themselves of an education in which you have become the leaders of the world.
294. ὥστε πάντων ἂν συμβαίη δεινότατον, εἰ τοὺς βουλομένους τοῖς αὐτοῖς τούτοις διενεγκεῖν τῶν ἡλικιωτῶν, οἷς περ ὑμεῖς ἁπάντων, διαφθείρεσθαι ψηφίσαισθε, καὶ τοὺς τῇ παιδείᾳ ταύτῃ χρωμένους, ἧς ὑμεῖς ἡγεμόνες γεγένησθε, συμφορᾷ τινι περιβάλοιτε.
295. For you must not lose sight of the fact that Athens is looked upon as having become a school for the education of all able orators and teachers of oratory. And naturally so; for people observe that she holds forth the greatest prizes for those who have this ability, that she offers the greatest number and variety of fields of exercise to those who have chosen to enter contests of this character and want to train for them, and that, furthermore, everyone obtains here that practical experience which more than any other thing imparts ability to speak; and, in addition to these advantages, they consider that the catholicity and moderation of our speech, as well as our flexibility of mind and love of letters, contribute in no small degree to the education of the orator.
295. χρὴ γὰρ μηδὲ τοῦτο λανθάνειν ὑμᾶς, ὅτι πάντων τῶν δυναμένων λέγειν ἢ παιδεύειν ἡ πόλις ἡμῶν δοκεῖ γεγενῆσθαι διδάσκαλος. εἰκότως· καὶ γὰρ ἆθλα μέγιστα τιθεῖσαν αὐτὴν ὁρῶσι τοῖς τὴν δύναμιν ταύτην ἔχουσι, καὶ γυμνάσια πλεῖστα καὶ παντοδαπώτατα παρέχουσαν τοῖς ἀγωνίζεσθαι προῃρημένοις καὶ περὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα γυμνάζεσθαι βουλομένοις, ἔτι δὲ τὴν ἐμπειρίαν, ἥ περ μάλιστα ποιεῖ δύνασθαι λέγειν, ἐνθένδε πάντας λαμβάνοντας·
296. Therefore they suppose, and not without just reason, that all clever speakers are the disciples of Athens. Beware, then, lest it make you utterly ridiculous to pronounce a disparaging judgement upon the reputation which you have among the Hellenes even more than I have among you. Manifestly, by such an unjust verdict, you would be passing sentence upon yourselves.
296. πρὸς δὲ τούτοις καὶ τὴν τῆς φωνῆς κοινότητα καὶ μετριότητα καὶ τὴν ἄλλην εὐτραπελίαν καὶ φιλολογίαν οὐ μικρὸν ἡγοῦνται συμβαλέσθαι μέρος πρὸς τὴν τῶν λόγων παιδείαν· ὥστʼ οὐκ ἀδίκως ὑπολαμβάνουσιν ἅπαντας τοὺς λέγειν ὄντας δεινοὺς τῆς πόλεως εἶναι μαθητάς. σκοπεῖτʼ οὖν μὴ παντάπασιν ᾖ καταγέλαστον τῆς δόξης ταύτης φλαῦρόν τι καταγιγνώσκειν, ἣν ὑμεῖς ἔχετε παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησι πολὺ μᾶλλον ἢ ἐγὼ παρʼ ὑμῖν· οὐδὲν γὰρ ἀλλʼ ἢ φανερῶς ὑμῶν αὐτῶν ἔσεσθε κατεψηφισμένοι τὴν τοιαύτην ἀδικίαν, καὶ πεποιηκότες ὅμοιον ὥσπερ ἂν εἰ Λακεδαιμόνιοι τοὺς τὰ περὶ τὸν πόλεμον ἀσκοῦντας ζημιοῦν ἐπιχειροῖεν, ἢ Θετταλοὶ παρὰ τῶν ἱππεύειν μελετώντων δίκην λαμβάνειν ἀξιοῖεν.
298. It would be as if the Lacedaemonians were to attempt to penalize men for training themselves in preparation for war, or as if the Thessalians saw fit to punish men for practicing the art of horsemanship. Take care, therefore, not to do yourselves this wrong and not to lend support to the slanders of the enemies of Athens rather than to the eulogies of her friends.
298. ὑπὲρ ὧν φυλακτέον ἐστίν, ὅπως μηδὲν τοιοῦτον ἐξαμαρτήσεσθε περὶ ὑμᾶς αὐτούς, μηδὲ πιστοτέρους ποιήσετε τοὺς λόγους τοὺς τῶν κατηγορούντων τῆς πόλεως ἢ τοὺς τῶν ἐπαινούντων.
299. I think that you are not unaware that while some of the Hellenes are hostile to you, some are extremely friendly, and rest their hopes of security upon you. These say that Athens is the only city, the others being mere villages, and that she deserves to be termed the capital of Hellas both because of her size and because of the resources which she furnishes to the rest of the world, and most of all because of the character of her inhabitants;
299. οἶμαι δʼ ὑμᾶς οὐκ ἀγνοεῖν ὅτι τῶν Ἑλλήνων οἱ μὲν δυσκόλως πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἔχουσιν, οἱ δʼ ὡς οἷόν τε μάλιστα φιλοῦσι καὶ τὰς ἐλπίδας τῆς σωτηρίας ἐν ὑμῖν ἔχουσι. καὶ φασιν οἱ μὲν τοιοῦτοι μόνην εἶναι ταύτην πόλιν, τὰς δʼ ἄλλας κώμας, καὶ δικαίως ἂν αὐτὴν ἄστυ τῆς Ἑλλάδος προσαγορεύεσθαι καὶ διὰ τὸ μέγεθος καὶ διὰ τὰς εὐπορίας τὰς ἐνθένδε τοῖς ἄλλοις γιγνομένας καὶ μάλιστα διὰ τὸν τρόπον τῶν ἐνοικούντων·
300. for no people, they insist, are more kindly or more sociable, nor could anyone find any people with whom he could spend all his days in friendlier intercourse. Indeed, so extravagant are they in their praise that they do not even hesitate to say that they would rather suffer injury at the hands of an Athenian gentleman than benefit through the rudeness of people from another city. There are, on the other hand, those who scoff at this praise, and, dwelling upon the cruel and iniquitous practices of the sycophants, denounce the whole city as savage and insupportable.
300. οὐδένας γὰρ εἶναι πραοτέρους οὐδὲ κοινοτέρους οὐδʼ οἷς οἰκειότερον ἄν τις τὸν ἅπαντα βίον συνδιατρίψειεν οὕτω δὲ μεγάλαις χρῶνται ταῖς ὑπερβολαῖς, ὥστʼ οὐδὲ τοῦτʼ ὀκνοῦσι λέγειν, ὡς ἥδιον ἂν ὑπʼ ἀνδρὸς Ἀθηναίου ζημιωθεῖεν ἢ διὰ τῆς ἑτέρων ὠμότητος εὖ πάθοιεν. οἱ δὲ ταῦτα μὲν διασύρουσι, διεξιόντες δὲ τὰς τῶν συκοφαντῶν πικρότητας καὶ κακοπραγίας ὅλης τῆς πόλεως ὡς ἀμίκτου καὶ χαλεπῆς οὔσης κατηγοροῦσιν.
301. It is, therefore, the duty of intelligent judges to destroy those who heap infamy upon the city and to reward those who are responsible in some degree for the tributes paid to her, more than you reward the athletes who are crowned in the great games, seeing that they win for the city a greater and more fitting glory than any athlete;
301. ἔστιν οὖν δικαστῶν νοῦν ἐχόντων τοὺς μὲν τῶν τοιούτων λόγων αἰτίους γιγνομένους ἀποκτείνειν ὡς μεγάλην αἰσχύνην τῇ πόλει περιποιοῦντας, τοὺς δὲ τῶν ἐπαίνων τῶν λεγομένων περὶ αὐτῆς μέρος τι συμβαλλομένους τιμᾶν μᾶλλον ἢ τοὺς ἀθλητὰς τοὺς ἐν τοῖς στεφανίταις ἀγῶσι νικῶντας· πολὺ γὰρ καλλίω δόξαν ἐκείνων κτώμενοι τῇ πόλει τυγχάνουσι καὶ μᾶλλον ἁρμόττουσαν.
302. for in contests of the body we have many rivals; but in the training of the mind everyone would concede that we stand first. And men with even a slight ability to reason ought to show the world that they reward those who excel in those activities for which the city is renowned, and they ought not to envy them nor hold an opinion of them which is the opposite of the esteem in which they are held by the rest of the Hellenes.
302. περὶ μὲν γὰρ τὴν τῶν σωμάτων ἀγωνίαν πολλοὺς τοὺς ἀμφισβητοῦντας ἔχομεν, περὶ δὲ τὴν παιδείαν ἅπαντες ἂν ἡμᾶς πρωτεύειν προκρίνειαν. χρὴ δὲ τοὺς καὶ μικρὰ λογίζεσθαι δυναμένους τοὺς ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις τῶν ἔργων διαφέροντας, ἐν οἷς ἡ πόλις εὐδοκιμεῖ, τιμῶντας φαίνεσθαι, καὶ μὴ φθονερῶς ἔχειν, μηδʼ ἐναντία τοῖς ἄλλοις Ἕλλησι γιγνώσκειν περὶ αὐτῶν.
303. But you have never troubled yourselves to do this; nay, you have so far mistaken your true interests that you are more pleased with those who cause you to be reviled than with those who cause you to be praised, and you think that those who have made many people hate the city are better friends of the demos than those who have inspired good will toward Athens in all with whom they have had to deal.
303. ὧν ὑμῖν οὐδὲν πώποτʼ ἐμέλησεν, ἀλλὰ τοσοῦτον διημαρτήκατε τοῦ συμφέροντος, ὥσθʼ ἥδιον ἔχετε διʼ οὓς ἀκούετε κακῶς ἢ διʼ οὓς ἐπαινεῖσθε, καὶ δημοτικωτέρους εἶναι νομίζετε τοὺς τοῦ μισεῖσθαι τὴν πόλιν ὑπὸ πολλῶν αἰτίους ὄντας, ἢ τοὺς ἅπαντας οἷς πεπλησιάκασιν εὖ διακεῖσθαι πρὸς αὐτὴν πεποιηκότας.
304. If, however, you are wise, you will put an end to this confusion, and you will not continue, as now, to take either a hostile or a contemptuous view of philosophy; on the contrary, you will conceive that the cultivation of the mind is the noblest and worthiest of pursuits and you will urge our young men who have sufficient means and who are able to take the time for it to embrace an education and a training of this sort.
304. ἤν οὖν σωφρονῆτε, τῆς μὲν ταραχῆς παύσεσθε ταύτης, οὐχ οὕτω δʼ ὥσπερ νῦν οἱ μὲν τραχέως οἱ δʼ ὀλιγώρως διακείσεσθε πρὸς τὴν φιλοσοφίαν, ἀλλʼ ὑπολαβόντες κάλλιστον εἶναι καὶ σπουδαιότατον τῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς ἐπιμέλειαν, προτρέψετε τῶν νεωτέρων τοὺς βίον ἱκανὸν κεκτημένους καὶ σχολὴν ἄγειν δυναμένους ἐπὶ τὴν παιδείαν καὶ τὴν ἄσκησιν τὴν τοιαύτην, καὶ τοὺς μὲν πονεῖν ἐθέλοντας καὶ παρασκευάζειν σφᾶς αὐτοὺς χρησίμους τῇ πόλει περὶ πολλοῦ ποιήσεσθε, τοὺς δὲ καταβεβλημένως ζῶντας καὶ μηδενὸς ἄλλου φροντίζοντας πλὴν ὅπως ἀσελγῶς ἀπολαύσονται τῶν καταλειφθέντων, τούτους δὲ μισήσετε καὶ προδότας νομιεῖτε καὶ τῆς πόλεως καὶ τῆς τῶν προγόνων δόξης·
305. And when they are willing to work hard and to prepare themselves to be of service to the city, you will make much of them; but when they give themselves to loose living and care for nothing else than to enjoy riotously what their fathers left to them, you will despise them and look upon them as false to the city and to the good name of their ancestors. For it will be hard enough, even though you show such an attitude of mind in either case, to get our youth to look down upon a life of ease and be willing to give their minds to their own improvement and to philosophy. But reflect upon the glory and the greatness of the deeds wrought by our city and our ancestors, review them in your minds and consider what kind of man was he, what was his birth and what the character of his education, who expelled the tyrants, brought the people into their own, and established our democratic state; what sort was he who conquered the barbarians in the battle at Marathon and won for the city the glory which has come to Athens from this victory; what was he who after him liberated the Hellenes and led our forefathers forth to the leadership and power which they achieved, and who, besides, appreciating the natural advantage of the Piraeus, girded the city with walls in despite of the Lacedaemonians; and what manner of man was he who after him filled the Acropolis with gold and silver and made the homes of the Athenians to overflow with prosperity and wealth:
305. μόλις γὰρ ἢν οὕτως ὑμᾶς αἴσθωνται πρὸς ἑκατέρους αὐτῶν διακειμένους, ἐθελήσουσιν οἱ νεώτεροι καταφρονήσαντες τῆς ῥᾳθυμίας προσέχειν σφίσιν αὐτοῖς καὶ τῇ φιλοσοφίᾳ τὸν νοῦν. ἀναμνήσθητε δὲ τὸ κάλλος καὶ τὸ μέγεθος τῶν ἔργων τῶν τῇ πόλει καὶ τοῖς προγόνοις πεπραγμένων, καὶ διέλθετε πρὸς ὑμᾶς αὐτοὺς καὶ σκέψασθε ποῖός τις ἦν καὶ πῶς γεγονὼς καὶ τίνα τρόπον πεπαιδευμένος ὁ τοὺς τυράννους ἐκβαλὼν καὶ τὸν δῆμον καταραρὼν καὶ τὴν δημοκρατίαν καταστήσας, ποῖος δέ τις ὁ τοὺς βαρβάρους Μαραθῶνι τῇ μάχῃ νικήσας καὶ τὴν δόξαν τὴν ἐκ ταύτης γενομένην τῇ πόλει κτησάμενος, τίς δʼ ἦν, ὁ μετʼ ἐκεῖνον τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἐλευθερώσας καὶ τοὺς προγόνους ἐπὶ ἡγεμονίαν καὶ τὴν δυναστείαν ἣν ἔσχον προαγαγών, ἔτι δὲ τὴν φύσιν τὴν τοῦ Πειραιέως κατιδὼν καὶ τὸ τεῖχος ἀκόντων Λακεδαιμονίων τῇ πόλει περιβαλών, τίς δὲ ὁ μετὰ τοῦτον ἀργυρίου καὶ χρυσίου τὴν ἀκρόπολιν ἐμπλήσας καὶ τοὺς οἴκους τοὺς ἰδίους μεστοὺς πολλῆς εὐδαιμονίας καὶ πλούτου ποιήσας·
308. for you will find if you review the career of each of these, that it was not those who lived unscrupulously or negligently nor those who did not stand out from the multitude who accomplished these things, but that it was men who were superior and pre-eminent, not only in birth and reputation, but in wisdom and eloquence, who have been the authors of all our blessings.
308. εὑρήσετε γάρ, ἢν ἐξετάζητε τούτων ἕκαστον, οὐ τοὺς συκοφαντικῶς βεβιωκότας οὐδὲ τοὺς ἀμελῶς, οὐδὲ τοὺς τοῖς πολλοῖς ὁμοίους ὄντας, ταῦτα διαπεπραγμένους, ἀλλὰ τοὺς διαφέροντας καὶ προέχοντας μὴ μόνον ταῖς εὐγενείαις καὶ ταῖς δόξαις, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ φρονεῖν καὶ λέγειν, τούτους ἁπάντων ἀγαθῶν αἰτίους γεγενημένους.
309. You ought to lay this lesson to heart and, while seeing to it in behalf of the mass of the people that they shall obtain their just rights in the trials of their personal disputes and that they shall have their due share of the other privileges which are common to all, you ought, on the other hand, to welcome and honor and cherish those who stand out from the multitude both in ability and in training and those who aspire to such eminence, since you know that leadership in great and noble enterprises, and the power to keep the city safe from danger and to preserve the rule of the people, rests with such men, and not with the sycophants.
309. ὦν εἰκὸς ὑμᾶς ἐνθυμουμένους ὑπὲρ μὲν τοῦ πλήθους τοῦτο σκοπεῖν, ὅπως ἔν τε τοῖς ἀγῶσι τοῖς περὶ τῶν συμβολαίων τῶν δικαίων τεύξονται καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τῶν κοινῶν μεθέξουσι, τοὺς δʼ ὑπερέχοντας καὶ τῇ φύσει καὶ ταῖς μελέταις, καὶ τοὺς τοιούτους γενέσθαι προθυμουμένους, ἀγαπᾶν καὶ τιμᾶν καὶ θεραπεύειν, ἐπισταμένους ὅτι καὶ τὸ καλῶν καὶ μεγάλων ἡγήσασθαι πραγμάτων καὶ τὸ δύνασθαι τὰς πόλεις ἐκ τῶν κινδύνων σώζειν καὶ τὴν δημοκρατίαν διαφυλάττειν ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις ἔνεστιν, ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἐν τοῖς συκοφάνταις.
310. Many ideas crowd into my thoughts, but I do not know how I can make place for them; for it seems to me that while every point which I have in mind would appeal to you if I presented it by itself, yet if I attempted to discuss them all at this time, I should put too great a strain both upon myself and upon my hearers. Indeed I fear that in what I have already said to you I may have fatigued you by speaking at such length.
310. πολλῶν δʼ ἐφεστώτων μοι λόγων ἀπορῶ πῶς αὐτοὺς διαθῶμαι· δοκεῖ γάρ μοι καθʼ αὑτὸ μὲν ἕκαστον ὧν διανοοῦμαι ῥηθὲν ἐπιεικὲς ἂν φανῆναι, πάντα δὲ νυνὶ λεγόμενα πολὺν ἂν ὄχλον ἐμοί τε καὶ τοῖς ἀκούουσι παρασχεῖν. ὅπερ καὶ περὶ τῶν ἤδη προειρημένων δέδοικα, μὴ τοιοῦτόν τι πάθος αὐτοῖς διὰ τὸ πλῆθος τυγχάνῃ συμβεβηκός.
311. For we are all so insatiable in discourse that while we prize due measure and affirm that there is nothing so precious, yet when we think that we have something of importance to say, we throw moderation to the winds, and go on adding point after point until little by little we involve ourselves in utter irrelevancies. Why, at the very moment that I say this and recognize its truth, I desire, nevertheless, to speak to you at greater length!
311. οὕτω γὰρ ἀπλήστως ἅπαντες ἔχομεν περὶ τοὺς λόγους, ὥστʼ ἐπαινοῦμεν μὲν τὴν εὐκαιρίαν καὶ φαμὲν οὐδὲν εἶναι τοιοῦτον, ἐπειδὰν δʼ οἰηθῶμεν ὡς ἔχομέν τι λέγειν, ἀμελήσαντες τοῦ μετριάζειν, κατὰ μικρὸν ἀεὶ προστιθέντες εἰς τὰς ἐσχάτας ἀκαιρίας ἐμβάλλομεν ἡμᾶς αὐτούς· ὅπου γε καὶ λέγων ἐγὼ ταῦτα καὶ γιγνώσκων, ὅμως ἔτι βούλομαι διαλεχθῆναι πρὸς ὑμᾶς.
312. For I am grieved to see the sycophant’s trade faring better than philosophy—the one attacking, the other on the defensive. Who of the men of old could have anticipated that things would come to this pass, in Athens, of all places, where we more than others plume ourselves on our wisdom?
312. ἀγανακτῶ γὰρ ὁρῶν τὴν συκοφαντίαν ἄμεινον τῆς φιλοσοφίας φερομένην, καὶ τὴν μὲν κατηγοροῦσαν, τὴν δὲ κρινομένην. ὃ τίς ἂν τῶν παλαιῶν ἀνδρῶν γενήσεσθαι προσεδόκησεν, ἄλλως τε καὶ παρʼ ὑμῖν τοῖς ἐπὶ σοφίᾳ μεῖζον τῶν ἄλλων φρονοῦσιν;
313. Things were not like that in the time of our ancestors; on the contrary, they admired the sophists, as they called them, and envied the good fortune of their disciples, while they blamed the sycophants for most of their ills. You will find the strongest proof of this in the fact that they saw fit to put Solon, who was the first of the Athenians to receive the title of sophist, at, the head of the state, while they applied to the sycophants more stringent laws than to other criminals;
313. οὔκουν ἐπί γε τῶν προγόνων οὕτως εἶχεν, ἀλλὰ τοὺς μὲν καλουμένους σοφιστὰς ἐθαύμαζον καὶ τοὺς συνόντας αὐτοῖς ἐζήλουν, τοὺς δὲ συκοφάντας πλείστων κακῶν αἰτίους ἐνόμιζον εἶναι. μέγιστον δὲ τεκμήριον· Σόλωνα μὲν γάρ, τὸν πρῶτον τῶν πολιτῶν λαβόντα τὴν ἐπωνυμίαν ταύτην, προστάτην ἠξίωσαν τῆς πόλεως εἶναι, περὶ δὲ τῶν συκοφαντῶν χαλεπωτέρους ἢ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων κακουργιῶν τοὺς νόμους ἔθεσαν.
314. for, while they placed the trial of the greatest crimes in the hands of a single one of the courts, against the sycophants they instituted indictments before the Thesmothetae, impeachments before the Senate, and plaints before the General Assembly, believing that those who plied this trade exceeded all other forms of villainy; for other criminals, at any rate, try to keep their evil-doing under cover, while these flaunt their brutality, their misanthropy, and their contentiousness before the eyes of all.
314. τοῖς μὲν γὰρ μεγίστοις τῶν ἀδικημάτων ἐν ἑνὶ τῶν δικαστηρίων τὴν κρίσιν ἐποίησαν, κατὰ δὲ τούτων γραφὰς μὲν πρὸς τοὺς θεσμοθέτας, εἰσαγγελίας δʼ εἰς τὴν βουλήν, προβολὰς δʼ ἐν τῷ δήμῳ, νομίζοντες τοὺς ταύτῃ τῇ τέχνῃ χρωμένους ἁπάσας ὑπερβάλλειν τὰς πονηρίας. τοὺς μὲν γὰρ ἄλλους ἀλλʼ οὖν πειρᾶσθαί γε λανθάνειν κακουργοῦντας, τούτους δʼ ἐν ἅπασιν ἐπιδείκνυσθαι τὴν αὑτῶν ὠμότητα καὶ μισανθρωπίαν καὶ φιλαπεχθημοσύνην.
315. That was the way our ancestors felt about them. But you, so far from punishing the sycophants, actually set them up as accusers and legislators for the rest of the people. And yet there is reason for detesting them now more than at that time;
315. κἀκεῖνοι μὲν οὕτως ἐγίγνωσκον περὶ αὐτῶν· ὑμεῖς δὲ τοσοῦτον ἀπέχετε τοῦ κολάζειν αὐτούς, ὥστε τούτοις χρῆσθε καὶ κατηγόροις καὶ νομοθέταις περὶ τῶν ἄλλων. καί τοι προσῆκεν αὐτοὺς νῦν μισεῖσθαι μᾶλλον ἢ κατʼ ἐκεῖνον τὸν χρόνον.
316. for then it was only in matters of ordinary routine and in affairs confined to the city that they damaged their country-men. In the meantime, however, the city waxed powerful and seized the empire of the Hellenes, and our fathers, growing more self-assured than was meet for them, began to look with disfavor on those good men and true who had made Athens great, envying them their power, and to crave instead men who were base-born and full of insolence, thinking that by their bravado and contentiousness they would be able to preserve the rule of the people, while because of the meanness of their origin they would not become overweening nor ambitious to overturn the constitution.
316. τότε μὲν γὰρ ἐν τοῖς ἐγκυκλίοις μόνον καὶ τοῖς κατὰ τὴν πόλιν ἔβλαπτον τοὺς συμπολιτευομένους· ἐπειδὴ δʼ αὐξηθείσης τῆς πόλεως καὶ λαβούσης τὴν ἀρχὴν οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν, μᾶλλον θαρρήσαντες τοῦ συμφέροντος, τοῖς μὲν καλοῖς κἀγαθοῖς τῶν ἀνδρῶν καὶ μεγάλην τὴν πόλιν ποιήσασι διὰ τὰς δυναστείας ἐφθόνησαν, πονηρῶν δʼ ἀνθρώπων καὶ μεστῶν θρασύτητος ἐπεθύμησαν, οἰηθέντες ταῖς μὲν τόλμαις καὶ ταῖς φιλαπεχθημοσύναις ἱκανοὺς αὐτοὺς ἔσεσθαι διαφυλάττειν τὴν δημοκρατίαν, διὰ δὲ τὴν φαυλότητα τῶν ἐξ ἀρχῆς αὐτοῖς ὑπαρξάντων οὐ μέγα φρονήσειν οὐδʼ ἐπιθυμήσειν ἑτέρας πολιτείας.
317. And since this change has taken place, what calamity has not been visited upon the city? What great misfortunes have these depraved natures failed to bring to pass through their speech and through their actions?
317. ἐκ ταύτης τῆς μεταβολῆς τί τῶν δεινῶν οὐ συνέπεσε τῇ πόλει, τί δὲ τῶν μεγίστων κακῶν οἱ ταύτην ἔχοντες τὴν φύσιν οὐ καὶ λέγοντες καὶ πράττοντες διετέλεσαν;
318. Have they not taunted the most illustrious of the Athenians—the men who were the best able to benefit the city—with oligarchical and Lacedaemonian sympathies, and never ceased until they have driven them to become in fact what they were charged with being? Have they not by ill-treating our allies, by lodging false complaints against them, by stripping the best of them of their possessions—have they not so disaffected them that they have revolted against us and craved the friendship and alliance of the Lacedaemonians?
318. οὐ τοὺς μὲν ἐνδοξοτάτους τῶν πολιτῶν καὶ μάλιστα δυναμένους ποιῆσαί τι τὴν πόλιν ἀγαθόν, ὀλιγαρχίαν ὀνειδίζοντες καὶ λακωνισμόν, οὐ πρότερον ἐπαύοντο πρὶν ἠνάγκασαν ὁμοίους γενέσθαι ταῖς αἰτίαις ταῖς λεγομέναις περὶ αὐτῶν· τοὺς δὲ συμμάχους λυμαινόμενοι καὶ συκοφαντοῦντες, καὶ τοὺς βελτίστους ἐκ τῶν ὄντων ἐκβάλλοντες, οὕτω διέθεσαν ὥσθʼ ἡμῶν μὲν ἀποστῆναι, τῆς δὲ Λακεδαιμονίων ἐρασθῆναι φιλίας καὶ συμμαχίας;
319. And with what results? We have been plunged into war; we have seen many of our fellow-countrymen suffer, some of them dying in battle, some made prisoners of war, and others reduced to the last extremities of want; we have seen the democracy twice overthrown, the walls which defended our country torn down; and, worst of all, we have seen the whole city in peril of being enslaved, and our enemy encamped on the Acropolis.
319. ἐξ ὧν εἰς πόλεμον καταστάντες πολλοὺς ἐπείδομεν τῶν πολιτῶν τοὺς μὲν τελευτήσαντας, τοὺς δʼ ἐπὶ τοῖς πολεμίοις γενομένους, τοὺς δʼ εἰς ἔνδειαν τῶν ἀναγκαίων καταστάντας, ἔτι δὲ τὴν δημοκρατίαν δὶς καταλυθεῖσαν καὶ τὰ τείχη τῆς πατρίδος κατασκαφέντα, τὸ δὲ μέγιστον, ὅλην τὴν πόλιν περὶ ἀνδραποδισμοῦ κινδυνεύσασαν καὶ τὴν ἀκρόπολιν τοὺς πολεμίους οἰκήσαντας.
320. But I perceive, even though my feelings carry me away, that the water in the clock is giving out, while I myself have fallen into thoughts and recriminations which would exhaust the day. Therefore, I pass over the multitude of calamities which these men have brought upon us; I thrust aside the throng of offenses which we might charge to their infamy, and content myself with just one word before I close.
320. ἀλλὰ γὰρ αἰσθάνομαι, καίπερ ὑπὸ τῆς ὀργῆς βίᾳ φερόμενος, τὸ μὲν ὕδωρ ἡμᾶς ἐπιλεῖπον, αὐτὸς δʼ ἐμπεπτωκὼς εἰς λόγους ἡμερησίους καὶ κατηγορίας. ὑπερβὰς οὖν τὸ πλῆθος τῶν συμφορῶν τῶν διὰ τούτους γεγενημένων, καὶ διωσάμενος τὸν ὄχλον τῶν ἐνόντων εἰπεῖν περὶ τῆς τούτων συκοφαντίας, μικρῶν ἔτι πάνυ μνησθεὶς ἤδη καταλύσω τὸν λόγον.
321. I observe that when others who are placed in jeopardy here come to the end of their defense, they supplicate, they implore, they bring their children and their friends before the jury. I, however, consider that such expedients are unbecoming to one of my age; and, apart from this feeling, I should be ashamed to owe my life to any other plea than to the words which you have just heard. For I know that I have spoken with so just and clear a conscience both towards the city and our ancestors, and above all towards the gods, that if it be true that the gods concern themselves at all with human affairs I am sure that they are not indifferent to my present situation.
321. τοὺς μὲν οὖν ἄλλους ὁρῶ τοὺς κινδυνεύοντας, ἐπειδὰν περὶ τὴν τελευτὴν ὦσι τῆς ἀπολογίας, ἱκετεύοντας, δεομένους, τοὺς παῖδας, τοὺς φίλους ἀναβιβαζομένους· ἐγὼ δὲ οὔτε πρέπειν οὐδὲν ἡγοῦμαι τῶν τοιούτων τοῖς τηλικούτοις, πρός τε τῷ ταῦτα γιγνώσκειν, αἰσχυνθείην ἄν, εἰ διʼ ἄλλο τι σωζοίμην ἢ διὰ τοὺς λόγους τοὺς προειρημένους. οἶδα γὰρ ἐμαυτὸν οὕτως ὁσίως καὶ δικαίως κεχρημένον αὐτοῖς καὶ περὶ τὴν πόλιν καὶ περὶ τοὺς προγόνους καὶ μάλιστα περὶ τοὺς θεούς, ὥστε, εἴ τι μέλει τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων αὐτοῖς πραγμάτων, οὐδὲ τῶν νῦν περὶ ἐμὲ γιγνομένων οὐδὲν αὐτοὺς οἶμαι λανθάνειν.
322. Wherefore, I have no fear of what may come to me at your hands; nay, I am of good courage and have every confidence that when I close my life it will be when it is best for me; for I take it as a good sign that all my past life up to this day has been such as is the due of righteous and god-fearing men.
322. διόπερ οὐκ ὀρρωδῶ τὸ μέλλον συμβήσεσθαι παρʼ ὑμῶν, ἀλλὰ θαρρῶ καὶ πολλὰς ἐλπίδας ἔχω τότε μοι τοῦ βίου τὴν τελευτὴν ἥξειν, ὅταν μέλλῃ συνοίσειν ἡμῖν, σημείῳ χρώμενος ὅτι καὶ τὸν παρελθόντα χρόνον οὕτω τυγχάνω βεβιωκὼς μέχρι ταύτης τῆς ἡμέρας, ὥς περ προσήκει τοὺς εὐσεβεῖς καὶ θεοφιλεῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων.
323. Being assured, therefore, that I am of this mind, and that I believe that whatever you decide will be for my good and to my advantage, let each one cast his vote as he pleases and is inclined.
323. ὡς οὖν ἐμοῦ ταύτην ἔχοντος τὴν γνώμην, καὶ νομίζοντος ὅ τι ἂν ὑμῖν δόξῃ, τοῦθʼ ἕξειν μοι καλῶς καὶ συμφερόντως, ὅπως ἕκαστος ὑμῶν χαίρει καὶ βούλεται, τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον φερέτω τὴν ψῆφον.