1. SOCRATES: Pelt, pelt the scoundrel with plenty of stones! Heap him with clods! Pile him up with broken dishes, too! Beat the blackguard with your sticks! Look out he doesn’t get away! Throw, Plato; you too, Chrysippus; you too; everybody at once! Let’s charge him together. “Let wallet to wallet give succour, and cudgel to cudgel,” for he is our joint enemy, and there is not a man of us whom he has not outraged. Diogenes, ply your stick, if ever you did before; let none of you weaken; let him pay the penalty for his ribaldry. What is this? Have yon given out, Epicurus and Aristippus? Come, that is too bad!Show yourselves men, ye sages, and call up the fury of battle.
1. Σωκράτης: βάλλε βάλλε τὸν κατάρατον ἀφθόνοις τοῖς λίθοις· ἐπίβαλλε τῶν βώλων· προσεπίβαλλε καὶ τῶν ὀστράκων· παῖε τοῖς ξύλοις τὸν ἀλιτήριον· ὅρα μὴ διαφύγῃ· καὶ σὺ βάλλε, ὦ Πλάτων· καὶ σύ, ὦ Χρύσιππε, καὶ σὺ δέ, καὶ πάντες ἅμα· συνασπίσωμεν ἐπʼ αὐτόν, ὡς πήρη πήρῃφιν ἀρήγῃ, βάκτρα δὲ βάκτροις, κοινὸς γὰρ πολέμιος, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἡμῶν ὅντινα οὐχ ὕβρικε. σὺ δέ, ὦ Διόγενες, εἴ ποτε καὶ ἄλλοτε, χρῶ τῷ ξύλῳ· μηδὲ ἀνῆτε· διδότω τὴν ἀξίαν βλάσφημος ὤν. τί τοῦτο; κεκμήκατε, ὦ Ἐπίκουρε καὶ Ἀρίστιππε; καὶ μὴν οὐκ ἐχρῆν. ἀνέρες ἔστε, σοφοί, μνήσασθε δὲ θούριδος ὀργῆς.
2. SOCRATES: Aristotle, make haste! Still faster! That’s well; the game is bagged. We have you, villain! you shall soon find out what sort of men you have been insulting. But how are we to punish him, to be sure? Let us invent a complex death for him, such as to satisfy us all; in fact he deserves to die seven times over for each of us. PHILOSOPHER: I suggest he be crucified. ANOTHER: Yes, by Heaven; but flogged beforehand. ANOTHER: Let him have his eyes put out long beforehand ANOTHER: Let him have that tongue of his cut off, even longer beforehand.
2. Σωκράτης: Ἀριστότελες, ἐπισπούδασον· ἔτι θᾶττον. εὖ ἔχει· ἑάλωκεν τὸ θηρίον. εἰλήφαμέν σε, ὦ μιαρέ. εἴσῃ γοῦν αὐτίκα οὕστινας ἡμᾶς ὄντας ἐκακηγόρεις. τῷ τρόπῳ δέ τις αὐτὸν καὶ μετέλθῃ; ποικίλον γάρ τινα θάνατον ἐπινοῶμεν κατʼ αὐτοῦ πᾶσιν ἡμῖν ἐξαρκέσαι δυνάμενον· καθʼ ἕκαστον γοῦν ἑπτάκις δίκαιός ἐστιν ἀπολωλέναι. Φιλόσοφος: ἐμοὶ μὲν ἀνασκολοπισθῆναι δοκεῖ αὐτόν. Ἄλλος1: νὴ Δία, μαστιγωθέντα γε πρότερον. Ἄλλος2: πολὺ πρότερον τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἐκκεκολάφθω. Ἄλλος3: τὴν γλῶτταν αὐτὴν ἔτι πολὺ πρότερον ἀποτετμήσθω.
SOCRATES: And you, Empedocles—what do you suggest? EMPEDOCLES: That he be thrown into my crater, so that he may learn not to abuse his betters.
Σωκράτης: σοὶ δὲ τί, Ἐμπεδόκλεις, δοκεῖ; Ἐμπεδοκλῆς: εἰς τοὺς κρατῆρας ἐμπεσεῖν αὐτόν, ὡς μάθῃ μὴ λοιδορεῖσθαι τοῖς κρείττοσιν.
PLATO: Indeed, the best suggestion would have been for him, like another Pentheus or Orpheus, “To find among the crags a riven doom,” so that each of us might have gone off with a scrap of him.
Πλάτων: καὶ μὴν ἄριστον ἦν καθάπερ τινὰ Πενθέα ἢ Ὀρφέα λακιστὸν ἐν πέτραισιν εὑρέσθαι μόρον, ἵνα ἂν καὶ τὸ μέρος αὐτοῦ ἕκαστος ἔχων ἀπηλλάττετο.
3. FRANKNESS: No, no! In the name of Him who hears the suppliant, spare me!
3. Παρρησιάδης: μηδαμῶς· ἀλλὰ πρὸς Ἱκεσίου φείσασθέ μου.
PLATO: Your doom is sealed: you cannot be let go now. You know, of course, what Homer says:Since between lions and men there exist no bonds of alliance.
Πλάτων: Ἄραρεν· οὐκ ἂν ἀφεθείης ἔτι. ὁρᾷς δὲ δὴ καὶ τὸν Ὅμηρον ἅ φησιν, ὡς οὐκ ἔστι λέουσι καὶ ἀνδράσιν ὅρκια πιστά.
FRANKNESS: Indeed, I myself will quote Homer in begging you for mercy. Perhaps you will revere his verses and will not ignore me when I have recited them:Save me, for I am no churl, and I receive what is fitting in ransom,Copper and gold, that in truth are desirable even to sages.
Παρρησιάδης: καὶ μὴν καθʼ Ὅμηρον ὑμᾶς καὶ αὐτὸς ἱκετεύσω· αἰδέσεσθε γὰρ ἴσως τὰ ἔπη καὶ οὐ παρόψεσθε ῥαψῳδήσαντά με·ζωγρεῖτʼ οὐ κακὸν ἄνδρα καὶ ἄξια δέχθε ἄποινα,χαλκόν τε χρυσόν τε, τὰ δὴ φιλέουσι σοφοί περ.
PLATO: But we ourselves shall not be at a loss for a Homeric reply to you; listen to this, for instance:Think not now in your heart of escape, you speaker of slander,Even by talking of gold, oncé into our hands you have fallen.
Πλάτων: ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ ἡμεῖς ἀπορήσομεν πρὸς σὲ Ὁμηρικῆς ἀντιλογίας. ἄκουε γοῦν·μὴ δή μοι φύξιν γε, κακηγόρε, βάλλεο θυμῷχρυσόν περ λέξας, ἐπεὶ ἵκεο χεῖρας ἐς ἀμάς.
FRANKNESS: Oh, what wretched luck! Homer, in whom I had my greatest hope, is useless to me. I suppose I must take refuge with Euripides; perhaps he might save me:Slay not! The suppliant thou shalt not skay.
Παρρησιάδης: οἴμοι τῶν κακῶν. ὁ μὲν Ὅμηρος ἡμῖν ἄπρακτος, ἡ μεγίστη ἐλπίς. ἐπὶ τὸν Εὐριπίδην δή μοι καταφευκτέον· τάχα γὰρ ἂν ἐκεῖνος σώσειέ με. μὴ κτεῖνε· τὸν ἱκέτην γὰρ οὐ θέμις κτανεῖν.
PLATO: Ah, but is not this by Euripides, too?No harm for them that wrought to suffer harm.
Πλάτων: τί δέ; οὐχὶ κἀκεῖνα Εὐριπίδου ἐστίν, οὐ δεινὰ πάσχειν δεινὰ τοὺς εἰργασμένους;
FRANKNESS:hen will ye slay me now, because of words?
Παρρησιάδης: νῦν οὖν ἕκατι ῥημάτων κτενεῖτέ με;
PLATO: Yes, by Heaven! Anyhow, he himself says:Of mouths that are curblessAnd fools that are lawlessThe end is mischance.
Πλάτων: νὴ Δία· φησὶ γοῦν ἐκεῖνος αὐτός,ἀχαλίνων στομάτωνἀνόμου τʼ ἀφροσύναςτὸ τέλος δυστυχία.
4. FRANKNESS: Well, then, as you are absolutely determined to kill me and there is no possibility of my escaping, do tell me at least who you are and what irreparable injuries you have received from me that you’ are irreconcilably angry and have seized me for execution.
4. Παρρησιάδης: οὐκοῦν ἐπεὶ δέδοκται πάντως ἀποκτιννύναι καὶ οὐδεμία μηχανὴ τὸ διαφυγεῖν με, φέρε τοῦτο γοῦν εἴπατέ μοι, τίνες ὄντες ἢ τί πεπονθότες ἀνήκεστον πρὸς ἡμῶν ἀμείλικτα ὀργίζεσθε καὶ ἐπὶ θανάτῳ συνειλήφατε;
PLATO: What dreadful wrongs you have done us you may ask yourself, you rascal, and those precious dialogues of yours in which you not only spoke abusively of Philosophy herself, but insulted us by advertising for sale, as if in a slave-market, men who are learned, and what is more, free-born. Indignant at this, we requested a brief leave of absence from Pluto and have come up to get you—Chrysippus here, Epicurus, Plato (myself), Aristotle over there, Pythagoras here, who says nothing, Diogenes, and everyone that you vilified in your dialogues.
Πλάτων: ἅτινα μὲν εἴργασαι ἡμᾶς τὰ δεινά, σεαυτὸν ἐρώτα, ὦ κάκιστε, καὶ τοὺς καλοὺς ἐκείνους σου λόγους ἐν οἷς φιλοσοφίαν τε αὐτὴν κακῶς ἠγόρευες καὶ εἰς ἡμᾶς ὕβριζες, ὥσπερ ἐξ ἀγορᾶς ἀποκηρύττων σοφοὺς ἄνδρας, καὶ τὸ μέγιστον, ἐλευθέρους· ἐφʼ οἷς ἀγανακτήσαντες ἀνεληλύθαμεν ἐπὶ σὲ παραιτησάμενοι πρὸς ὀλίγον τὸν Ἀϊδωνέα, Χρύσιππος οὑτοσὶ καὶ Ἐπίκουρος καὶ ὁ Πλάτων ἐγὼ καὶ Ἀριστοτέλης ἐκεῖνος καὶ ὁ σιωπῶν οὗτος Πυθαγόρας καὶ Διογένης καὶ ἅπαντες ὁπόσους διέσυρες ἐν τοῖς λόγοις.
5. FRANKNESS: I breathe again, for you will not put me to death if you understand how I have acted as regards you. So throw away your stones; or better, keep them. You will make use of them against those who deserve them.
5. Παρρησιάδης: ἀνέπνευσα· οὐ γὰρ ἀποκτενεῖτέ με, ἢν μάθητε ὁποῖος ἐγὼ περὶ ὑμᾶς ἐγενόμην· ὥστε ἀπορρίψατε τοὺς λίθους, μᾶλλον δὲ φυλάττετε. χρήσεσθε γὰρ αὐτοῖς κατὰ τῶν ἀξίων.
PLATO: Nonsense: you must die to-day. Yes, forthwithDon your tunic of stone on account of the wrongs you have done us!
Πλάτων: ληρεῖς. σὲ δὲ χρὴ τήμερον ἀπολωλέναι, καὶ ἤδη γε λάϊνον ἕσσο χιτῶνα κακῶν ἕνεχʼ ὅσσα ἔοργας.
FRANKNESS: Truly, gentlemen, you will put to death, you may depend upon it, the one man in the world whom you ought to commend as your friend, well-wisher, comrade in thought, and, if it be not in bad taste to say so, the defender of your teachings, if you put me to death after I have laboured so earnestly in your behalf. Take care, then, that you yourselves are not acting like most of our present-day philosophers by showing yourselves ungrateful and hasty and inconsiderate toward a benefactor.
Παρρησιάδης: καὶ μήν, Ὢ ἄριστοι, ὃν ἐχρῆν μόνον ἐξ ἁπάντων ἐπαινεῖν οἰκεῖόν τε ὑμῖν ὄντα καὶ εὔνουν καὶ ὁμογνώμονα καί, εἰ μὴ φορτικὸν εἰπεῖν, κηδεμόνα τῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων εὖ ἴστε ἀποκτενοῦντες, ἢν ἐμὲ ἀποκτείνητε τοσαῦτα ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν πεπονηκότα. ὁρᾶτε οὖν μὴ κατὰ τοὺς πολλοὺς τῶν νῦν φιλοσόφων αὐτοὶ ποιεῖτε, ἀχάριστοι καὶ ὀργίλοι καὶ ἀγνώμονες φαινόμενοι πρὸς ἄνδρα εὐεργέτην.
PLATO: O what impudence! So we really owe you gratitude for your abuse, into the bargain? Are you so convinced that you are truly talking to slaves? Will you actually set yourself down as our benefactor, on top of all your insolent and intemperate language?
Πλάτων: Ὢ τῆς ἀναισχυντίας. καὶ χάριν σοι τῆς κακηγορίας προσοφείλομεν; οὕτως ἀνδραπόδοις ὡς ἀληθῶς οἴει διαλέγεσθαι; ἢ καὶ εὐεργεσίαν καταλογιῇ πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἐπὶ τῇ τοσαύτῃ ὕβρει καὶ παροινίᾳ τῶν λόγων;
6. FRANKNESS: Where, pray, and when have I insulted you? I have always consistently admired philosophy and extolled you and lived on intimate terms with the writings that you have left behind. These very phrases that I utter—where else but from you did I get them? Culling them like a bee, I make my show with them before men, who applaud and recognize where and from whom and how I gathered each flower; and although ostensibly it is I whom they admire for the bouquet, as a matter of fact it is you and your garden, because you have put forth such blossoms, so gay and varied in their hues—if one but knows how to select and interweave and combine them so that they will not be out of harmony with one another. Would any man, after receiving this kindly treatment at your hands,-attempt to speak ill of benefactors to whom he owes his reputation? Not unless he be like Thamyris or Eurytus in his nature, so as to raise his voice against the Muses from whom he had the gift of song, or to match himself against Apollo in archery—and he the giver of the bow!
6. Παρρησιάδης: ποῦ γὰρ ἐγὼ ὑμᾶς ἢ πότε ὕβρικα, ὃς ἀεὶ φιλοσοφίαν τε θαυμάζων διατετέλεκα καὶ ὑμᾶς αὐτοὺς ὑπερεπαινῶν καὶ τοῖς λόγοις οἷς καταλελοίπατε ὁμιλῶν; αὐτὰ γοῦν ἅ φημι ταῦτα, πόθεν ἄλλοθεν ἢ παρʼ ὑμῶν λαβὼν καὶ κατὰ τὴν μέλιτταν ἀπανθισάμενος ἐπιδείκνυμαι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις; οἱ δὲ ἐπαινοῦσι καὶ γνωρίζουσιν ἕκαστον τὸ ἄνθος ὅθεν καὶ παρʼ ὅτου καὶ ὅπως ἀνελεξάμην, καὶ λόγῳ μὲν ἐμὲ ζηλοῦσι τῆς ἀνθολογίας, τὸ δʼ ἀληθὲς ὑμᾶς καὶ τὸν λειμῶνα τὸν ὑμέτερον, οἳ τοιαῦτα ἐξηνθήκατε ποικίλα καὶ πολυειδῆ τὰς βαφάς, εἴ τις ἀναλέξασθαί τε αὐτὰ ἐπίσταιτο καὶ ἀναπλέξαι καὶ ἁρμόσαι, ὡς μὴ ἀπᾴδειν θάτερον θατέρου. ἔσθʼ ὅστις οὖν ταῦτα εὖ πεπονθὼς παρʼ ὑμῶν κακῶς ἂν εἰπεῖν ἐπιχειρήσειεν εὐεργέτας ἄνδρας, ἀφʼ ὧν εἶναί τις ἔδοξεν; ἐκτὸς εἰ μὴ κατὰ τὸν Θάμυριν ἢ τὸν Εὔρυτον εἴη τὴν φύσιν, ὡς ταῖς Μούσαις ἀντᾴδειν, παρʼ ὧν εἴληφε τὴν ᾠδήν, ἢ τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι ἐριδαίνειν ἐναντία τοξεύων, καὶ ταῦτα δοτῆρι ὄντι τῆς τοξικῆς.
7. PLATO: That speech of yours is good rhetoric, my fine fellow; but it is directly against your case and only makes your presumptuousness appear more staggering, since ingratitude is now added to injustice. For you got your shafts from us, as you admit, and then turned them against us, making it your only aim to speak ill of us all. That is the way you have paid us for opening that garden to you and not forbidding you to pick flowers and go away with your arms full. For that reason, then, above all else, you deserve to die.
7. Πλάτων: τοῦτο μέν, ὦ γενναῖε, κατὰ τοὺς ῥήτορας εἴρηταί σοι· ἐναντιώτατον δʼ οὖν ἐστι τῷ πράγματι καὶ χαλεπωτέραν σου ἐπιδείκνυσι τὴν τόλμαν, εἴ γε τῇ ἀδικίᾳ καὶ ἀχαριστία πρόσεστιν, ὃς παρʼ ἡμῶν τὰ τοξεύματα, ὡς φής, λαβὼν καθʼ ἡμῶν ἐτόξευες, ἕνα τοῦτον ὑποθέμενος τὸν σκοπόν, ἅπαντας ἡμᾶς ἀγορεύειν κακῶς· τοιαῦτα παρὰ σοῦ ἀπειλήφαμεν ἀνθʼ ὧν σοι τὸν λειμῶνα ἐκεῖνον ἀναπετάσαντες οὐκ ἐκωλύομεν δρέπεσθαι καὶ τὸ προκόλπιον ἐμπλησάμενον ἀπελθεῖν· ὥστε διά γε τοῦτο μάλιστα δίκαιος ἂν εἴης ἀποθανεῖν.
8. FRANKNESS: See! You give me an angry-hearing, and you reject every just plea! Yet I should never have supposed that anger could affect. Plato or Chrysippus or Aristotle or the rest of you; it seemed to me that you, and you alone, were surely far away from anything of that kind. But, however that may be, my masters, do not put me to death unsentenced and unheard. This too was once a trait of yours, not to deal with fellow-citizens on a basis of force and superior strength, but to settle your differences by course of law, according, a hearing and in your turn receiving one. So let us choose a judge, and then you may bring your complaint either jointly or through anyone whom you may elect to represent you all; and I will defend.myself against your charges. Then, if I am proven guilty, and the court passes that verdict upon me, I will submit, of course, to the punishment that I deserve, and you will not have taken it upon yourselves to do anything high-handed. But if after I have undergone my investigation I am found innocent and irreproachable, the jury will discharge me, and you will turn your anger against those who nave misled you and set you against me.
8. Παρρησιάδης: ὁρᾶτε· πρὸς ὀργὴν ἀκούετε καὶ οὐδὲν τῶν δικαίων προσίεσθε. καίτοι οὐκ ἂν ᾠήθην ποτὲ ὡς ὀργὴ Πλάτωνος ἢ Χρυσίππου ἢ Ἀριστοτέλους ἢ τῶν ἄλλων ὑμῶν καθίκοιτο ἄν, ἀλλά μοι ἐδοκεῖτε μόνοι δὴ πόρρω εἶναι τοῦ τοιούτου. πλὴν ἀλλὰ μὴ ἄκριτόν γε, ὦ θαυμάσιοι, μηδὲ πρὸ δίκης ἀποκτείνητέ με. ὑμέτερον γοῦν καὶ τοῦτο ἦν, μὴ βίᾳ μηδὲ κατὰ τὸ ἰσχυρότερον πολιτεύεσθαι, δίκῃ δὲ τὰ διάφορα λύεσθαι διδόντας λόγον καὶ δεχομένους ἐν τῷ μέρει. ὥστε δικαστὴν ἑλόμενοι κατηγορήσατε μὲν ὑμεῖς ἢ ἅμα πάντες ἢ ὅντινα ἂν χειροτονήσητε ὑπὲρ ἁπάντων, ἐγὼ δὲ ἀπολογήσομαι πρὸς τὰ ἐγκλήματα. κᾆτα ἢν μέν τι ἀδικῶν φαίνωμαι καὶ τοῦτο περὶ ἐμοῦ γνῷ τὸ δικαστήριον, ὑφέξω δηλαδὴ τὴν ἀξίαν· ὑμεῖς δὲ βίαιον οὐδὲν τολμήσετε· ἢν δὲ τὰς εὐθύνας ὑποσχὼν καθαρὸς ὑμῖν καὶ ἀνεπίληπτος εὑρίσκωμαι, ἀφήσουσί με οἱ δικασταί, ὑμεῖς δὲ εἰς τοὺς ἐξαπατήσαντας ὑμᾶς καὶ παροξύναντας καθʼ ἡμῶν τὴν ὀργὴν τρέψετε.
9. PLATO: There we have it! “Cavalry into the open,” so that you may give the slip to the jury and get away. At any rate, they say that you are an orator and a lawyer and a wizard at making speeches. And whom do you wish to be judge, what is more? It must be someone whom you cannot influence by a bribe, as your sort often do, to cast an unjust ballot in your favour.
9. Πλάτων: τοῦτʼ ἐκεῖνο· εἰς πεδίον τὸν ἵππον, ὡς παρακρουσάμενος τοὺς δικαστὰς ἀπέλθῃς. φασὶ γοῦν ῥήτορά σε καὶ δικανικόν τινα εἶναι καὶ πανοῦργον ἐν τοῖς λόγοις. τίνα δὲ καὶ δικαστὴν ἐθέλεις γενέσθαι, ὅντινα μὴ σὺ δωροδοκήσας, οἷα πολλὰ ποιεῖτε, ἄδικα πείσεις ὑπὲρ σοῦ ψηφίσασθαι;
FRANKNESS: Do not be alarmed on that score. I should not care to have any such referee of suspicious or doubtful character, who would sell me his vote. See, for my part I nominate Philosophy herself to the bench, and you yourselves also!
Παρρησιάδης: θαρρεῖτε τούτου γε ἕνεκα· οὐδένα τοιοῦτον διαιτητὴν ὕποπτον ἢ ἀμφίβολον ἀξιώσαιμʼ ἂν γενέσθαι καὶ ὅστις ἀποδώσεταί μοι τὴν ψῆφον. ὁρᾶτε γοῦν, τὴν Φιλοσοφίαν αὐτὴν μεθʼ ὑμῶν ποιοῦμαι δικάστριαν ἔγωγε.
PLATO: And who can conduct the prosecution if we are to be jurors?
Πλάτων: καὶ τίς ἂν κατηγορήσειεν, εἴ γε ἡμεῖς δικάσομεν;
FRANKNESS: Be prosecutors and jurors at the same time. Even that arrangement has no terrors for me, since I have so much the better of you in the justice of my case and expect to be so over-stocked with pleas.
Παρρησιάδης: οἱ αὐτοὶ κατηγορεῖτε καὶ δικάζετε· οὐδὲν οὐδὲ τοῦτο δέδια. τοσοῦτον ὑπερφέρω τοῖς δικαίοις καὶ ἐκ περιουσίας ἀπολογήσεσθαι ὑπολαμβάνω.
10. PLATO: What shall we do, Pythagoras and Socrates? Really, the man seems to be making a reasonable request in demanding a trial.
10. Πλάτων: τί ποιοῦμεν, ὦ Πυθαγόρα καὶ Σώκρατες; ἔοικε γὰρ ἁνὴρ οὐκ ἄλογα προκαλεῖσθαι δικάζεσθαι ἀξιῶν.
SOCRATES: What can we do but go to court, taking Philosophy _ with us, and hear his defence, whatever it may be. Prejudgment is not our way; it is terribly unprofessional, characteristic of hot-headed fellows who hold that might is right. We shall lay ourselves open to hard words from those who like to deal in them if we stone a man who has had no opportunity even to plead his case, especially as we ourselves maintain that we delight in just dealing. What could we say of Anytus and Meletus, who prosecuted me, or of the jurors on that occasion, if this fellow is to die without getting any hearing at all?
Σωκράτης: τί δὲ ἄλλο ἢ βαδίζωμεν ἐπὶ τὸ δικαστήριον καὶ τὴν Φιλοσοφίαν παραλαβόντες ἀκούσωμεν ὅ τι καὶ ἀπολογήσεται· τὸ πρὸ δίκης γὰρ οὐχ ἡμέτερον, ἀλλὰ δεινῶς ἰδιωτικόν, ὀργίλων τινῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ τὸ δίκαιον ἐν τῇ χειρὶ τιθεμένων. παρέξομεν οὖν ἀφορμὰς τοῖς κακηγορεῖν ἐθέλουσιν καταλεύσαντες ἄνδρα μηδὲ ἀπολογησάμενον ὑπὲρ ἑαυτοῦ, καὶ ταῦτα δικαιοσύνῃ χαίρειν αὐτοὶ λέγοντες. ἢ τί ἂν εἴποιμεν Ἀνύτον καὶ Μελήτου πέρι, τῶν ἐμοῦ κατηγορησάντων, ἢ τῶν τότε δικαστῶν, εἰ οὗτος τεθνήξεται μηδὲ τὸ παράπαν ὕδατος μεταλαβών;
PLATO: Excellent advice, Socrates; so let us go and get Philosophy. She shall judge, and we shall be content with her decision, whatever it may be.
Πλάτων: ἄριστα παραινεῖς, ὦ Σώκρατες· ὥστε ἀπίωμεν ἐπὶ τὴν Φιλοσοφίαν. ἡ δὲ δικασάτω, καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀγαπήσομεν οἷς ἂν ἐκείνη διαγνῷ.
11. FRANKNESS: Well done, most learned sirs; this course is better and more legal. Keep your stones, however, as I said; for you will need them presently at court. But where is Philosophy to be found? For my part I do not know where she lives. Yet I wandered very long in search of her dwelling, so that I might study with her. Then I met men with short cloaks and long beards who professed to come directly from her; and thinking that they knew, I questioned them. But they were far more at a loss than I, and either made no answer, in order that they might not ‘be convicted of ignorance, or else pointed out one door after another. Even to this day I have been unable to find her house.
11. Παρρησιάδης: εὖ γε, ὦ σοφώτατοι, ἀμείνω ταῦτα καὶ νομιμώτερα. τοὺς μέντοι λίθους φυλάττετε, ὡς ἔφην· δεήσει γὰρ αὐτῶν μικρὸν ὕστερον ἐν τῷ δικαστηρίῳ. ποῦ δὲ τὴν Φιλοσοφίαν εὕροι τις ἄν; οὐ γὰρ οἶδα ἔνθα οἰκεῖ· καίτοι πάνυ πολὺν ἐπλανήθην χρόνον ἀναζητῶν τὴν οἰκίαν, ὡς συγγενοίμην αὐτῇ. εἶτα ἐντυγχάνων ἄν τισι τριβώνια περιβεβλημένοις καὶ πώγωνας βαθεῖς καθειμένοις παρʼ αὐτῆς ἐκείνης ἥκειν φάσκουσιν, οἰόμενος εἰδέναι αὐτοὺς ἀνηρώτων· οἱ δὲ πολὺ μᾶλλον ἐμοῦ ἀγνοοῦντες ἢ οὐδὲν ὅλως ἀπεκρίναντό μοι, ὡς μὴ ἐλέγχοιντο οὐκ εἰδότες, ἢ ἄλλην θύραν ἀντʼ ἄλλης ἐπεδείκνυον. οὐδέπω γοῦν καὶ τήμερον ἐξευρεῖν δεδύνημαι τὴν οἰκίαν.
12. FRANKNESS: Often, either by guesswork on my own part or under the guidance of someone else; I would go to a door in the firm belief that at last I had found it, drawing my conclusion from the number of men that came and went, all solemn of countenance, decorous in dress, and studious in looks. So I would thrust myself among them and enter also. Then I always saw a hussy who was far from ingenuous, however much she strove to bring herself into harmony with simplicity and plainness. On the contrary, I perceived at once that she did not leave the apparent disorder of her hair unenhanced by art, nor let her mantle hang about her in unstudied folds. It was patent that she used it all asa make-up and employed her seeming negligence to heighten her attractiveness. There were also evidences of enamel and rouge; her talk was quite that of a courtesan; she delighted in being praised by her lovers for her beauty; she took eagerly any presents that were offered; and she would let her wealthy lovers sit close beside her, but would not even look at those who were poor. And often when she exposed her throat as if by accident, I saw gold necklaces thicker than shackles. Qn observing all this I would withdraw at once, pitying, as you may well believe, those poor unfortunates whom she was leading, not by the nose, but by the beard, and who, like Ixion, embraced but a phantom and not Hera.
12. Παρρησιάδης: πολλάκις δὲ ἢ αὐτὸς εἰκάσας ἢ ξεναγήσαντός τινος ἧκον ἂν ἐπί τινας θύρας βεβαίως ἐλπίσας τότε γοῦν εὑρηκέναι, τεκμαιρόμενος τῷ πλήθει τῶν εἰσιόντων τε καὶ ἐξιόντων, ἁπάντων σκυθρωπῶν καὶ τὰ σχήματα εὐσταλῶν καὶ φροντιστικῶν τὴν πρόσοψιν· μετὰ τούτων οὖν συμπαραβυσθεὶς καὶ αὐτὸς εἰσῆλθον ἄν. εἶτα ἑώρων γύναιόν τι οὐχ ἁπλοϊκόν, εἰ καὶ ὅτι μάλιστα εἰς τὸ ἀφελὲς καὶ ἀκόσμητον ἑαυτὴν ἐπερρύθμιζεν, ἀλλὰ κατεφάνη μοι αὐτίκα οὐδὲ τὸ ἄνετον δοκοῦν τῆς κόμης ἀκαλλώπιστον ἐῶσα οὐδὲ τοῦ ἱματίου τὴν ἀναβολὴν ἀνεπιτηδεύτως περιστέλλουσα· πρόδηλος δὲ ἦν κοσμουμένη αὐτοῖς καὶ πρὸς εὐπρέπειαν τῷ ἀθεραπεύτῳ δοκοῦντι προσχρωμένη. ὑπεφαίνετο δέ τι καὶ ψιμύθιον καὶ φῦκος, καὶ τὰ ῥήματα πάνυ ἑταιρικά, καὶ ἐπαινουμένη ὑπὸ τῶν ἐραστῶν εἰς κάλλος ἔχαιρε, καὶ εἰ δοίη τις προχείρως ἐδέχετο, καὶ τοὺς πλουσιωτέρους ἂν παρακαθισαμένη πλησίον τοὺς πένητας τῶν ἐραστῶν οὐδὲ προσέβλεπεν. πολλάκις δὲ καὶ γυμνωθείσης αὐτῆς κατὰ τὸ ἀκούσιον ἑώρων περιδέραια χρυσᾶ τῶν κλοιῶν παχύτερα. ταῦτα ἰδὼν ἐπὶ πόδα ἂν εὐθὺς ἀνέστρεφον, οἰκτείρας δηλαδὴ τοὺς κακοδαίμονας ἐκείνους ἑλκομένους πρὸς αὐτῆς οὐ τῆς ῥινὸς ἀλλὰ τοῦ πώγωνος καὶ κατὰ τὸν Ἰξίονα εἰδώλῳ ἀντὶ τῆς Ἥρας συνόντας.
13. PLATO: You are right in one point: the door is not conspicuous and not known to all. However, there will be no need to go to her house. We shall wait for her here in the Potters’ Quarter. She will come here presently, no doubt, on her way back from the Academy, to stroll in the Painted Porch also, for it is her custom to do so every day. In fact, here she comes now. Do you see her, the mannerly one, the one in the mantle, soft of eye, walking slowly, rapt in thought?
13. Πλάτων: τοῦτο μὲν ὀρθῶς ἔλεξας· οὐ γὰρ πρόδηλος οὐδὲ πᾶσι γνώριμος ἡ θύρα. πλὴν ἀλλὰ οὐδὲν δεήσει βαδίζειν ἐπὶ τὴν οἰκίαν· ἐνταῦθα γὰρ ἐν Κεραμεικῷ ὑπομενοῦμεν αὐτήν. ἡ δὲ ἤδη που ἀφίξεται ἐπανιοῦσα ἐξ Ἀκαδημίας, ὡς περιπατήσειε καὶ ἐν τῇ Ποικίλῃ· τοῦτο γὰρ ὁσημέραι ποιεῖν ἔθος αὐτῇ· μᾶλλον δὲ ἤδη πρόσεισιν. ὁρᾷς τὴν κόσμιον, τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ σχήματος, τὴν προσηνῆ τὸ βλέμμα, τὴν ἐπὶ συννοίας ἠρέμα βαδίζουσαν;
FRANKNESS: I see many who are alike in mantle, walk, and fashion. Yet surely only one, even among then, is the true Philosophy.
Παρρησιάδης: πολλὰς ὁμοίας ὁρῶ τό γε σχῆμα καὶ τὸ βάδισμα καὶ τὴν ἀναβολήν. καίτοι μία πάντως ἥ γε ἀληθὴς Φιλοσοφία καὶ ἐν αὐταῖς.
PLATO: Right, but she will show you who she is, just by speaking.
Πλάτων: εὖ λέγεις. ἀλλὰ δηλώσει ἥτις ἐστὶ φθεγξαμένη μόνον.
14. PHILOSOPHY: Ah! What are you all doing in the upper world, Plato and Chrysippus and Aristotle and the rest of you, the very fore-front of my studies? Why have you come back to life? Did anything in the underworld ‘distress you? You certainly appear to be angry. And who is this man whom you have taken into custody? Some ghoul or murderer or profaner of holiness, I suppose.
14. Φιλοσοφία: παπαῖ· τί Πλάτων καὶ Χρύσιππος ἄνω καὶ Ἀριστοτέλης καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ ἅπαντες, αὐτὰ δὴ τὰ κεφάλαιά μου τῶν μαθημάτων; τί αὖθις εἰς τὸν βίον; ἆρά τι ὑμᾶς ἐλύπει τῶν κάτω; ὀργιζομένοις γοῦν ἐοίκατε. καὶ τίνα τοῦτον συλλαβόντες ἄγετε; ἦ που τυμβωρύχος τις ἢ ἀνδροφόνος ἢ ἱερόσυλός ἐστιν;
PLATO: “Yes, indeed, Philosophy, the most impious of all profaners, for he made bold to speak ill of you, than whom nothing is more holy, and of us, one and all, who learned something from you and have left it to those who came after us.
Πλάτων: νὴ Δία, ὦ Φιλοσοφία, πάντων γε ἱεροσύλων ἀσεβέστατος, ὃς τὴν ἱερωτάτην σὲ κακῶς ἀγορεύειν ἐπεχείρησεν καὶ ἡμᾶς ἅπαντας, ὁπόσοι τι παρὰ σοῦ μαθόντες τοῖς μεθʼ ἡμᾶς καταλελοίπαμεν.
PHILOSOPHY: Then it made you angry to be vituperated? And yet you knew that in spite of the hard names which Comedy calls me during the festival of Dionysus, I have held her my friend, and neither sued her at law nor berated her in private, but permit her to make the fun that is in keeping and customary at the festival. I am aware, you see, that no harm can be done by a joke; that, on the contrary, whatever is beautiful shines brighter and becomes more conspicuous, like gold cleansed by its minting. But you, for some reason or other, have grown hot-tempered and violent. Tell me, why do you throttle him?
Φιλοσοφία: εἶτα ἠγανακτήσατε λοιδορησαμένου τινός, καὶ ταῦτα εἰδότες ἐμέ, οἷα πρὸς τῆς Κωμῳδίας ἀκούουσα ἐν Διονυσίοις ὅμως φίλην τε αὐτὴν ἥγημαι καὶ οὔτε ἐδικασάμην οὔτε ᾐτιασάμην προσελθοῦσα, ἐφίημι δὲ παίζειν τὰ εἰκότα καὶ τὰ συνήθη τῇ ἑορτῇ; οἶδα γὰρ ὡς οὐκ ἄν τι ὑπὸ σκώμματος χεῖρον γένοιτο, ἀλλὰ τοὐναντίον ὅπερ ἂν ᾖ καλόν, ὥσπερ τὸ χρυσίον ἀποσμώμενον τοῖς κόμμασι, λαμπρότερον ἀποστίλβει καὶ φανερώτερον γίγνεται. ὑμεῖς δὲ οὐκ οἶδα ὅπως ὀργίλοι καὶ ἀγανακτικοὶ γεγόνατε. τί δʼ οὖν αὐτὸν ἄγχετε;
PLATO: "Obtaining leave of absence for this one day, we came to get him, so that he may pay the penalty for what he has done; for rumours repeatedly told us what sort of language he used in public against us.
Πλάτων: μίαν ἡμέραν ταύτην παραιτησάμενοι ἥκομεν ἐπʼ αὐτὸν ὡς ὑπόσχῃ τὴν ἀξίαν ὧν δέδρακεν. φῆμαι γὰρ ἡμῖν διήγγελλον οἷα ἔλεγεν εἰς τὰ πλήθη καθʼ ἡμῶν.
15. PHILOSOPHY: Then you intend to put him to death before trial, without even a chance to defend himself? It is certainly clear that he wants to make.a statement.
15. Φιλοσοφία: εἶτα πρὸ δίκης οὐδὲ ἀπολογησάμενον ἀποκτενεῖτε; δῆλος γοῦν ἐστιν εἰπεῖν τι θέλων.
PLATO: No: we have referred the whole matter to you, and you are to conclude the trial as you think best.
Πλάτων: οὔκ, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ σὲ τὸ πᾶν ἀνεβαλόμεθα, καὶ σοὶ ὅτι ἂν δοκῇ, τοῦτο ποιήσῃ τέλος τῆς δίκης.
PHILOSOPHY: You, there, what do you say?
Φιλοσοφία: τί φὴς σύ;
FRANKNESS: Precisely what they do, my Lady Philosophy; for. you, even without aid, could discover the truth. In fact, it was only with difficulty, after a deal of entreaty, that I secured the reservation of the case for you.
Παρρησιάδης: τοῦτο αὐτό, ὦ δέσποινα Φιλοσοφία, ἥπερ καὶ μόνη τἀληθὲς ἂν ἐξευρεῖν δύναιο· μόλις γοῦν εὑρόμην πολλὰ ἱκετεύσας τὸ σοὶ φυλαχθῆναι τὴν δίκην.
PLATO: Now, you scoundrel, you call her “My Lady,” do you? Just the other day you made her out to be. utterly contemptible by offering every form of her doctrines for sale at two obols apiece before so large an audience!
Πλάτων: νῦν, ὦ κατάρατε, δέσποιναν αὐτὴν καλεῖς; πρῴην δὲ τὸ ἀτιμότατον Φιλοσοφίαν ἀπέφαινες ἐν τοσούτῳ θεάτρῳ ἀποκηρύττων κατὰ μέρη δύʼ ὀβολῶν ἕκαστον εἶδος αὐτῆς τῶν λόγων.
PHILOSOPHY: Careful! Perhaps fis abuse was not directed against Philosophy, but against impostors who do much that is vile in oyr name.
Φιλοσοφία: ὁρᾶτε μὴ οὐ Φιλοσοφίαν οὗτός γε ἀλλὰ γόητας ἄνδρας ἐπὶ τῷ ἡμετέρῳ ὀνόματι πολλὰ καὶ μιαρὰ πράττοντας ἠγόρευεν κακῶς.
FRANKNESS: You shall see at once, if you will only hear my defence.
Παρρησιάδης: εἴσῃ αὐτίκα, ἢν ἐθέλῃς ἀπολογουμένου ἀκούειν μόνον.
PHILOSOPHY: Let us go to the Areopagus, or-rather, to the Acropolis itself, so that at the same time we may get a bird’s eye view of everything in the city.
Φιλοσοφία: ἀπίωμεν εἰς Ἄρειον πάγον, μᾶλλον δὲ εἰς τὴν ἀκρόπολιν αὐτήν, ὡς ἂν ἐκ περιωπῆς ἅμα καταφανείη πάντα ἐν τῇ πόλει.
16. PHILOSOPHY: You, my dears, may walk about in the Painted Porch meanwhile: I shall join you after concluding the trial.
16. Φιλοσοφία: ὑμεῖς δέ, ὦ φίλαι, ἐν τῇ Ποικίλῃ τέως περιπατήσατε· ἥξω γὰρ ὑμῖν ἐκδικάσασα τὴν δίκην.
FRANKNESS: Who are they, Philosophy? They too seem very mannerly.
Παρρησιάδης: τίνες δέ εἰσιν, ὦ Φιλοσοφία; πάνυ γάρ μοι κόσμιαι καὶ αὗται δοκοῦσιν.
PHILOSOPHY: This one with the masculine air is Virtue; yonder is Temperance, and there beside her Justice; the one in advance is Culture, and she that is faint and indistinct in colour is Truth.
Φιλοσοφία: ἀρετὴ μὲν ἡ ἀνδρώδης αὕτη, Σωφροσύνη δὲ ἐκείνη καὶ Δικαιοσύνη ἡ παρʼ αὐτήν. ἡ προηγουμένη δὲ Παιδεία, ἡ ἀμυδρὰ δὲ καὶ ἀσαφὴς τὸ χρῶμα ἡ Ἀλήθειά ἐστιν.
FRANKNESS: I do not see which one you really mean.
Παρρησιάδης: οὐχ ὁρῶ ἥντινα καὶ λέγεις.
PHILOSOPHY: Do you not see the unadorned one over there, naked, always shrinking into the background and slipping away?: FRANKNESS: I can just see her now. But why not bring them also, in order that the meeting may be full and perfect? As to Truth, indeed, I wish to introduce her into the trial as an advocate.
Φιλοσοφία: τὴν ἀκαλλώπιστον ἐκείνην οὐχ ὁρᾷς, τὴν γυμνήν, τὴν ὑποφεύγουσαν ἀεὶ καὶ διολισθάνουσαν;Παρρησιάδης: ὁρῶ νῦν μόλις. ἀλλὰ τί οὐχὶ καὶ ταύτας ἄγεις, ὡς πλῆρες γένοιτο καὶ ἐντελὲς τὸ συνέδριον; τὴν Ἀλήθειαν δέ γε καὶ συνήγορον ἀναβιβάσασθαι πρὸς τὴν δίκην βούλομαι.
PHILOSOPHY: To be sure. (To the others) Come with us also. It is not a hard matter to try a single case, particularly one that will involve our own interests.
Φιλοσοφία: νὴ Δία, ἀκολουθήσατε καὶ ὑμεῖς· οὐ βαρὺ γὰρ μίαν δικάσαι δίκην, καὶ ταῦτα περὶ τῶν ἡμετέρων ἐσομένην.
17. TRUTH: You others go: I do not-need to hear what I have long known all about.
17. Ἀλήθεια: ἄπιτε ὑμεῖς· ἐγὼ γὰρ οὐδὲν δέομαι ἀκούειν ἃ πάλαι οἶδα ὁποῖά ἐστιν.
PHILOSOPHY: But it would help us, Truth, if you should join in the trial and give us information on each point.
Φιλοσοφία: ἀλλʼ ἡμῖν, ὦ Ἀλήθεια, ἐν δέοντι συνδικάζοις ἂν καὶ καταμηνύοις ἕκαστα.
TRUTH: Then shall I bring along these two waitingwomen, who are in very close sympathy with me?
Ἀλήθεια: οὐκοῦν ἐπάγωμαι καὶ τὼ θεραπαινιδίω τούτω εὐνοϊκοτάτω μοι ὄντε;
PHILOSOPHY: Yes, indeed, as many as you wish.
Φιλοσοφία: καὶ μάλα ὁπόσας ἂν ἐθέλῃς.
TRUTH: Come with us, Liberty and Free-speech, so that we may be able to rescue this poor creature, our admirer, who is facing danger for no just reason. You, Investigation, may stay where you are.
Ἀλήθεια: ἕπεσθον, ὦ Ἐλευθερία καὶ Παρρησία, μεθʼ ἡμῶν, ὡς τὸν δείλαιον τουτονὶ ἀνθρωπίσκον ἐραστὴν ἡμέτερον ὄντα καὶ κινδυνεύοντα ἐπὶ μηδεμιᾷ προφάσει δικαίᾳ σῶσαι δυνηθῶμεν. σὺ δέ, ὦ Ἔλεγχε, αὐτοῦ περίμεινον.
FRANKNESS: Hold, my lady: let him come too, if anyone is to come. Those whom I shall have to fight to-day are none of your ordinary cattle, but pretentious fellows, hard to argue down, always finding some loophole or other, so that Investigation is necessary. INVESTIGATION: Yes, most necessary: and you had better take Proof along too.: TRUTH: Come, all of you, since you appear to be necessary to the case.
Παρρησιάδης: μηδαμῶς, ὦ δέσποινα, ἡκέτω δὲ καὶ οὗτος, εἰ καί τις ἄλλος· οὐ γὰρ τοῖς τυχοῦσι θηρίοις προσπολεμῆσαι δεήσει με, ἀλλʼ ἀλαζόσιν ἀνθρώποις καὶ δυσελέγκτοις, ἀεί τινας ἀποφυγὰς εὑρισκομένοις, ὥστε ἀναγκαῖος ὁ Ἔλεγχος. Ἔλεγχος Gesner: ΦΙΛΟΣ. vulg.: ἀναγκαιότατος μὲν οὖν· ἄμεινον δέ, εἰ καὶ τὴν Ἀπόδειξιν παραλάβοις.Ἀλήθεια: ἕπεσθε πάντες, ἐπείπερ ἀναγκαῖοι δοκεῖτε πρὸς τὴν δίκην.
18. PLATO: Do you see that? He is suborning Truth against us, Philosophy.
18. Πλάτων: ὁρᾷς; προσεταιρίζεται καθʼ ἡμῶν, ὦ Φιλοσοφία, τὴν Ἀλήθειαν.
PHILOSOPHY: Then you, Plato and Chrysippus and Aristotle, are afraid that she, Truth, may tell some lie ‘in his behalf?
Φιλοσοφία: εἶτα δέδιτε, ὦ Πλάτων καὶ Χρύσιππε καὶ Ἀριστότελες, μή τι ψεύσηται ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ Ἀλήθεια οὖσα;
PLATO: It isn’t that, but he is terribly unprincipled and smooth-tongued, so that he will seduce her.
Πλάτων: οὐ τοῦτο, ἀλλὰ δεινῶς πανοῦργός ἐστιν καὶ κολακικός· ὥστε παραπείσει αὐτήν.
PHILOSOPHY: Have no fear. No injustice will be done while we have Justice here with us.
Φιλοσοφία: θαρρεῖτε· οὐδὲν μὴ γένηται ἄδικον, Δικαιοσύνης ταύτης συμπαρούσης.
19. PHILOSOPHY: Let us go up, then. But tell me, what is your name?
19. Φιλοσοφία: ἀνίωμεν οὖν. ἀλλὰ εἰπέ μοι σύ, τί σοι τοὔνομα;
FRANKNESS: Mine? Frankness, son of Truthful, son of Renowned Investigator.
Παρρησιάδης: ἐμοί; Παρρησιάδης Ἀληθίωνος τοῦ Ἐλεγξικλέους.
PHILOSOPHY: And your country?
Φιλοσοφία: πατρὶς δέ;
FRANKNESS: I am a Syrian, Philosophy, from the banks of the Euphrates. But what of that? I know that some of my opponents here are just as foreign-born as I: but in their manners and culture they are not like men of Soli or Cyprus or Babylon or Stageira. Yet as far as you are concerned it would make no difference even if a man’s speech were foreign, if only his way of thinking were manifestly right and just.
Παρρησιάδης: Σύρος, ὦ Φιλοσοφία, τῶν Ἐπευφρατιδίων. ἀλλὰ τί τοῦτο; καὶ γὰρ τούτων τινὰς οἶδα τῶν ἀντιδίκων μου οὐχ ἧττον ἐμοῦ βαρβάρους τὸ γένος· ὁ τρόπος δὲ καὶ ἡ παιδεία οὐ κατὰ Σολέας ἢ Κυπρίους ἢ Βαβυλωνίους ἢ Σταγειρίτας. καίτοι πρός γε σὲ οὐδὲν ἂν ἔλαττον γένοιτο οὐδʼ εἰ τὴν φωνὴν βάρβαρος εἴη τις, εἴπερ ἡ γνώμη ὀρθὴ καὶ δικαία φαίνοιτο οὖσα.
20. PHILOSOPHY: True: it was a needless question, to be sure. But what is your calling? That at least is worth knowing.
20. Φιλοσοφία: εὖ λέγεις· ἄλλως γοῦν ἠρόμην. ἡ τέχνη δέ σοι τίς; ἄξιον γὰρ ἐπίστασθαι τοῦτό γε.
FRANKNESS: Iam a bluff-hater, cheat-hater, liar-hater, vanityhater, and hate all that sort of scoundrels, who are very numerous, as you know.
Παρρησιάδης: μισαλαζών εἰμι καὶ μισογόης καὶ μισοψευδὴς καὶ μισότυφος καὶ μισῶ πᾶν τὸ τοιουτῶδες εἶδος τῶν μιαρῶν ἀνθρώπων· πάνυ δὲ πολλοί εἰσιν, ὡς οἶσθα.
PHILOSOPHY: Heracles! You follow a hateful calling!
Φιλοσοφία: Ἡράκλεις, πολυμισῆ τινα μέτει τὴν τέχνην.
FRANKNESS: You are right. You see, in fact, how many have come to dislike me and how I am imperilled because I follow it. However, I am very well up in the opposite calling, too: I mean the one with love for a base; for I am a truth-lover, a beauty-lover, a simplicitylover, and a lover of all else that is kindred to love. But there are very few who deserve to have this calling practised upon them, while those who come under the other and are closer akin to hatefulness number untold thousands. So the chances are that by this time I have lost my skill in the pne calling for lack of practice, but have become very expert in the other.
Παρρησιάδης: εὖ λέγεις· ὁρᾷς γοῦν ὁπόσοις ἀπεχθάνομαι καὶ ὡς κινδυνεύω διʼ αὐτήν. οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν ἐναντίαν αὐτῇ πάνυ ἀκριβῶς οἶδα, λέγω δὲ τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ φιλο τὴν ἀρχὴν ἔχουσαν· φιλαλήθης τε γὰρ καὶ φιλόκαλος καὶ φιλαπλοϊκὸς καὶ ὅσα τῷ φιλεῖσθαι συγγενῆ. πλὴν ἀλλʼ ὀλίγοι πάνυ ταύτης ἄξιοι τῆς τέχνης, οἱ δὲ ὑπὸ τῇ ἐναντίᾳ ταττόμενοι καὶ τῷ μίσει οἰκειότεροι πεντακισμύριοι. κινδυνεύω τοιγαροῦν τὴν μὲν ὑπʼ ἀργίας ἀπομαθεῖν ἤδη, τὴν δὲ πάνυ ἠκριβωκέναι.
PHILOSOPHY: But that ought not to be so, for if a man can do the one, they say, he can do the other. So do not distinguish the two callings; they are but one, though they seem two.
Φιλοσοφία: καὶ μὴν οὐκ ἐχρῆν· τοῦ γὰρ αὐτοῦ καὶ τάδε, φασί, καὶ τάδε· ὥστε μὴ διαίρει τὼ τέχνα· μία γὰρ ἐστὸν δύʼ εἶναι δοκούσα.
FRANKNESS: You know best as to that, Philosophy. For my part, however, I am so-constituted as to hate rascals and to commend and love honest men.
Παρρησιάδης: ἄμεινον σὺ ταῦτα οἶσθα, ὦ Φιλοσοφία. τὸ μέντοι ἐμὸν τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν, οἷον τοὺς μὲν πονηροὺς μισεῖν, ἐπαινεῖν δὲ τοὺς χρηστοὺς καὶ φιλεῖν.
21. PHILOSOPHY: Come, now, since we are where we planned to be, let us hold our court somewhere hereabouts in the portico of Our Lady of the Citadel. Priestess, arrange the benches for us. Let us in the meantime pay our homage to the goddess.
21. Φιλοσοφία: ἄγε δή, πάρεσμεν γὰρ ἔνθα ἐχρῆν, ἐνταῦθά που ἐν τῷ προνάῳ τῆς Πολιάδος δικάσωμεν. ἡ Ἱέρεια διάθες ἡμῖν τὰ βάθρα, ἡμεῖς δὲ ἐν τοσούτῳ προσκυνήσωμεν τὴν θεόν.
FRANKNESS: Lady of the Citadel, come to my aid against the pretenders, remembering how many oaths thou dost hear them make and break each day, and what they do thou alone seest, dwelling as thou dost upon a lookout. Now is thine hour to requite them. If thou seest that I am being overborne, and that the black ballots are more than the half, add thou thine own and set me free.
Παρρησιάδης: ὦ Πολιάς, ἐλθέ μοι κατὰ τῶν ἀλαζόνων σύμμαχος ἀναμνησθεῖσα ὁπόσα ἐπιορκούντων ὁσημέραι ἀκούεις αὐτῶν· καὶ ἃ πράττουσι δὲ μόνη ὁρᾷς ἅτε δὴ ἐπὶ σκοπῆς οἰκοῦσα. νῦν καιρὸς ἀμύνασθαι αὐτούς. ἐμὲ δὲ ἤν που κρατούμενον ἴδῃς καὶ πλείους ὦσιν αἱ μέλαιναι, σὺ προσθεῖσα τὴν σεαυτῆς σῶζέ με.
22. PHILOSOPHY: Well and good. Here we are for you, gentlemen, all seated in readiness to hear the speeches. Choose one of your number who in your opinion can best conduct the prosecution, and when you have done so, build up your complaint and establish your charge; it is not feasible for all to speak at once. You, Frankness, shall make your defence thereafter. PLATO Which. of us, I wonder, would be the best fitted to handle the case? CHRYSIPPUS: You, Plato. Marvellous sublimity, superlatively Attic elegance, charm and _ persuasiveness, insight, subtlety, opportune seductiveness in demonstration— all this is yours to the full. Accept the spokesmanship, therefore, and say whatever is appropriate in behalf of us all. Remember now all your former successes and put together any points you have urged against Gorgias or Polos or Hippias or Prodicus: this man is more able than they. So apply a light sprinkling of irony, too, put those clever, incessant questions of yours, and if you think best, also slip it in somewhere that “great Zeus in heaven driving his winged car” would be angry if this man should not be punished.
22. Φιλοσοφία: Εἶεν· ἡμεῖς μὲν ὑμῖν καὶ δὴ καθήμεθα ἕτοιμοι ἀκούειν τῶν λόγων, ὑμεῖς δὲ προελόμενοί τινα ἐξ ἁπάντων, ὅστις ἄριστα κατηγορῆσαι ἂν δοκεῖ, συνείρετε τὴν κατηγορίαν καὶ διελέγχετε· πάντας γὰρ ἅμα λέγειν ἀμήχανον. σὺ δέ, ὦ Παρρησιάδη, ἀπολογήσῃ τὸ μετὰ τοῦτο. Πλάτων: τίς οὖν ὁ ἐπιτηδειότατος ἐξ ἡμῶν ἂν γένοιτο πρὸς τὴν δίκην; Χρύσιππος: σύ, ὦ Πλάτων. ἥ τε γὰρ μεγαλόνοια θαυμαστὴ καὶ ἡ καλλιφωνία δεινῶς Ἀττικὴ καὶ τὸ κεχαρισμένον καὶ πειθοῦς μεστὸν ἥ τε σύνεσις καὶ τὸ ἀκριβὲς καὶ τὸ ἐπαγωγὸν ἐν καιρῷ τῶν ἀποδείξεων, πάντα ταῦτά σοι ἀθρόα πρόσεστιν· ὥστε τὴν προηγορίαν δέχου καὶ ὑπὲρ ἁπάντων εἰπὲ τὰ εἰκότα. νῦν ἀναμνήσθητι πάντων ἐκείνων καὶ συμφόρει εἰς τὸ αὐτό, εἴ τί σοι πρὸς Γοργίαν ἢ Πῶλον ἢ Πρόδικον ἢ Ἱππίαν εἴρηται· δεινότερος οὗτός ἐστιν. ἐπίπαττε οὖν καὶ τῆς εἰρωνείας καὶ τὰ κομψὰ ἐκεῖνα καὶ συνεχῆ ἐρώτα, κἄν σοι δοκῇ, κἀκεῖνό που παράβυσον, ὡς ὁ μέγας ἐν οὐρανῷ Ζεὺς πτηνὸν ἅρμα ἐλαύνων ἀγανακτήσειεν ἄν, εἰ μὴ οὗτος ὑπόσχοι τὴν δίκην.
23. PLATO: No, let us make use of someone more strenuous— Diogenes here, or Antisthenes, or Crates, or you yourself, Chrysippus. For surely what the occasion demands now is not elegance and literary distinction, but some degree of argumentative and forensic equipment: Frankness is a professional speaker.
23. Πλάτων: μηδαμῶς, ἀλλά τινα τῶν σφοδροτέρων προχειρισώμεθα, Διογένη τοῦτον ἢ Ἀντισθένη ἢ Κράτητα ἢ καὶ σέ, ὦ Χρύσιππε· οὐ γὰρ δὴ κάλλους ἐν τῷ παρόντι καὶ δεινότητος συγγραφικῆς ὁ καιρός, ἀλλά τινος ἐλεγκτικῆς καὶ δικανικῆς παρασκευῆς· ῥήτωρ δὲ ὁ Παρρησιάδης ἐστίν.
DIOGENES: Well, then, I will be prosecutor, for we shall not require speeches of any great length, I suppose: and besides, I have been insulted beyond all of you, since I was auctioned off the other day for two obols.
Διογένης: ἀλλʼ ἐγὼ αὐτοῦ κατηγορήσω· οὐδὲ γὰρ πάνυ μακρῶν οἶμαι τῶν λόγων δεήσεσθαι. καὶ ἄλλως ὑπὲρ ἅπαντας ὕβρισμαι δύʼ ὀβολῶν πρῴην ἀποκεκηρυγμένος.
PLATO: Diogenes will make the speech, Philosophy, for all of us. Remember, friend, not just to speak for yourself in the complaint, but to keep our common interests in view. If we do disagree with one another a little in our doctrines, you must not examine into that, or attempt to say who is the nearer right, but, in general, make an impassioned plea for Philosophy herself, because she has been heaped with insult and shamefully abused in the dialogues of Freespeaker; ignore the personal views wherein we differ, and fight for what we all have in common. Take note, you are our sole representative and it rests with you whether all our teachings are to seem worthy of high reverence or to be thought no better than this man made them out to be.
Πλάτων: ὁ Διογένης, ὦ Φιλοσοφία, ἐρεῖ τὸν λόγον ὑπὲρ ἁπάντων. μέμνησο δέ, ὦ γενναῖε, μὴ τὰ σεαυτοῦ μόνον πρεσβεύειν ἐν τῇ κατηγορίᾳ, τὰ κοινὰ δὲ ὁρᾶν· εἰ γάρ τι καὶ πρὸς ἀλλήλους διαφερόμεθα ἐν τοῖς δόγμασι, σὺ δὲ τοῦτο μὲν μὴ ἐξέταζε, μηδὲ ὅστις ἐστὶν ὁ ἀληθέστερος νῦν λέγε, ὅλως δὲ ὑπὲρ Φιλοσοφίας αὐτῆς ἀγανάκτει περιυβρισμένης καὶ κακῶς ἀκουούσης ἐν τοῖς Παρρησιάδου λόγοις, καὶ τὰς προαιρέσεις ἀφείς, ἐν αἷς διαλλάττομεν, ὃ κοινὸν ἅπαντες ἔχομεν, τοῦτο ὑπερμάχει. ὅρα· σὲ μόνον προεστησάμεθα καὶ ἐν σοὶ τὰ πάντα ἡμῶν νῦν κινδυνεύεται, ἢ σεμνότατα δόξαι ἢ τοιαῦτα πιστευθῆναι οἷα οὗτος ἀπέφηνε.
24. DIOGENES: Do not be alarmed; we shall not come short: I will speak in behalf of all. Even if Philosophy, swayed by his eloquence—for she is naturally kindly and gentle—determines to acquit him, I for my part shall not be found wanting, for I will show him that we do not carry sticks for nothing!
24. Διογένης: θαρρεῖτε, οὐδὲν ἐλλείψομεν· ὑπὲρ ἁπάντων ἐρῶ. κἂν ἡ Φιλοσοφία δὲ πρὸς τοὺς λόγους ἐπικλασθεῖσα — φύσει γὰρ ἥμερος καὶ πρᾶός ἐστιν — ἀφεῖναι διαβουλεύηται αὐτόν, ἀλλʼ οὐ τὰ ἐμὰ ἐνδεήσει· δείξω γὰρ αὐτῷ ὅτι μὴ μάτην ξυλοφοροῦμεν.
PHILOSOPHY: Not by.any means! Use arguments, rather, for that is better. Butdo notdelay. The water already has been poured in, and the jury has its eyes upon you.
Φιλοσοφία: τοῦτο μὲν μηδαμῶς, ἀλλὰ τῷ λόγῳ μᾶλλον· ἄμεινον γὰρ ἤπερ τῷ ξύλῳ. μὴ μέλλε δʼ οὖν. ἤδη γὰρ ἐγκέχυται τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ πρὸς σὲ τὸ δικαστήριον ἀποβλέπει.
FRANKNESS: Let the others take seats, Philosophy, and cast their votes with your company, and let Diogenes be the only prosecutor.
Παρρησιάδης: οἱ λοιποὶ καθιζέτωσαν, ὦ Φιλοσοφία, καὶ ψηφοφορείτωσαν μεθʼ ὑμῶν, Διογένης δὲ κατηγορείτω μόνος.
PHILOSOPHY: Then are you not afraid they may find you guilty?
Φιλοσοφία: οὐ δέδιας οὖν μή σου καταψηφίσωνται;
FRANKNESS: Not at all. In fact, I wish to win by a larger majority.
Παρρησιάδης: οὐδαμῶς· πλείοσι γοῦν κρατῆσαι βούλομαι.
PHILOSOPHY: That is handsome of you. Well, then, take your seats, and you, Diogenes, begin your speech.
Φιλοσοφία: γενναῖά σου ταῦτα· καθίσατε δʼ οὖν. σὺ δέ, ὦ Διόγενες, λέγε.
25. DIOGENES: What sort of men we were in life, Philosophy, you know right well, and I need not discuss that point at all; for who is not aware how much beauty was brought into life by Pythagoras here, Plato, Aristotle, Chrysippus and the others, to say nothing of myself? I shall proceed to speak of the insults which, in spite of our merit, this double-dyed scoundrel Frankness has dealt us. He is a public speaker, they say: but abandoning the courts and the successes to be gained therein, he concentrated upon us all thé eloquence and power that he had acquired.in rhetoric, and not only unceasingly abuses us himself by calling us cheats and liars, but induces the public to laugh and sneer at us as if we amounted to nothing at all. More than that, he has at last made people actually hate you, Philosophy, as well as us by dubbing your doctrines stuff and nonsense and rehearsing in mockery all that is most serious in what you taught us, so as to get applause and praise from his audience for himself and contumely for us. The common sort are that way by nature; they delight in jesters and buffoons, and most of all when they criticise what is held in high reverence. Just so in days gone by they took delight in Aristophanes and Eupolis, who brought Socrates on the stage to make fun of him and got up monstrous farces about him. The playwrights, however, showed their boldness against only one man, and at the Dionysia, when it was’ permissible to do so, and the joking was considered part of the holiday, andThe god, who loves his joke, no doubt was pleased.
25. Διογένης: οἷοι μὲν ἡμεῖς ἄνδρες ἐγενόμεθα παρὰ τὸν βίον, ὦ Φιλοσοφία, πάνυ ἀκριβῶς οἶσθα καὶ οὐδὲν δεῖ λόγων· ἵνα γὰρ τὸ κατʼ ἐμὲ σιωπήσω, ἀλλὰ Πυθαγόραν τοῦτον καὶ Πλάτωνα καὶ Ἀριστοτέλη καὶ Χρύσιππον καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους τίς οὐκ οἶδεν ὅσα εἰς τὸν βίον καλὰ εἰσεκομίσαντο; ἃ δὲ τοιούτους ὄντας ἡμᾶς ὁ τρισκατάρατος οὑτοσὶ Παρρησιάδης ὕβρικεν ἤδη ἐρῶ. ῥήτωρ γάρ τις, ὥς φασιν, ὤν, ἀπολιπὼν τὰ δικαστήρια καὶ τὰς ἐν ἐκείνοις εὐδοκιμήσεις, ὁπόσον ἢ δεινότητος ἢ ἀκμῆς ἐπεπόριστο ἐν τοῖς λόγοις, τοῦτο πᾶν ἐφʼ ἡμᾶς συσκευασάμενος οὐ παύεται αὐτὸς μὲν ἀγορεύων κακῶς γόητας καὶ ἀπατεῶνας ἀποκαλῶν, τὰ πλήθη δὲ ἀναπείθων καταγελᾶν ἡμῶν καὶ καταφρονεῖν ὡς τὸ μηδὲν ὄντων· μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ μισεῖσθαι πρὸς τῶν πολλῶν ἤδη πεποίηκεν αὐτούς τε ἡμᾶς καὶ σὲ τὴν Φιλοσοφίαν, φληνάφους καὶ λήρους ἀποκαλῶν τὰ σὰ καὶ τὰ σπουδαιότατα ὧν ἡμᾶς ἐπαίδευσας ἐπὶ χλευασμῷ διεξιών, ὥστε αὐτὸν μὲν κροτεῖσθαι καὶ ἐπαινεῖσθαι πρὸς τῶν θεατῶν, ἡμᾶς δὲ ὑβρίζεσθαι. φύσει γὰρ τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν ὁ πολὺς λεώς, χαίρουσι τοῖς ἀποσκώπτουσιν καὶ λοιδορουμένοις, καὶ μάλισθʼ ὅταν τὰ σεμνότατα εἶναι δοκοῦντα διασύρηται, ὥσπερ ἀμέλει καὶ πάλαι ἔχαιρον Ἀριστοφάνει καὶ Εὐπόλιδι Σωκράτη τουτονὶ ἐπὶ χλευασίᾳ παράγουσιν ἐπὶ τὴν σκηνὴν καὶ κωμῳδοῦσιν ἀλλοκότους τινὰς περὶ αὐτοῦ κωμῳδίας. καίτοι ἐκεῖνοι μὲν καθʼ ἑνὸς ἀνδρὸς ἐτόλμων τοιαῦτα, καὶ ἐν Διονυσίοις ἐφειμένον αὐτὸ ἔδρων, καὶ τὸ σκῶμμα ἐδόκει μέρος τι τῆς ἑορτῆς, καὶ ὁ θεὸς ἴσως ἔχαιρε φιλόγελώς τις ὤν.
26. DIOGENES: But this man brings the best people together, after a long period of thinking and preparing and writing down slanders in a thick roll, and then loudly abuses Plato, Pythagoras, Aristotle here, Chrysippus there, myself, and in a word, one and all, without the sanction of a holiday and without having. had anything done to him personally by us. He would have some excuse for the thing, of course, if he had acted in self-defence instead of starting the quarrel. What is worst of all, in doing this sort of thing, Philosophy, he shelters himself under your name, and he has suborned Dialogue, our serving-man, employing him against us as a helper and a spokesman. Moreover, he has actually bribed Menippus, a comrade of ours, to take part in his farces frequently; he is the only one who is not here and does not join us in the prosecution, thereby playing traitor to our common cause.
26. Διογένης: ὁ δὲ τοὺς ἀρίστους συγκαλῶν, ἐκ πολλοῦ φροντίσας καὶ παρασκευασάμενος καὶ βλασφημίας τινὰς εἰς παχὺ βιβλίον ἐγγράψας, μεγάλῃ τῇ φωνῇ ἀγορεύει κακῶς Πλάτωνα, Πυθαγόραν, Ἀριστοτέλη τοῦτον, Χρύσιππον ἐκεῖνον, ἐμὲ καὶ ὅλως ἅπαντας οὔτε ἑορτῆς ἐφιείσης οὔτε ἰδίᾳ τι πρὸς ἡμῶν παθών· εἶχε γὰρ ἄν τινα συγγνώμην αὐτῷ τὸ πρᾶγμα, εἰ ἀμυνόμενος, ἀλλὰ μὴ ἄρχων αὐτὸς ἔδρα. ὃ δὲ πάντων δεινότατον, ὅτι τοιαῦτα ποιῶν καὶ τὸ σὸν ὄνομα, ὦ Φιλοσοφία, ὑποδύεται καὶ ὑπελθὼν τὸν Διάλογον ἡμέτερον οἰκέτην ὄντα, τούτῳ συναγωνιστῇ καὶ ὑποκριτῇ χρῆται καθʼ ἡμῶν, ἔτι καὶ Μένιππον ἀναπείσας ἑταῖρον ἡμῶν ἄνδρα συγκωμῳδεῖν αὐτῷ τὰ πολλά, ὃς μόνος οὐ πάρεστιν οὐδὲ κατηγορεῖ μεθʼ ἡμῶν, προδοὺς τὸ κοινόν.