w

THE .APOLOGY' OF SOCRJkTES

t'ta I don't know, men ofAtliens,z how you were affected bi my accusers.
As for me, I was ahalost carried away by them, they spoke so persua-

sively.-.Mad yet almost nothing they said is true. Among their many
5 falsehoods, however, one espeeiall amazed me: that you rnusta be

careful not to be deceived by me, since I'm a dangerously clever

17b speaker.That they aren't asliznred at being limnediatcly refuted by the
facts, once it becomes apparent that I'm not a clever speaker at all,
that seems to me most shameless of tieln, ultl.ess, of course, the one

they call "clever" is" the one who tells the trtth. If tbat's what they
meau, I'd agree that I'm an orator-although not one of their sort.

No, indeed, tkatlier, just as I claimed, they have said little or notMng
true, whereas from me you'll hear the whole truth. But not, by

fact is that this is the first time I've appeared before a law court, 17d
although I'm seventy years old. So tile language of this place is totally
foreign to me. Now, if I were really a foreigner; you'd certaildy forgive me ifI spoke in the accents and nanner in which I'd been raised.

manner of speaking (nraybe it wilt be less good, maybe it will be better), but consider and apply your mind to this alone, whether I say
what's just or not. For that's the virtue or excellence7 era juror, S just
as the orator's lies in telling the truth.

from my first accusers, and then oul the later accusations and the
later accusers.You see, urany people have beef- accusing me ill front

of you for very maq years now-and nodder they say is true.And I 18b
fear them more than Anytus9 and the rest, though the latter are dan..
gerous as well. But the earlier ones, genflenlen, are more dangerous.

spoken extemporaneously iu whatever words come to nffnd, and let

none of you expect me to do othetvise--for I put my trust hr the

The'y got hold of most of you from childhood and persuaded you

guage like a young man.s

Indeed, men of Athens, tiffs I positively entreat of yon: if you hear
me making my defense using tire same sort of languages that I'm
accustomed to use both in the nrarketplace next to the bankers'
tables--where many of you have heard me---and also in other places,
to please don't be surprised or create an uproar on that account. Per tlie
1. Apologia: not su apology in our sense of the term, ht Mdch error or vuongdoing
is admitted, but a dei'cllso against an accusation or charge.
2. Socrates rosettes tire more eolmnon formula "gendemen of die jury" ( andros
dikastal) for those who, because thogvote Per his acquittal, merit the name 'juror,"
See 40a2 and Gorglas 522cl-2.
3. ll, eading Pfl with some ross.
4. See Eitthyphto 463 note.
5. A reference to Socrates' accuser Meletus (19bl note), who is charaeterlzed as
"young and utrown" (Huthl/phro lb8-9) and as guilty of "youdfful raslmess"

(26e9 below).
6. At g7al0-b2 Socrates makes alear be is referrhg especially to bls daracterhde
style of argumentative questlozfing attd exanddng--dtc so-called alenchus.

26

Tire first thing justice demands, then, men of Athens, is that [

defend myself from the first false accusations made against me and

Zeus, men of Atliens, expressed in elegant language llke theirs,

17 arranged iia fine words and phrases. Instead, what you lrear will be

justice of what I say. Atter all, i wonldn't he apl?roprlate at my age,

5 gentlemen, to come before you speaking in polished, artificial lan-

So now, too, I'm asking you,justly it seems to me, to overlook nW 18a

with their accusations against meccusations no more trne than

tile current ones. They say there's a man called Socrates, a "wise"

man, a thinker about things in tire heavens, an izwestlgator of all

7. The vlttue or excellence (stetS) era Fmife or a man is that state or property of it
that makes it a good knife or a good man (e.g,, Relntbllc353d9-354a2), Tire aret
era knife lnclud having a sharp blade; the aret era man includes being intelligent, wellborn, just, or courageous. Aretls therefore broader than our notion of

moral virtue: it applies to dllngs (such as knives) flat are not moralagents, and to
aspects oPmoral agents (such as intelllgence or falnily status) that are not normall!t
considered to be moral aspects of thellL Per flcse resons it is solnetlrnes elope
appropriate to render aret as %xcellence." .But "virtue" remains the best ovealt
translation.

8. A memh0r ofai Atbefialxjury (a dlkast) combined tile responsibilities divided

between judge and jury in our legal system. Hence dlkast is sometimes ttanslatad
as "judge" and sometimes (as tattle preent translallon) as 'uor."

9. Auytus was a democratic leader who helped restore democracy to Athem in

403 B.C.IL after the overthrow of the Thltty Tyrants (32e4 note), under whom he
had lost most of his wealth. As a general in die Advertise army be raced iudlctm nt,
but allegedly "bribed the jury and was acquitted" (A,hstode, Cotffltutlon of Athen
27.5). There is evidence that he believed Socrates was responsible for tbe rain of
Ids son (Xenoplion, So,rates' Defetue 29-31), and tlaat hewas passionatdy opposed
to file sophists (Plato, Meno g9e692cS).

28

tgc

PLATO

Meletusj5 elled when he wrote the present indictm'entr6 of me.

believe that those who investigate such things do not acknowledge

tiring like this:

you at that age when you would most readily believe flrem, when
some of you were children or young boys.Titus they simply won
their case by default, as there was no defense. But what's llaost
unreasonable its all this is that I can't discover even their names and
tell them to you--unless one of them happens to be a colrdc playwright,ta In atW case, the ones who used malicious slander to persuade you--as well as those who persuaded others after having been

persuaded tltumselvesall of these are impossible to deal with. One

cannot bring mW of them here to court or cross-exanffne them. One

5 mustliterallyfightwithsbadowstodefesldoneselfandcross-examine
with no one to respond.
So you too, then, should allow, as I clainred, that there are two
groups of accusers: those who accused me just now and the older
ones I've been discussing. Moreover, you should consider it proper
18e

5
19a

29

tbings below tile earth, and someone who makes tire weaker argument the stronger,t Those who've spread this rumor, men of Ashells, are my dangerous accusers, since the people wire hear them

the gods either.II Moreovea; gloss accusers are numerous and have
5 beesl accusing me for a long time now, Besides, they also spoke to

i8d

APOLOGY

for me to defend nryself against the latter first, since you've heard

as if they were real accusers their affidavit must be rad. It's some-

Socrates commits injustice and is a busybody, In that he Juvesttgates

the tldngs beneath the earth and tu the heavenss tTmakes the weaker
5
argument the stronger,ts and teaches these things to others.
19e
Indeed, you saw these charges expressed yourselves irt Aristophanes'
eomedlgThere, some fellow named Socrates swings around claim-

ing he's walking on air and talking a lot of other nonsense on subjects
that I know neither a lot nor a little but nothing at all about,a Not
that I mean to disparage this knowledge, if anyoneb wise in such subjects--I don't want to have to defend myselfagainst more of Meletus'
lawsuits]--but I, men of Atliem, take no part in them.at I call on tim

majority of you as witnesses to this, and 1 appeal to you to make it 19rl

perfectly plain to one anothe'--those of you who've heard me con-

versing (as many of you have).Tell one anothes; then, whether any of
you has ever beard me discussing such subjects, either briefly or at
length, and from this you'll realize that the other things commonly

tbem accusing me earlier, and at much greater length, than these

recent ones here.

said about me are of the same baseless character.

All right. I must defend myself, then, men of Athens, and try to
take away in tiffs brief tlnle13 prejudices you acquired such a long time

15. See luthyphra 2bl0 note.

ago, Certainl that's tlie outcome I'd wish fold--if it's ll mW way bet-

17, Compare CIonds 228. Socrates responds to this slander at $ 9c6-d7.

ter for yon and for me--aid I'd like to succeed in my defense)4 But I
5 think it's a dicult task, and I am not at all unaware ofhs nature. Let
it turn out, flmugh, in whatever way pleases the god. I bare to obey
the law and defend myself,
Let's examine, then, from tile beginning, what the charge is
from which the slander against me arose--the very one on which

16. The indtenuene.-agraph assbdas--was for impiety.

18. Compare Clouds 112-118. The phrase is a quotation from Potagotas of Abdem. the famous fifth-century sophist (Aristotle, Rhetoric 1402'23 = DK 80B6b).
gee 19e4 and note. Socrates responds to this charge at 19d8-20c3.
19. The version of Clouds referred to here, width is earlier than tile revised vetdon we possess, was l]rst staged ill 423 B.C.I..

20. CloMs 218 IF21. At ,haedo 96a6-99d2, Socrates dahm that when he wes young he was "re-

10. See !9b4-21c3 and notes.

markably keen on dm kind of wlsdom kllown as natural science." Instead of lead-

11. Athelsm, therefore, is the common tlttead between the ancient accusations
and the formal indicnnent Socrates now rices. See 26b2-eg, lmlvs 966d4Z967d2.

ing him to develop plwsical tlieories of iris own, however, that interest led itim to
agnosticism: "I finally judged myself to have absolutely no gift for fills kind of inquiry. I'Jl tell yell a good- enough sign of this: there land been things that I previously did know for sure, at least I and odlers thought we knew them; yet I was
then so utterly blinded by this kind ofinqdity that I unlearned even thos firings
I formerly supposed I knew" (96el-61. Eventually, Im abandoned the study of nature altogether (99d4-5).

12. The great Athodan dramatist Aristophanes (e, 450385 B.C,IL), whose play
Clouds, referred to bdow, presents a hostile portrait of Socrates,

13. There was a thee lindt on tire speeches h aa Athenian trial (see 37ag-b2).
14. Compare Xenophobe, So,rates' Defetse 1.

tgb

Well, then, what exactly did the slanderers say to slander me? Just

30

APOLOGY

PLATO

In any case, none of them is true.And if you've heard om anyone

that I undertake to educate people aud charge fees, that's not true
lge either.Although, it also seems to me to be a title thing if anyone's able
to educate people in the way Gorglas of Leonthh does, and Prodicus

31

investigated tile matter, because you have two sons. Is there such a
person," I asked,"or not?"
"Certainly," he replied,

"who Js he?" I said.

of Ceos, and Hipp'ias of Ells.a For each of them, gentlemen, can

"His name's Evenus, Socrates," he replied,"from Paros. He darges

s enter any city and persuade the young--who may associate with any
ofthelr own fellow eitlzeus they want to free of charge-to abandon
20a those associations, and associate with them instead, pay them a fee,
and be grateftd to them besides.

five roinas:'s
I thought Eveuus blessedly happy if he tully did possess that exper-

Since we're on that topic, I heard that there's another wise gentleman here at present,'from Paros. Per I happened to run into a man
who has spent'more money on sophists than everyone else put
together--Callias, tile son of Hipponieus.24 So I questioned him,

5 since he has two sous hiulsel

"Callias)" I said,"if your two sons had been born colts or calves,

we could engage and pay a knowledgeable supetwisor--one of those

expert horse breeders or farmers---who cotdd turn them into fine
20b and good examples of their proper virtue or excellence. But now,

seeing that they're human beings, whom do you have in ntiud to

engage as a supervisor? Who is it that has tile knowledge of this virtue, the virtue ofhmnan beings and of cltlzens? I assume you've

22. CIot& 98, 245 , 1146 fl]

23. All three, like Evenu of Paros mentioned below, were sophists--ithlerant

pofessots who charged somedntes substantial fees forpoptdar lectures and specialized imnuctlon in a wide variety of fields, including natural science, tlletorie.
granunar, ethics, and politics. Sophists did not constitute a single school or movement, however, and were neither doctrinally nor organizationally urdted. Gorgias
of Leontbd in 81eily (e. 480-376) was primarily a teacher ofrhetorle, noted for his
distinctive style. H is tho author of the Defitue of Palatnedes, pans of which bear
a striking resemblance to the Apology and nay have either influenced or been influenced by it. Plato hauled a dialogte critical of rhetorle aRer him. Podleus of
Ceos, about whom little is known, was also a fifth-cannery teacher of riwtoric,
widl an interest in tino distlnctlons of meriting (Protoras 337a1-c4) and the correctness of names (Cralylos 384a8c2). Hlpplas oflls, like Prodtcus a contemporary of Soertes claimed expertlso in astronomy, physics, granmaar, poetry, and

other sub jarls, Two Platonic dialogues are named after him; 1 le also appears Ill Prota$otas (315b9--c7, 337c6--338bl).
24. Calllas was one of the richest mea hz Greece arid a pattol of the sopldsts. B otl
Plato's Protagoras and Xenuphon's 8ymjoshott are et in Iris house.

tise2# and taught it for so modest a fee. I, at any rate, would pride 9.0e

myself and give myself airs ifI had kalowledge of those things. But in
act, men of Athens, I don't kalow thesn.
Now pedaps one of you ",viii interject: "But Socrates, what, then,

is your occupatlon? What has given rise to these slanders against you? 5
Surely if you weren't in fact occupied with sonrething out of the
ordinary, if you weren't doing something ditrent from most people,
all this nuuor and talk wouldn't have arisen. Tell us, then, what it is,
so that we don't judge you hastily."These are fair questions, I drink, 20d
for the speaker to ask, and PII try to show you just what it is that has
brought use this slanderous reputation. Listen, then. Perhaps, some of

you will tlfink I'm joking. But you may be sure that I'/I be telling you
the whole truth.
You see, men of Athens I've acquired this reputation because of
nothing other than a sort of wisdom,What sort of wisdom, you ask,
is that? The very sor, perhaps, that is human wisdom. For it may just
be that I really do have that sort ofwlsdom, whereas the people I

mentioned just now may, perhaps, be wise because they possess super-

human wisdom. I don't know what else to call it, since I myself eer- 20
tainly don't possess tilat knowledge, and whoever says I do is lying
and speaking in order to slander me.

Please don't create an uproar, men of Athens, even if you think Pm

somehow' making grand rialtos,You see, I'm not the author of the

story I'm ahout to tell, though I'll refer you to a reliable source. In
fact, as a witness to fle existence of my "visdom--ifindeed it is a sort

ofwisdomud to its nature, I'll preent the god at Delpld to you.a7

25, Bvenus is described as a poet (Phaedo 60c8-el) and as aa orator (Phaednts
267al-5). A tow fragnents oflfls elegies survive. A draclmaa was a day's pay for
someone engaged hi public works; a mina was a hundred silver draclunas.
26. Tedtn: See liuthyphro lld4/tote.
27. Apollogod of, Lraong other things, healing, prophecy, putflcattee, care for
outg citizens, nlusic, poetry.

32

PLATO

You remember Chaerephon, no doubt,as He was a t3:iend of mine

2Ia oln youth and also a friend of your party, who shared your recent
exile and restoration,z9 You remember, then, what sort of man
Chaerephon was, how intense he was in whatever he set out to do.

well, on one oecasioh in particular he went to Delphi and dared to

5 ask the oracIe3-as I said, please don.'t create an uproar, gentlemen-he asked, exactly as I'm telling you, whether anyone was wiser tban

myself.The Pythia3t drew fordr the response that no one is wiser. His
brother here will testiS/to you about it, shier Chaerephon himself is
dead.3a

Please consider my purpose in telling you this, since I'm about to

21b explain to you where the slander against me has come fi'om.You see,

when I heard these dfings, I thought to myself as follows: "What can

28. A long-dine companion of Socrates. He makes bfiet'appearauee ill Charm[des
and Gorgla$, and in Clouds 102-104, 144-147, 156 fl:, 500-504, 831.
29. Members of the demoet'atie patty left Athens when the Thirty Tyrants (see
32c4 note) came to power in 404 B,C.n. They xetumed to power when rit tyrants
were ove+-th town in 403.

30. The Ddphle Oracle wa one of the nost famous in antiquity. There were
two methods of consulting it. One. liwolving the sacrifice of sheep and goats,
was quite expettslve Iut resulted in a written xesponse. The other--the so-called
method of the two beans--was substantially cheaper bug resulted only in a espouse by lot. Since Chaeephon was notoriously poor, it seems probable thor he
consulted the oracle by the latter method (something also suggested by Sdcrates'
eharaeterizatlon oPtho priestess s drawlagforlh the response at 21a6-7). The htsedptlons on dzo walls of the temple well co,way the plrit the oracle stood for:
know thysell notldng in excess; observe file lindt; hate hubris; bow before the
divine; glory not in strength. 'hete is no unambiguous record of the oracle ever
having praised alyone for what we would ddJtk of'as his sigaifieant or noteworthy positive achievements or abilities. On the other hand, there ate many stode
of the following kind, SOll!eou po\verfill, grand, famous for lds wisdom, or in
some other way noteworthy for Iris aecomplirinnents asks the oracle to say who
is wisest, most pious, happiest, or what have you, expecting that he hlmselfwiU
be named, 1]tit th6 oracle names some unlown pelsou living in inmlble and

quiet obscurity. What we kuow about the oracle, then, makes it very unlikely
that it was praising Socrates for lils posliivo contributions to v/Isdom and ve
likely that k xws uslng Ilim----as lie hims+l comes to believe it was (23aS-b4)--s all example of someone who was wie because lie llade no hubrlstle rialtos to
wisdom.

31, The priestess at Delphi who delivered the oraclc's pronouncement.

32. The brother Js Chaereerates (Xenophon, Memorabilia 11,3,1).

APOLOGY

33

the god be saying? What does his riddle mean?33 Per I'm only too
aware that I've no claim to being wise in atwthing either great or
small. What can he mean, then, by saying that l'm wisest? Surely he
can't be lyiug: that isn't lawful for In:'

For a long time I was puzzled about what he meant.Then, very

reluctantly, I proceeded to exandne it in the fo}/owitsg sort ofwa I
approached one of the people thought to be wise, agsulnillg that hx Iris
company, ff anywhere, I could refilte the pronotmcement and say to
1{

,1

tile oracle, Heres someone wiser than I, yet you stud I was wisest.
21e
Then I examhled tiffs person--there's no need for nre to mention

lfim by name; he was one of our politicians. And when I exatsffned

tLhn and talked with ]hn, men of Athens, my experience was some- 5
tlffng like tlfis: I thought tiffs man seemed wise to many people, and
especially to himself, but wasn't. Tlen I tried to show hitn that he
tholght liimself wise, but wasn't. As a xesult, he came to dislike me,
and so did many of the people present. Per my part, I thought to 2ld
myself as I lec,"i'm wiser than that person. Per it's likely that neither
of us knows anytldng fate and good, bnt he riddles he knows sometiring lie doesn't know, whereas I, since I don't in fact know, don't 5
thittk that I do either. At auy tzte, it seems that I'm wiser than he in
just this one small way: that what I don't kuow, I don't tlffnk I know:'
Next, I approaci/ed another man, one of those thmtght to be wiser
that the first, and it seemed to me that tile same thing occurred, and
so I came to be disliked by that mar too, as well as by many othet. . 21
After that, then, I kept approachiug one person after another. I
eallzed, with distress attd alarm that I was arousiug hostility. Neveriheless, I thought I must attach the greatast hnportance to what per--

talued to the god. So, in seekiug wlmt the oracle meant, I had to go
to all those with any reputation for knowledge And, by the dog,38 5
I'nI obliged to tell the tn+th before yott--I +rally za
)erienc sometldng like tiffs: ht my hxvestigation in response to
33, MaUy of the attested Delphic pronouncements were riddles. Delphi seelns to
!rove encgnraged stein their Juteqretalion, Ironing a cavalier acceptance of them
examp]a of the hubris it ondermed.
[themls) in the tolerant sens accords v, ddz the divhe law em
JR contravention ofwliieh nothing can oCCtlt. See 30eS-IL
gyptian god Anubis (see Gorglas 482b5; ArlsI. The oadl is an emphatic mac, like "my goodness" or "by all

, partictda religious signilieanee.

22b

tifinking that I had gotten the better of them hi tire very same way as
of fire politicians.
knowing practically notlfing myse but I lmew I'd discover that they; ,gd

labosa7 of sonic sort that I undertook ill order to prove tire oracle

at least, would know tnany fine things. And I wasn' wrong about tbJs.

utterly irrefiltable.
You see, after tile politicians, I approached the poets-tragic,
,
*
__ '
.

dith),ramble,3s
asld the rest
tlmfking
tilat, m their
company I'd catch
myself in the very act of being more ignorant tilan the)'. So I examined the poems with which they seenled to me to have taken the
most trouble and qnestioned thenl about what tile), meant, in order
that Intight also learn somethhrg from titesn at tile same time.39
Well, rm embarrassed to tell you die truth, gentlemen, but nevertheless it must be told. In aword, ahnost all tile people present could
have discussed these poesrss better than their authors thenelves. And
that enabled thenl to compose their poems, but some sort of natural
inspiration, of just the sort you frad in prophets arid sootl!sayersJ Per
these people, too, say man)' free things, but know nothing of what
t my'speak ahont.The poets also seemed to me to be in tiffs sort of
situation. At tile santa time, I realized tbat, because of their poetr
tire), thought themselves to be the wisest of people about tire other
things as well4t when tliey weren't. So I left their company; too,
L

linally, I approached the esaftstrten.You see, I was conscious of

On tire contrary, they did kumv tlJngs that I didu't ltow, astd hi that
respect tile), were wiser than I. ]But, men of Atheus, the good craftsnlen also seemed to me to have the very same flaw as the poets:

against me era sort that Js harshest and most mlerous.This has 23n

restdted in man)' slanders, includiug that reputation I mentioned of

behg "wise."You see. the people present on each occasion tiff rile that

l'nr wise abont the subjects on which I exatrdne others. But in fact,
gentlesnen, it's pretty certainly the god who is really wise, and by his
Oracle he meant that human wlsdran4' is worth little or notlffng.And

it seenls that when he refers to tile Socrates here before you and uses
nV name, he makes me an example, as if he were to say, "Tliat one 23b

among you is wisest, mortals, who, like Socrates, has recognized that

RIclans (see 22913).

37. pestunably a tefereao to the so-calledlabors of Heracles. See Ellthyphro 4ail

he's truly wortlfless where wisdom's concerned:'

38. A diflwtamb was a choral song in holmr of the god Dionysus.

39. That is, at tits same thne as investlgat big the meanhlg of the oracle.
40. See Mrno 99b5-c5: "It's not by ally sort ofwhdom, tllcn, tbat [mOll fantolls for
their political ability].., guided mr c ties and that is abe why t} ey arch t able to
nke others like themselves, because It's list on IReStillS oflolowledgu that riley
te like that.... Then, if it's not by kaowledgu, tree opiuion become tits remahltng ahematlve; it's by rising this that polidcimts gttid their sides correcdy t houEJl
they re no differetlt as regards wisdom than sootluayers and seers. Per they too say
BIAliy tao thhl wllie inspired, but they know nothhig about rely of tile tlthtgs
they say." Poetic htspkadon is fitnher discussed in the !oil (see especially 534e5-6).
41. Nanmly, "the most hnpottant thhtgs" (22d6-8), identified as wisdom, troth,
mid the best possible state of tile soul (29el-30ag) and as "just and free mad good
attd advmltagous things" (Aldblades I 118a7-12).

because he performed his own craft well, each of them also thought
lzhmelf to be wisest about tile other things, tile nlost hnportant ones;
and this error of theirs seemed to overslmdow their wisdom. So I asked
myself on behalf of the oracle wliether l'd prefer to be as I am, not in 20
any way wise with their wisdom nor ignorant with their ignorance, or
to have both qualities as they did.And file answer I gave to myself, and
to the orate, was that it profited me more to be just die way I was.
5
Front this examination, men of Athens, much hostility has arisen

36. That is, the CVdflllOll were better oft'regarding visdom than tile poet or per

llote,

/
i ,

35

tire god, I found that, where wlsdonr is corrcerned, those who had
tile best reputations were practically tile most deficient, whereas merr
who were thought to be their inferiors were starch better off,36
Aceordingl I must present all my wanderings to you as if they were

so, its the case of the poets as well, I soon realized it wasn't wisdom
22e

APOLOGY

PLATO

34

So even now I conthtue to search and to exanffne, in response to

tire god, any person, citizen, or foreigner I believe to be wise.Whenever lie seethe not to be so to me, I corns to the assistance oftbe god
and show hint that lie's not wise. Because of tiffs occupation, I've had

no leimre worth talking about for either the city's affairs or my own
domestic rates; rather, I live hx extreme poverty because ofmyy service
to tile god.

In addidon to these factors, tile young people who follow me

around of theh' own accord,as those who have tile most leisure, tile

sons of the very rich, etdoy Jistenlng to people being cross-examined.

42. See 20d7-8,
43. P, eadlng Itot (el) ato.ou0ovre with de Snyeker and Slings.

36

PLATO

They often infitate tale themselves and in turn attempt to cross-exam-

5 ine others. Next, I imaglne they find an abundance of people wiro

think riley possess some knowledge, but in fact know little or nothing.The result is that those they question are angry not at themselves,
23d but at me, and say, that Socrates is a thoroughly pestilential4 fellow
who corrupts the young. Then, when they're asked what he's doing
or teaelffng, riley're notlffng to say, as they don't know.Yet, so as not

to appear at a loss, the), utter the stock phrases used against all who
5 philosophize: "things in the sky and beneath the earth" and"not
ackttowledging the gods" and "making the weaker argument the
stronger." For they wouldn't be willing to tell the truth, I hnagine:
that it has become manifest they pretend to knmv, but know nothing.
So, seelog that these people are, I hnagioe, ambitions, vehement, and
z3 numerous, led have been speaking earnestly and persuasively about
me, they've long been fdling your ears with vehement slanders. On
tile basis of these slanders, Nleletus has brought his charges against
me, and Anyius and Lycon4s along with him: Meletus is aggrieved on
5 behalf of the poets, AIwtus on behalf of the artisans and politicians,
z4a and Lycon esl behalf of the orators. So, as I began by saying, I'd be
amazed if I could rid your nfilds of this slander in the brief time
available, when there's so much of it in them.
Tllere, men of Athens, is the truth for you. I've spoken it without

concealing or glossing over anytlffng, whether great or smaU.!Mld yet

I pretty muh kuow that I make enemies by doiug tirese very
tbings.46 And tilat's furfller evldeoce that I'm rigirt--that this is tim
prejudice against me and these its causes.Whether you irtvesdgate
24b these matters now or later, you'll find it to be so.

tgnough, tlten, for my defame before you against die charges bought
by my first accusers. Next, I'll try to defend myself against Meletus-who is. he claims, both-.good aud patriotic--and against my later

accusers Once again, then, just as if they were really a differeut set of
accusers, their affidavit must be examioed in turn. It goes somedffng

tlke this:
44. Mlar3tatoJ: carries the commtatlon ofbalng polluted or contaminated (in Socrates' case, by the impiety of atheism) and ofbehg a threat to other as a result.
Sec Buthyphro 41-3 and note.
45, Othenvisc unknown,

46. Reading 06o-ro6'otq with Bumet.

APOLOGY

37

Socrates is guilty of corrupting the young, and of not acknowledging tile gods the city acknowledges, but new daimolfic activities
instead,4z

Such, dice, is file charge. Let us exanfine each point in tiffs charge. 24
Meletus says, titen, that I commit injustice by corrtwting the
young. But I, men of Atheos, reply that it's Meletus who is guilty of 5
playing aromld with serious matters, of lightly bringing people to
trial, and ofprofassing to be seriously conceroed abont tkings he has
never cared about at allnd I'll try to prove tiffs.4s
Step forward, Meletus, aod answer me.You regard it as nlost

important, do you not, that our yonug people be as good as possible?

I certainly do.
24d
Coole, then, aod tell these jurors who inrproves them. Clearly you
koow, since you care. For having discovered, as you assert, the one
47. Dahnonla: the neuter plural of the adjective dahnoMos. Tile exebange at 27b428a2 shows that it refers here to the activities---specifically, to the spokett proMbidons (31e7.M4)fsubxtantive dalmom, who are themselves either gods or the
ogprlng ogodi and mortals.
48. Under Athe,iau law, any dtizen could bring an indictment against another
whom hc believed to be guilty of wrongdoing. As a reselt, a ddzen who brought
such a legal action typically played two roles, \al,ich hi our system ofcdlll0 law
are kept eparate, that of prosecutor and that of chlefwitness for the prosecution.

Meletus is both charging Socr;tes with impiety, therefore and attesting (togedxer
witb Anytus and Lycon) that be did specific impious things. Tlds is made clear by
the fact that ho called no other witnesses beyond iris fellow accusers to support his
case 04a2-6, 36aTb2). Melee,s' itdietment fs both a charge, then, and a s\vom
affidavit sutpotting the charge. It follows that Mater,s must be the finalautbority
.on what that charge amounts to, just as a witness is the final authority on what Iris
testhnong lncatls. IttS clear, therefore, that Socrates' p0mary responsibility must he
to answer the charges as they are Initeted by Mdetus and not, as would be the case
In our legalsistem, the wdttet cbatgca identified in some other way (e.g., by slattile}. Moreover, because Meletm is as mudt a witness as a prosecutor, because his

indictment is both affidavit and cilarge, Athenian law allows Socrates to eross-ext allrille I]illl and obliges Meletus to answer his questions (27b:d eT). Hence Socrates
can attack Mdenu' Jedlcttnent by" dlscreditbtg him as a witness, by showing that
he does not lolow enough about the tlflags in lds ludictntent for his testimony to
carry any weight (think of how witnesses are discredited hi our own legal system).
,This explaim--what would othenviso be a complete mystely--why the professed
aim of Socrates' examhaation of Meletms is as he deserlbes it here. Pot if Socrates
cau achieve lds ,'tim, be will have seriously undermbed not just Meletus, but his
testimony and charges too.

38

PLATO

who corrupts *hens--namely, nyself--you brhig him before these

5 jurors and accuse lfim. Come, then, speak up, tell the jurors who it is
that hnproves them. Do you see, Meletus, that yon rein*in silent and

have nothhig to say?Yet don't you tbiuk flirt's shameful aud sudden*
evidence of exactty what I say, that you care nothing at all? Speak up,
1fly good man.Who intproves them?
10

Tire laws.

But that's not what I'nr asking, my most excellent fellow, but
z.te rather wlfich person,who kaows the laws themselves in the first place,
does this?
"J_'he gentlemen, Socrates, the jurors,

What are you saying, Meletus? Are they able to educate and
5 hi*prove the young?
Most certainly.
All of them, or some but not others?
All of riient.
That's good news, by" Hera,49 and a great abundance of benefactors

that you speak off What, then, ahout the audience present here? Do
Z!ia they improve the young or not?
Yes, they do so too;

And what about the members of the Council?

Yes, the eomtcilors too.

]ut, if that's so, Meletus, surely those in the Assembly, the assem5 blymen, won't corrupt tire young, wil! they? Won't rirey aU improve
them too?
Yes, they will too.
But then it seems that all the Athenians except for me make young
people fine and good, whereas I alone corrupt them. Is that what
t0 you'e sayhig?
Most emphatically, that's what I'm sayhig.
1 find myself, if you're right, in a most unfortunate situation. Now
answer me ritis. Do you rifink rimt rite same holds of horses? Do people
25b in general improve ritem, whereas one particular person corrupts them

APOLOGY

39

or makes them worse? Or isu't it wholly the opposite: one particular

person--or the vep/few who ate horse trainers--ls able to improve

them, whereas the majority of people, if riley have to do with horses and
make use of them, make them worse? Isn't that true, Meletus, both of

horses and of all other animals? O course it is, whether you and Any* us

say so or not. Indeed, our yomg people are surely hi a very happy situa-

tion if'only one person corrupts fltenb whereas all the rest benefit them.
Well then, Meletus, it has been adequately established that you've 2se
never given atW thought to young people--you've plainly revealed
your hldifferencend that you care nothing about the issues on
which you bring me to trial.
Next, Meletus, tell us, in the name of Zeus, whether it's better to
llve among good citizens or bad ones. Answer nle, sir. Surely, I'm not

asking you anything difficttlt. Don't bad people do sesnething had to

whomever's closest to them at the given mmnent, whereas good peo-

ple do something good?

Certainly.
10
Now is there anyone who wishes to be harmed rather than bene- 2sd
fited by those around hint? Keep amwerhtg, my good fellow. For the
law requires you to answei; Is there anyone who wishes to be harmed?
Of course not.

Well, then, when you smmnon rite here for corrupting the youug

and making thesn worse, do you mean that I do so intentionally or

unhitentlonally?
Intentionally, !say.

What's that, Meletus? Axe you so lnuch wiser at your age than I at
urine, that you know bad people do something bad to whomever's 10
closest to them at the given moment, and good people smnething
good? thr I, by contrast, so vety ignorant that I desl't know even rifis: 2s,
that ifI do sonrerifiug bad to an associate, I risk getting back something bad from lfim in return?And is the result, as yon claim, that I
do so very bad a thing intentionally?
I'm not convinced by you of that, Meletus, and neither, I tlfink, is
anyone rise. No, either l'm not cornlpthig the young or, ifI am cor-

..i

49. See Butlffphro 864 Jlote.

50. The Coundl comhted orS00 male citizens over file age of 30, elected ainu'*ally by lot, 50 from each of the 10 tribes of Athen (32b2 note). The Council met
dally (except for sore? holidays aud the llke) as a steering committee for tile Asembly (13uthyphro 3el note). Its responsibilities included state fin*nee, public
buildings, tad tile equipment of navy and earthy,

rupring ritem, it's nnhitentionally, so tbat in either case what you say ls 26a
false. But if I'm corrupting them unintentionally, the law doesn't
require riiat I be brought to court for such nlistakes--that is, unlnten..

fional onesSi--but that I be taken askle for private instruction and

51. ILeadlng god xouo(c0v wltb tile ross.

40

PLATO

APOLOGY

admonishment. Per it's clear that if Fm instructed, I'll stop doing

what I do unintentionally.You, however, avoided associating with hie.

dl

learn these views from me, views they can occasionally acquire in tile 10
OrchestraS3 fr a draduna at most and that they'd ridicule Socrates for :26

5 aud were unwilling to instruct me. Instead, you bring me here, where

pretending were his own--especially as they're so strange? In the

tile law requires you to bring those in need of punishment, not

name of Zeus, is that really how I seem. to you? Do I acknowledge

instruction.

the existence of no god at ell?

Well, men oteAthens, what I said before is absolutely clear by this

point, nanrely, that Mdetus has never cared about these matters to
26b any extent, great or small. Nevertheless, please tell us no% Meletus,

No indeed, by Zeus, none at all.

You aren't at all convincing, Meletus, lint even, it seems to me, to
yourself.You see, men of Adieus, this fellow seems very arrogant and

how is it you say I corrnpt tile young? Or is it absolutely dear, ftxsm

the indictment you wrote, that it's by teaclfiug them not to acknowledge the gods rile city acknowledges, but new daimonie activities
5 instead? Isn't that what you say I corrupt diem by teaclfing?
I most emphatically do say that.
Then, in the name of those vet',/gods we're now discussing, Mel-

etus, speak yet more cleirly, bofli for nW sake and for that of these
26e gendemen.You see, I'm unable to tell what you mean. Is it that I
teach people to acknowledge that some gods exlst--so that I, then,
acknowledge their existence myselfaud am not an out-aud-out atheist and am not guilty of that--yet not, of course, tile very ones

acknowledged by the city, but different ones? Is that what you're

5 charging me with, that they're different ones? Or re you saying that I
myself don't acktlowledge any gods at all, and that that's what I teach
to otbers?
That's what I mean, that you don't ackuowledge any gods at all.
26d You're a strange fellow, Meletusl Why makes you say that? Do I
not even acktrowledge that the sun and the moon are gods, then, as

intemperate to me and to have written this indictment simply out of

some sort of arrogance, intemperance, alld youthful rashness,s4

Indeed, he seems to have composed a sort of riddle in order to test

me: "Will the so-called wise Socrates recognize that I'nl playing 27a
around and contradicthig myseh? Or will I fool him along with tile
otller llsteners?"You see he seems to me to be contradicting ldmself 5
in his indictment, as if he were to say, "Socrates is guilty of not
acknowledging gods, but of acknowledging gods," And that's just
childish playiug around, isn't it?
- Please examhie with me, gentlenren, why it: seems to me that this
is what lie's saying.And you, Meletus, answer us. But you, gentle-

men, please remember what I asked of you at the beginning: don't

Is there anyone, Meletus, who acknowledges tbat human activities

exist but doesn't aeknmvledge human beings? Make him answer, gen:. tlemeu, and don't let him make one protest aRer another. Is there 5
anyone who doesn't acknowledge horses but does acknowledge

activities? Or who doesn't acknowledge that musiciansss exist

acknowledge musical activities? There's no one, best of

other men do?

No, by Zeus, gentlemen of the jury, he doesn't, since lie says that
5 tile arm's a stone and the n:toon earth.
My dear Meletus, do you think it's Anaxagorassa you're accusing?'

Are you that contemptuous of thejury? Do you think they're so illitI

crate that they don't ktlow that the books of Kuaxagoras of Clazome-'
nae are full ofsudl arguments? Aud, in particular, do young people

to answer, I must answer for yon and for tire

}qthera here. But at least answer my next question. Is there anyone

ofdaimonic activities but doesn't 27

delmons?
there isn't.

!'How good of you to answer, if reluctantly and when compelled to

Well then, you say that I acknowledge daimonic

52. Auaxogora of Ch'zomenae (e. 500-428 l.c:..) settled i,l Athens

B.C..) where he remabled until he fled to Lampsacus to escaj,

piety (. 436 B...). Hc was a friend of the great Athlian statesmanPedele.*, and
the indictment may have been motivated at least in part by political hostility to the.

(agora) inAthens, What wa availwas probably not Auxagoras' book, but a recitation errs

latter. Ana.,:agoras a(:cotded a fimdamemal cosmological zole to (divltie',

views are cdtieized at Phaedo 97bS-99d2.

10

create an uproar ifI make my arguments in my accustomed manner. 27b

,!.
.,L-

players. The atdos wa* a reed instrument rather like an oboe.

42

PLNI'O

s activities, whether new or mlliar, and teach about them. But then,
on your account, I do at any rote acknowledge daimoJfic activities,
and to tiffs you've sworn in your indictmeut against me. However, ifI

acknowledge daimouie activities, surely it's absolutely necessary that I

acknowledge daimofis. Isn't that so?Yes, it is--I assume you agree,
to since you doJt't answer. But don't we believe that daimons are either

27d gods 05; at asry rate, children of gods?Yes or no?

Of course.

Then, !findeed I do believe in dalmons, as you're saying, and if

dainmns ate gods of some sort, tibet's precisely what I meant when I
5 said that you're presenting us with a riddle and playing around: you're
saying that I doia't believe in gods and, on the contrary, that I do
believe in gods, since in fact I do at least believe in daimons. But if,
on the other hand, dalmons ate elffldren of gods, some sort of bastard
opring of a nynrph, or of whomever else tradition says each one is
the dllld, what nran could possibly believe that dfildren of gods exist.
to but not gods?That would be just as neasonable as believing in the
27e clfildren of horses and assess6 namely, mules--while not believing
in the existence ofhoses and asses.
Well then, Meletus, yon must have written these things to test uss7
or because you were at a loss about what genuine injustice to charge

nle witli.Tiiere's no conceivable way yon could persuade alW man

with even the slightest intelligence that the same person believes in
both daimotfic activities and gods, and, on the contrat3,, that tiffs same
28a person believes neither in daimons, nor in gods, nor in het'oes,ss
In fact, then, men of Athens, it doesn't seem to me to require a

long defense to show that I'm not guilty of the charges in Meletus'
indictnient, but what I've said is sufficient. But what I was also saying
s earlier, that much hostility has arisen against me.aml anmng maW
people-you may be sure that's trne.Aml Iris what will convict me, if
I ash colwicted: not Meletns or Anytus, but the slander and malice of
nralW people. It has certainly convicted many other good men as
28b well, and I imagine it wiU do so again.There's no danger it will stop
with me.
56. Oinltthlg with de Sttycker and Slh,gs.
57. Omitthg 'v paglv ";a6t*W whh de Stt,cker and Slhlgs.
58. Heroes ate demigods (28c2), chtldten of gods and mortals, whose exJstenc6,
tllcrefoze entails tile exhtcnge of gods. Hence someone who denies the exJstcllce

of gods denies that of heroes too.

APOLOGY

43

But perhaps someone may say, "Aren't you ashamed, Socrates, to

have engaged in tlie sort of occupation that has now put you at risk of
death?" I, however, would be right to reply to hhn,"You're not think-

hag sttdght, sir, if you think that a man who's any use at all should give
any opposing weight to tim risk of living or dying, instead of looking
to this alone whenever he'does anytlfing: wheth.er his actions are just
or unjust, the deeds of a good or bad man.You see, on your account, 28e

all those dentigods who died on the phin of Troy were inferior people,
especially die sor of Thetis, who was so contemptuous of danger when
the alte!:native was something shameful,s9 When Ire was eager to kill
Hector, his motliel; since she was a goddess, spoke to him, I t[fink, in 5
some such words as these: 'My child, if you avenge the death of your
friend Patroclus and slay Hectm; you will d:ie you rsel'itoanediatelB' so
fire poenr goes/as your death is fated to follow next after Hector's"
But though he heard that, he was contemptuous of death and danger,
for he was far more afraid of living as a bad man and of failing to 10
avenge Iris friends: 'Let me die immedlatelB then" it continues, 'once 28d
I've given tire wJ:ongdoer his just desests,6 so that I do not remahl here

bY the curved ships, a laughingstock and a burden upon the easdl: Do

you really suppose he gave a thought to death or dauger?"
You see, men of Athens, this is the truth of the matter:Wherever
sonteone has stationed ldsnself because lie thinks :it best, or wherever

he's been stationed by iris commander, there, :it seems to me, lie

should remain, steadfast in danger; taking no account at all of death or

ofanytlfing else, in comparison to what's shamefnl. I'd thei:efore have
been acting scandalogsl; men of Athens, if, when I'd been stationed 288
]h Potidea,!hnphipoiis, or Deiium61 by the leaders you had elected to
lead me, I had, llke many anotlies; remained where they'd stationed
me and run the risk ofdeatb. But if, when the god stationed nre here,
as I became thorouglfly convinced he did, to live practicing philosophy, examiJfiug myself and others, I had--for fear of death or aW- ,
"!llng else--abandoned my station.
ga
59. See Homer, 11iadXVlII.94 fl Thetis' son, born era mottat father, Pdeus, and
i hence a demigod, is AchJges.
:60. "Once I've given.., deserts" is a Socratic addition to Homer's text,

61. Three battles in tim Pelopolmeslatt War betweelt Athens and its allies and
allies. See Thucydides 1.56-65 (Potldaea). 1V.90 (Dllum), V,2
Socrates' bave at Pofidea ld Dellum Js deseflbed at 8ympotllou

44

APOLOGY

PLATO

My excellent man, you're an Athenian, you belong to the greatest

city, renowned for its wisdom and strength; are yotl not aslmtned
that 3ou take care to acquire s muclt wealth as possible---and reputation and honor---but that about wisdom aud truth, about how
your soul may he hi tim best possible condition, you take neither
care nor thought?

That would have been scandalous, atxd someone miglat isave

rightly and justly brought me to court for not acknowledging that

gods exist, by disobeying die oracle, fearing death, and drinking I
5 was wise when I wasn't.You see, fearing death, gentlemen, is noth-

ing other than thinking one is wise wilen one ire't, since it's thiuldng
one Iolosvs what nile doesn't know. I nleall, no one knows whether

death may not be the greatest oall goods for people, but they fear it
as if they kew for certain dirt it's the worst tlffng of all.Yet surely*a
29b tiffs Js the most bhmewortlty ignorance of tlfiuldng one knows what
one doesn't know. But I, gentlemen, may perhaps dlltr from most

people by just this much in tiffs matter too.And ifI really were to
claim to be wiser than anyone in any wa) it would be in this: t!at as
6 I don't have adequate kaowledge about things in Hades, so too I
don't tlllnk that I have knowledge.To act unjustly, oll the other
hand, to disobey someone better than onesel whether god or man,
that I do know to be bad and shamefid. In any case, I'll never fear or

avoid things that may for all I know be good more than things I
kalow are bad.

Sltppose, tllen, yott're prepared to let me go now and to disobey

we Anytus, ycho said I shouldn't lave been brougltt to court at all, but
that since I had been brought to court, you had no alternative but to

put me to deatlr because, as lie stated before you, ifi were acquitted,
s soonyoursonswouhlallbeentirelycorruptedbyfollowingSocrates'
teachings. Suppose, confronted with that clalnl, you were to say to
me,"Socrates, we will riot obey Anytus tiffs time. Instead, we are pre-

pared to let you go. But on the following condition: that you spend
no nlote time on tiffs investigation and don't practice phllosoph and. .
if you're caught doing so, you'll die:'Well, as I just said, if you were to.
29,t let me go on these terms, I'd reply to you, "i've the utmost respect

and affection for you, men of Athens, but I'Ll obey the god rather
than you, and as long as [ draw breath and am able I won't

practicing philosophy, exhorting you and also showing tim

any of you I ever }rappen to meet, sayiug just the sorts of things
accustomed to say:
62. Reading xctkot with Eusehius.
63. Auytus presumably thougl
as Atmxagoras (26d6 note) had done, See else 45e3-4.
!

64. By showing you that you aren't wis tkough you tldok you are'(23bT),

45

29

Then, if one of you disagrees and says tim[ lie does care, I won't let
him go away immediately, but I'll question, examine, and test him.
And if lie doesn't seem to me to possess virtue, though he claims he

does, I'll reproach him, saying tilat lie treats the most important

tlffngs as having the least value, and inferior ones as having more.This 30a
i-win do for anyone 1 meet, young or old, alien or fellow citizen--

but especially for you, my fellow citizens, since you're closer kin to
inc. This, you may be sure, is what the god orders me to do. And I
believe that no greater good for you has ever come about in the city

than nW service to the god.You see, I do notlfing else except go

around trying to persuade you, both young and old alike, not to care
as[out your bodies or your money as intensely as about how your soul 30b

.ihay be in the hess possible condition. I say,

: It's net from weahb that virtue comes, but from virtue comes
Ii. money, and all the other thhlgs that are good for human brings,
both in private and in public iit'e.6s
:iA

saying tbls, I'm col'rupting the young, this is what you'd

hve to think to be liarnfful. But if anyone claims I say something

5 "

, he's talking nonsense:'

"'"It's in that light;' I want to say;"snen of Athens, that you should

or not, and let me go or nov--knowing that I wouldn't
not even ifI were to die matW times over."

create an uproar, men of Athens. Instead, please abide by my

create an uproar at what I say, but to listen. For I tlffnk

['profit you to listen.You see, lhrt certainly going to say some

S nee Socrates s a poor mm (23b9, 31c2-3, 38bl-6), les hard y say ng that
brings a lot of nloney. !Lather he is sayhg that virtue brings as
. and this linty lie[ be vet)' much. O1t1, someone

believed that money was itself the hess thing or that virtue was stdefly moral
could find this disquieting.

30e

46

PLATO

APOLOGY

47

further tllgs to you at whleh you may peal,ups exclaim--but by no

accepted or asked for payment. In fact, it's !who can call what I think 3to

nreaos do so.

is a sutcient witness that I'm telling the truth--my poverty.

You may be sure dial if you put me to death man ofdre sort I
said I was just now--you won't harm me more than you harm your-

selves. Certailfly, Meletus or Anytus couldn't harm nre in any way:

10 that's not possible. For I don't tlmtk it lawful for a better man to be
30d harmed by a worse)6 I-Ie ms26 of course, kill me, or perhaps baJfish or
diselmlchJseme.And fllese he believes to be very bad tlmlgs, and othess no doubt agree. But I don't believe this. P-athe; I believe that dohlg
5 what lie's doing now---attemptlng to kill a man unjusdy--is far svelte.

So, men of Athens, I'nl far from pleading itr my own defense noxv,
as nligb.t be supposed. Instead, I'm pleading in yours, so that yon
don't commit a great wrong against the god's girl to you by con300 demning nle. If yon put me to death, you won't easily find another
like.me. For, even iflt seems ridiculous to say so, I've literally been
attached to the cit as if to a large thoroughbred horse dial was somewhat sluggish because ofi size and needed to be awakened by some
5 sort of gadfly. It as just such a gadil it seems to the, that tile god has
attached lno to the ci---Olre that awakens, persuades, and reproaches

each and every one of you and never" stops alighting everywllere on
31a yOU the wliole day.You wol't easily find another like that, gentlemen. So if you obey me, you'll spare my life. But perhaps you'll be
resentful, like people awakened from a doze, and slap at inc. If you
5 obeyAtWtus, youmighteasilykillme.Theny6hmigbtspendtherest
of your lives asleep, uuless the god, in lfis compassion for you, were to
send you someone else.

That I am hxdeed the sort of person to be given as a git} to the city

by the god, you may recognize from tbls: it doesn't seem a merely
3Ib human matter--does it?--or me to have neglected all my own affairs

and to have put up with tiffs neglect ot'my domestic life for so many
years now, but ahvays to have minded your business, by visithlg e}ch of
you in private, like a father or elder brother, to persuade you to care
5 about virtue. Ofcdurse, ifI were getthlg atwtlfiug out oflt or ifI were
being paid for giving this advice, my" conduct would be intelligible.
But, as it is, yon can plainly see for yomselves that my accusers, who so

shamelessly accused me of everytlfing else, couldn't bring themselves

to be so utterly shameless as to call a witness to say that I ever once
66. Per the meaning of"lawfid" (thetnltolt), see 21b6 note. Tile co*dentnd
puzzllng--claiui Is pardy explained at Cdto 44d8-!0 mad l*ote.

But perhaps it may seem strange that 1, of all people, give tMs advice
by going around and mluding other people business in private, yet
do not venture to go before your Assembly and give advice to the city

in public.The reason for that, however; is one you've beard me give

many times and in many places: A divine and daimonic thing comes
to me--the very thing Meletus made mocking allusion to in the
indictment he wrote. It's sonreding that began happening to me ia 3td
childhood: a sort of voice comes, which, whenever it does come,

always holds me back fi:om what I'm about to do but never urges me
for.vard. It is what opposes rty engaging in politics--and to me, at
least, its opposition seems entirely right. Pot you may be sure, men of

Athens, that ifl'ds7 tried to engage in politics I'd have perished long
ago and have benefited neithes" you nor myself.
Please don't resent me ifI tell you the truth.The fact is that no 31
nmn will be spared IW you or by atW other multitude ofpeople if he
genuinely opposes a lot of unjust and unlawful actions and tries to
prevent them from happening in the city. On the contrary, atwone
who 'eally fights for what's just, if indeed he's going to survive for 3za
even a short time, must act privately not publicly.
I'll present substantial evidence of that--not words, but what you
value, deeds. Listen, then, to what happened to nre, so you may see
that fear of death wouldn't lead me to submit to a single person contrary to wrist's just, not even ff I were to perish at once for not sub-

lnitting.The things I'll tell you axe era vulgar sort eommotfty heard
in the law courts, but they}e trite nonetheless.

You see, men of Athens, I never held any other public office in the
ci, but I've served on the Council.And it happened that my own 32b
tribe, Antioehis, was presiding6s when you wanted69 to try the ten
generalsthe ones who failed to rescue the survivors of the naval
67. Onitting ti&t with Cobet.
68, Aphul is nots tdbo in our sense, butan admhstfative divMou of the citizen
body. most probably of tnllitaty origin. Thepresiding couunluee of the CouneU
(25a3 ltote) consisted of the fifty members of one of tile ten tribes, selected by lot
to serve for one-tentil of the year. It arranged meetings ofth CouncU and Assem
bly, received envoys and letters to the state, and conducted other routine business.

69. ILeadlng i}o'SXeo0e \.lifts de Sttycker and Slings.

48

PLATO

battle-s a group.7That was mfla\vful, as you all came to recognize

s at a later time. On that occasion, I ",vas the only presiding member

opposed to your doing something illegalj and I voted against you.

And tliotlgh tile orators71 were ready to lay information against me
and have me summarily arrested,7a and you were shouting and urging

them on, I thought that I shouM face danger on the side of law and
justice, rather than go along with you for fear of imprisonment or
death when your proposals were tmjust.
Tiffs happened when fits city was still under democratic rule. But
latel; when the oligarchy had come to powel; it happened mice more.
The Thirtya snnnnoned me and four others to the Tholus74 and
5 orderedustoarrestLeonofSalamisVSandbringlfimfresnSalaniisto

32c

dle.They gave many such orders to many other people too, of course,

since they wanted to implicate as many as possible hi their crimes. On

that occasion, however, I showed once again not by words but by
32,1

deeds tbat I couldn't care less about dentil--if that im't putting it too
bluntly--but that all I care abm-lt is ii3 doing anything unj!,tsi or
impious.You see, that gover,{{l{e;t-,p'o'wertuft o@h it 3vas, tid,l't
5 'ighte- ne into -ttjustac}ioj{{ Wlen we ['aie'ou'of t'heTfholus, the
other four went to Salamis and arrested Leon, whereas I left and went

home. I might have died for that if the government hadn't fallen
shortly afterward.
70. After the naval battle at Argimlsae on the Imfian coast of Asia Mhtor (406
B.C,1L). tell Atltedau generals were indicted for failing to rescue survivors and plck
tip tile bodies of the dead. Both Council and Assembly voted to try tllem as a
group, wlfich was against Afllelltan law. See Xellophon, Helletdea 1.7.
71. The politicians supporting the mass tdal,
72. ldllddktltlnat.., kal apagel: Endeixts (lay inCorlnatlon agMl)st) and apagoge (have
summarily arrested) ".vete formal legal actions era speelile sort.
73. After Athees was defeated by Spans in 404 n.c.n., its democratle govermnent
was replaced by a brutal oligarchy, the so-called Ttfirty Tyrants, which survived
barely eight months. During that tlnle it allegedly executed some fifteen hundred
people, and many I nol'o we;it into exile to escape. Two members of the Thltty--

Cdtlas and Channides--were relatives of Plato's atld appear as 8ocratie intedoeu

tots ia the dialogues named after them. Socrates' association with them is often
thought to Slave been one of the things that led to his indictment.
74. The Tholas was a dome-shaped building, also called the Skhs ("parasol"). Tile
presidlug conutflttee of the Council (32b2 note) took its meals there.
75. LeorL is otherwise utflinown. The episode, however, is widely repotted (Seventh Letter 324d8-325eS; Xenophon, HeUenlea 11.3.39, Memorabilia IV,4.3).

APOLOGY

49

There are many witnesses who will testif!/before you about these
evenL%

32e

Do you imagine, then, that I'd have survived all these years if I'd

been regtdarly active hi public affairs, mnl imd come to the aid of justice like a good man, and regarded that as most important, as one
should? Far from it, mesl of Athens, and neider would any other 5
man. But thtoughout my entire life, in any puhlic activities I may 33a
bays engaged in, it was evident I was the sort ofpesson--and in private llfe I was the same---who never agreed to anything with anyone

contrary to justice, whether with oflers or with those whom my

slanderers7a say are my students. In fact, I've never been anyone's

teacher at any time. But if anyone, whether young or old, wanted to

listen to me while I was talking aud performing my own task, I never

begrudged that to hinL Neither do I engage in conversation only
when I receive a fee and not when I don't. Rather, I offer? nryself for 33b

questiotfing to riell and poor alike, ol; if someone prefers, he may listen to me and answer my questions. And if any one of these turned

out well, or' did not do so, I can't justly be held responsible, since I
never at any time promised atW of thenl flsat they'd learn atwthing 5
from nte or that I'd teach them.And if anyone says that he learned
something from me or heard somethhlg in private that all the others
didit't also hear, you may be sure he isn't telling the trutliY
Why, then, you may ask, do some people enjoy spending so much
time with me?You've heard the answer, men of Athens. I told you dse 33e
whole truth:it's because they enjoy listeJhlg to people being examined
who think they're ",vise but aren't. For it's not unpleasant. In my case,

however, it's sometlfing, you may take it from me, I've been ordered to
do by the
god, both
in oracles
and
in every
"divine
providence
ever
orderedand
any dreams,
man to do
anything
at other
all. way flint

All these tlfings, men of Athens, are both true and easily tested. I
mean. i'I really do corrupt the young or have corrupted tbenr in the

of them had recognized when they became older 33d

I'd given them bad advice at some point in their youth, they'd
come forwanl themselves to accuse me and seek redress.
, weren't willing to come themselves, some of their
, members--fathers, brothers, or other relatives--if indeed

50

PLATO

their kinsmen bad suffered any harm from me'would remember it

now and seek redress.
In ally case, 1 see realW of these people present here: first of all,
10 there's Crito, my contetnporatT and fellow demesman, the father of
33e Critobulus here;78 ,then there's Lysanins of Sphettus, father of

Aeschines here;79 next, dlere's Epigenes' father, Antiphon of Cephlsia

here. Then there are others whose brothers have spent time in this
way: Nicostratus, son of Theozotides,st brother of Theodotus--by the

s way, Theodotus is dead, so that .Nicostratus is at any rate not being

held back by him;sa and Paralins here, son of Demodocus, whose
brother was Theages;a and there's Adelmantus, the smt of Atiston,
34a whose brother is Ptato.hereY and Aeantodorus, whose brother here
is Apollodorus.SSAnd there are many others I could mention,some of

78. Crito w a well-offfann owner (liitthydemus 291e8), able and willing to help
his frleltds htaneilly (3867, CKto 44bc5; Diogenes Laettlus II.2021, 31,105,
121). Hfls relationship with Socrates is that of air old close friend ond neighbor,
who is also to some degree a patton or benefactor (Diogenes Laenius II.121) and
adviser on practical matters. Of Socrates' various friends, he is the one who takes
the lead, acting naturally as the spokesman of the others (Gdto 43c5-8; Phasdo
11565-l18a14 below). Both belonged to the deme (see Bitthyphro 269 note)
Alopeke. Critobulus, his sou, was also a member of Socrates' circle and was

present zt his death (Phacdo 5967).

79. Aesehhws ofSphenus (foutth-ccntaty.c.n.) was a do'/oted follower of Socrates, present at his death (Phaedo 5968). Ho taught oratozy and wrote hoth
speedtes for the law couns and Socratic dialogues, only fragments of;vlrlch are
extant. His father is othenvise unknown.

80. EpJgenes was present at Socrates' death (Phaeda 59b8) and was a member of
Iris circle (Xenollhou, Memorabilia 111.12). Neither he nor Iris father are otherwise
knowJl,

81. Theozotides introduced two tmporto,tt democratic roforms aer the: fall of the
Tlrirty Tyrants (32c4 ,tote). His sons are othenvise unknown.
82. Presuntably from accusing Socrates on his behalf.
83. Otherwise largely unknown. Spurious works in tile Platonic canon are named
after Theages attd Demodocus.
84. This is one of three placesln Iris dialogues that Plato mentions Ifimself.38b6
and Phaedo 59b10 ate tile others. Adehnantus, with his bzother Glaucon, plays an
imponant role iu the Rep)tbllt.
85. Apollodoms, an enllu)slastle follower of Socrates, given to emotion (Phaedo
59a8-bl, 117c3-d6), is the narrator in the SytnpoJfltm. His brofller is otherwise
IlilFtown.

APOLOGY

51

whom Melems most eer tahly ought to have called as witnesses in tile
course of his own speech. If he forgot to do so, let him call them
now--I yield time to Ifim. Let hint tell us if he has any such witness.
No, it's entirely the opposite, gentlemen.You'll find that they're all

prepared to come to my aid, their corruptor, the one who, MeIetus

and Anytus claim, is doing harm to flteir families. Of conrse, the cor--

rupted ones themselves trfight indeed have reason to come to my aid. 34b
But the uncorrupted ones, their relatives, who are older men now,

what reason could they possibly have to support me, other than the
right andjnst one: that they know perfectly well that Maletus is lying,
whereas i am telling the ttttth?

Well then, gentlemen, those, and perhaps other similar things, are
pretty nmeh all I have to say in my defense. Bttt perhaps'one of you
might be resentful when he recalls his own behavior. Perhaps when lie
was eontesting even a lesser charge than this eharge, he positively 34e
entreated file jtnx)rs with copious tears, bringing for\yard tJs children
and many other-relatives and friends as well, in order to aronse as

i much pity as possible. And then he finds that I'll do none of these
tlfittgs, not even when I'm facing what 1fright be considered the ulliate danger. Perhaps someone with these thoughts might feel more
:i'illful where I'm concerned and, made angry by these very same

houghts, east his vote in anger.Well) if there's someone like that

among you--of course, I don't expect there to be, but/fthere is-I 34d

z: t!mlk it appropriate for me to answer hun as follows:' I do indeed have

;relatives, my excellent man. As Homer puts ii:,s6 I too 'wasn't born
:' but from human parents.And so I do have telatives, sons too, men of Athens, three of them, one already a yonng

7 man while two are still children. Nonetheless, I won't bring atW of
and then entreat you to vote for my acquittal;'
3,Vhy, you may ask, will I do none of these things? Not because
willful, men of Athens or "vant to dishonor you--whether I'm

l0

death or not.is a separate storThe point has to do with 34e

and that of the entire city: it doesn't
to do these things, especially at my age and with
whether truly or falsely, it's firmly:believed hi any
3Sa
XlX.163. Penelope ts speaking to her husband, Odysseus (41el note),

52

PLATO

APOLOGY

53

Therefore, if those of yell who are believed to be superiot--eRher in

and to the god to judge me in whatever way will be best for me aud

wisdom or courage or any other virtue whatever--behave like that, it

for yourselves.9

would be shamefid.
I've often seen people of this sort when they're on trial: they're

s thought to be som6one, yet they do astonishing things---as if they

imagined they'd su0r something terrible if they died and would be
itmnottal if'otdy you dklu't kill them. People like that seem to me to
bring such shame to the city that any foreigner Jrfight well suppose
35b that those among the Athetfians who arc superior in virtue--the

cast on each side: I didn't thiuk that the deeidon would be by so few

ones they select from among themselves for political office and other

votes but by a great matly.Yet nox% i seems, that ifa mere tlfirty votes

positions of honor--are no better than women,e7 1 say this, men of

Athens, because none of usss who are lil atW way whatever thought

liad been cast differently, I'd have been acqultted.9t Or rather, it seems

5 to be someone should behave llke that, nor, if we attenipt to do so,

should you allow it. On the contrary, you should make it clear
you're far more likely to convict someone who makes the city despicable by staging these pathetic scenes than smneone who minds Iris
behavior.
10 1Leputation aside, gentlemen, it doesn't seetnjust to me to entreat
35e the jury--nor to be acquitted by entreating it--but rather to inform

it and persuade it.After all, a juror doesn't sit in order to grant justice
as a favor, but to decide where justlce lies.And be has sworn on oath
not that he'll favor whomever he pleases, but that he'll judge accords ing to law.SgWe shouldu't accustom you to breakiug your oath, then,
nor should you become accustomed to doing so--neither of us

would be doing something holy if we dld. Hence don't expect me,

men of Athens, to act toward you in ways I consider to be neither
35d

Them ere many reasous, men of Athens, why I'm not resent fill at this 35e
outcome--that you voted to convict me--and this outcome wasn't
mtexpected by me. l'm much more surprised at the number of votes 36a

noble, nor just, nor pious--most especially. IW Zeus, when I'm

being prosecuted for itttpiety by Melctus here.You see, if! tried to

persuade and to force you by entreaties, after you've sworn an oath, I

clearly would be teaching you not to believe in the existence of

5 gods, aud my defense would literally convict me of not acknowledging gods. But that's far from being the case: I do acknowledge thetn,
men of Athens, as none omy accusers does. I turn it over toyou

to me that where Meletus is concerned I've been acquitted even as

dfiugs stand.And not merely acquitted. On the central3; one tiring at

least is'clear to everyone: ifAtwtus bad not come forward with Lycon

(o accuse me, Mclctus wohld have been fined a thousand draclnna,

shlee he woulda't have received a fiffil of the votes.9
Srh
But be llmt as it maB the man demands the death penalty for me.
Well then, what couuterpeualty shouhl I now propose to you, men of
Athens? Or is it clear that it's whatever I deserve?What then should it
be? What do I deserve to stifler or pay just because I didn't nriud my 5
own business tln-oughout nq life? Because I didn't care about the
drings most people care about--making mouey, managing an estate,

' oi: being a general, a popular leader, or holding some other political
the cabals and factions that come to exist in a city--

b in truth, to engage in these thiugs and 36

sbrvive? Because I didn't engage in things, if engaging in them was
to benefit neither you nor myself, but instead went to each of
. you privately and tried to perform-what.I claim is the greatest bene.: faction? That was what I did. I tried to persuade each of you to care
verdict. Meletus proposes the death penalty, Tllelaw
propose an altemaffve, or counterpenalty, whidl he proceeds

to doln the next part oflffs defense. Later members of the jury will choose whldpenalty and the counterpenalty they deem file mote appropriate punishment.

87. Casual sexlsm of tiffs sort is common ht Plato's dialogues, but may xeflect cultural rather that personal attitudes.

88.1Leading l'lgg.

]
z

89. The gist of this oath, which may be pieced together from references such as
this one, was as follows: "1 \ffl judge aecordhlg to the laws end decree of Athen,
and I will decide matters about which there are no taws by the most just opit ffon,"

was usual for an indtetmcnt of impiety. It follows that

o 220, since a tied vote testdted in acquittal.
that tffs accusers tecetved around 90 vote each, or a third
Fflte 280 guilty votes. Tiffs is les than the 100 votes that Meleuts needed to repaying the fine to wlfieh Socrates refers, wbidl was hlstl, law to deter frivolous suits.

54

PLATO

APOLOGY

first not about any of Iris possessions, but about lfimsetf and how he'll
become best and wisest; and not primarily about the city's possesstarts, but about the city itseli] and to cam about all other tlfings in the
36d same way.

What, then, db I deserve to suffer for being such a man? Something good, men of Athens, ffI'm indeed to propose a penalty that I
truly deserve.Yes, and the sort of good thing, too, that would be

appropriate for me.What, then, is appropriate for a poor man who is

s a public benefactor and needs to have the leisure to exhort you?
Notlfing could be more appropriate,9a men of Athens, than for such a
man to be given free meals in.the Prytaneum--nmch more so for
him, at any rate, than for anyone of you who has won a victory at

Olympia, whether with a single horse or with a pair or a team of

four.9"lYon see, he makes you fldnk you're happy, whereas I make you

10 actually happy.9s Besides, he doesn't need to be sustained in that way,

36 but I do need it. So if, as justice demands, I must propose a penalty I
37a deserve, that's the penalty I propose: free mea!s in the PrytaueuuL
:

blow perhaps when I say this, you may drink I'm speakhrg in a
quite willful mamler-just as when I talked about appeals to pity anti

!.

s supplications.That's not so, nren of Athens, rather it's something like

1 .
I

l'i

tI

this: I'm coJwlnced that I never intentionally do injustice to any

man--but I can't get yon to share my conviction, because we've

talked together a short time. I say tills, because if you had a law, as
other men in fact do, not to try a capital charge ill a single day; but
10 over several, I thiuk you'd be cowiucedfls But as things stand, it isn't
37b easy to clear myself of huge slanders in a shot time.

t;,f I

E'il

Well then, should I propose exile? Perhaps tbat's wbat you'd propose for me. But I'd certaitdy have to have an excessive love of life,
men of Athens, to be so irrational as to do that. I see that you, my fellow citizens, were unable to tolerate my disconrses and discussions

but cam9 to find them so burdensome aud odious that you're now 37d
seeking to get rid of them. Is it likely, then, that Iql hirer that ofllel
will !qnd them easy to bear? Fat' Erom it, men of Athens. It would be a
.fine life for me, indeed, a man of my age, to go into exile and Sl)end

his life exchanging one clty for another, because he's always being
9xpelled.You see, I ",veil know that wherever I go, tile young will s
come to hear me speaking, just as they do llere.And ifI drive them
away; they will themselves persuade their elders to expel me; whereas
ifI don't drive them away, their fathers and relatives will expel me 37e
ebecause of these same young people.
. Now pes'haps someone may say,"But by keeping quiet and ndnd-

)ng your own business, Socrates, wouldn't it be possible for you to

live in exile for us?"TbJs is the very hardest point on which to con::. vince sonic of you.You see, if I say that to do that would be to dis

and the other things you've heard nre discussing and examining
about, on tire groumls that the urtexamined lifbl
g for a human being, you'll believe me even less

93. Onlitting oBr0K with Adam.

that. But in fact, tldngs are just as I claim them to be, men

94. The Ptytaneum, a building on the northeast slope at'the Acropolis, was the
symbolic center of Athens, where file conlnlulll heatlh was housed. See BJtthyj/h/0 3a7 tiara. Guests of the city and victors in the Olympic attd other games were
given flee meals tltere.

li!

to pay.

he, since you'll suppose I'm being ironical,a9 But

it's tile greatest good for a man to discuss virtue every 38a

I'm certainly not likely to do myself injustice, to announce that I

deserve someddng bad and to propose a penalty of that sort for
s myselWhy should I do that? In order not to suffer what Meletus

F. See 29a-b.

LppoJnled by lot to be in charge ofpdsom aud executions.

9S. Because livnlg v,rell [being happy], llvmg a t]ne lie, slid liVlllg.]ustly ate the
samff' (Grlto 48b8); "wisdom is eleady vltute, either the whole of it or part oftt' ii
(Meno 87d2-gaa5) and being examined by Socrates leads to human wisdom. -
96. Sparta had a Jaw of this sort.

proposes as a penalty for nle, when I say that I don't know wlretber
rts a good or a bad thing?? As an alternative to that, am I then to
choose one of the fldngs I kuow very ",veil to be bad and propose it?
hnprisomnent, for example? And why should I live in prison,
enslavedttheregularlyappintedcers, theEleven?aSAIIrlgllt, a 37c
fine with imprlsomnent until I pay? But in my case tlie effect would
be precisely the one I `just now described, since I haven't the menus

Obey the god, and that this is why I can't mind my own busiuess, you

Since i'm convinced that I've done injustice to Oo one, however,

li(

55

.j t

involved not simply men Mug the contraB, of what abe

it wlth the intention to deceive.
00. That is, a I ,re left uneamlned, whether by the pc*son whose life it is or by
:ngaging the person in elenctic tros-oxamhtation.

56

PLATO .

of Athens, tliough it isn't easy to convince you of them, At tire same

38b

time, I'm not accustomed to thinking that I deserve anything bad, If

I had the means, I'd have proposed a title of as much as I could afford
to pay, since that would have done me no harm at all, But as things
stand, I don't have them--mffess you want me to propose as much as

5 I'm in fact able to pay. Perhaps I could pay you about a mina oral!vet.
So I propose a fine othat amount.
One nloment, men of Athens. Plato here, and Crlto, Critobulus,

and Apollodorus as well, are nrgiug me to propose thirty nffnas and

saying that they themselves will guarantee it.tel I propose a title of
that atnount, therefore, and these men will be sumcient guarantors to

l0 you of the sl!ver,t

APOLOGY

57

was convicted for lack of the sort of arguments I coukl have used to
convince you, if I'd thought i should do or say auythhtg to escape the
penalty. Far from it. I have been convicted for a lack--nnt of argu-

ments, however, but of boldfaced shaurelessness and for being

unwilling to say the sorts of things to you you'd have been most
pleased to hear, with me v;'eeping attd wailing, and doing and saying
many other things I claim are unworthy ofnre, but that are the vet3,
sortsofthlngsyou'reusedtohearlngfromeveryoneelse. No, ididn,t 38

tlffnk then flaat I should do anything servile because of the danger I

faced, and so I don't regret now that I defended myself as I did. I'd far
rather die aes such a defense than We like that.
You see, whether in a trial or in a war, neither I nor anyone else 6
.shonld contrive to escape death at al! costs. In battle, too, it often 39a

becoules clear that one might escape death by throwing down one's
8e For tile sake of a littte time, men of Athens, you're going to earn
from those who wish to denigrate onr city both the reputation and
the blame for having killed Socrates--that wise man. Per those who
wish to reproach you wilt, of course, claim that I'm wise, even if I'm
5 not. In any case,t ifyou'd waited a short time, tiffs would have happened of its own accord.You, of course, see my age, you see that I'm

already far along in llfe and close to death, l'm saying riffs not to all
38d of you, but to those who voted for tile death penalty. And to those
same people I also say this: Perhaps you imagine, gentlemen, that I

weapons and turning to supplicate one's pursuers.Arid in each sort of

danger these are many other ways one can contrive to escape death, if

one is shameless enough to do or say anything.The difficult tiring,

gentlesnen, isn't escaping deada; escaping villainy is much more diffi cult, since it runs faster than death.And now I, slow attd old as I am, 39b
have been overtaken by the slower runner while my accusers, clever
and sharp-witted as they ate, have been overtaken by the faster one-'-

vice.And now I take tny leave, convicted by you era capital crime,
whereas they stand forever colMcted by the truth of wickedness and
:injustice.And just as I accept nW penal so must they. Perhaps, things
had to turn out tiffs way, and I suppose it's good they have.

101. Thltty 1ulnas (three thousand silver dradunas) was almost ten yeats' salary for
someone engaged in public works. '

102. The jury votes for the death penalty, and Socrates begins tire final part ofbs
speeall. He addresses one set of remarks to those who found hhn guilty (38c%d2)
and anofller to those who voted for file death penalty (39el-2). Tills suggests dlat
tiese two goups were not identical. The fact that he describe.( those who voted
to acquit ]litn as deserving to be called jurors (40a2-3) suggests there was no overlap between this group and fine group who voted for death. Per Socrates would
hardly be likely to refer to the latter in such flattering terms. It folio \w that fewer
jurors voted for the death pelalty titan voted gall!ty. Tlfis contradicts the hint
made by Diogenes Laerilus {2.42), some five centuries later, that there were eighty
more votes for the sentence of death than for fle verdict of guilty. Bat it's surety
what we would expect. Per jurors who.believed Socrates to he iulleceut would
hardly vote to pat hhn to death, and some of those who did find him guilty are
likely o have ecoiled at the death penalty.
103. ILeading ov with 8.

,l':/ext, I want to nrake a prophecy to those who convicted me. 39e

Indeed, I'm now at the point at which men prophesy most--wllen
they're about to die. I say to you men who condenmed me to death

.ii:!hat as soon as l'm dead vengeance will come upon you, and it will be
i.(nmch harsher, by Zeus, than the vengeance you take in killing me.
tile belief that you'll escape giving an account of
I say that quite the opposite will isappen to you,There

more people to test you, whom I now restrain, though you 39d

nW doing so.And they'!l be all the liatsher on you, since

younger, and you'll resent it all the more.You see, if you itnag-

'ile that by killing people you'll prevent anyone from reproaclfing you
ight way, you're not tlffnklng straight. In fact, to
possible nor noble. On the central35 what's best and

put down other people, but to prepare oneself to be the

58

PLATO

best one can.Widt that prophecy to those of you who voted to conl0 vict sue, I take my leave.

APOLOGY

59

that not just some private individual, but even tire great king,t4
would tirol them easy to count compared to the other days and 40
nights. Well, if death's like that, I say" it's an advantage, since, in that

However; I'd gladly discuss this result with those who voted for my
390 acquittal while the officers of the court are busy and I'm not yet on
my way to the place where I must die. Please stay wid me, gentlemen.just for that short tlme.After all, there's nothing to pt-event us

S from having a talk with one another while it's.still in our power.To
40a you whom I regard as friends I'm willing to show the meaning of

case, the whole of time would seem no longer than a single night.
On die otiier hand, if death's a sort ofjmtrney fronl here to another
place, and if what we're told is true, and all who've died are indeed 5
there, whatcouldbeagreatergoodthanthat, gendenteuofthejut3,?lf 41a
on arriving in Hades and leaving belfind the people who claim to be
jurors here, one's going to find those who are truty jurors or judges, the

what has just now happened to me.Yon see, gentlemen of the jury-for in calling you "jurors" I no donbt use the ternr correctly--an

very ones who are said to sit in judgntent there too--Mhios, Rhadamantlws,Aeachus, Tl'iptolemus,tos and all the other detrdgods who were

amazing thing has happened to me. In previous times, the usual

5 prophecies of my daimonic sign were ahvays very frequent, opposing

just in their own lifefitnes--woidd rite journey be a wretched one?

me even on trivial matters, if I was about do somethhig tlmt wasn't

right. Now, however, something has happened to me, as you can see

attd Museus, Hesiod and Homer?t I'd be willing to die many times

for yourselves, that one might think to be, and that's generally
regarded as being, the worst of all bad tbhigs.Yet the god's sign didn't
40b oppose me when I lef home this morning, or when I came tip here
to tim law court, or anywhere in my speech when I was about to say
somethhlg, even though in other discussions it has oRen stopped me
in the middle of what I was saying. Now, however, wllere this affair is
5 concerned, it has opposed me in nothing I either said or ditl.
What, then, do I suppose is the explanation for that? 1'11 tell you.
You see, it's likely that what has happened to me is a good thing and
that those of you who suppose death to be bad make an incorrect
0e supposition. I've strong evidence of this, since there's no way my

usual sign wmdd have failed to oppose me, ifI weren't about to
achieve somedfing good.
But let's bear in nfind that the foJ!owing is also a strong reason to
s hope that death may be sotnetlfing good. Being dead is one of two
things: either the dead ate nothing, as it were, and have no awareness
whatsoever ofanytltiug at all; or else, as we're told, it's sonic sort of
change, a migration of the soul from here to another place. Now, if

there's in fact no awarene,, but it's like sleep--the kind jr which the
40d sleeper has no dream whatsoever---then death would be an atnazitig

advantage. For I hnaglne that if someone had to pick a tdght in which

he slept so sotutdly that lie didn't even dream and had to compare all
5 the other nights and days of his li('e with that one, and then, having
considesed the matter, had to say how many days or nights of his life
lie had spent better or more pleasantly than that lfight--I imagine

Or again, what would any one of you not give'to talk to Orphetts
ovet; if that were true.You see, for nlyself, at any rate, spetrding time

there would be amazing: when I met Palamedest7 or Ajax, file son 41t,
ofTelemon,ras or anyone else of old who died because of an unjust

104. The king of Persia, whoso wealth and power made him a popular exemplar
ofimman success and liapplne (Gatglas 470e,I-9; Buthydentus 274a6-7; SalJhlst
230dS-e3; Laws 693dl-696a4).
105. Minos was alegendary klng of Crete. He judges anaong the dead in Hades as
he did among the llvlng--thottgh not for wrongs they comnfitted in thls life.
Ikhadamanthys is usually thought to judge not ill Hades bar In tile Isles of tire
Blessed. Aeachus is the judge and lawgiver of Aegina and an arbiter among the
gods. Trlptolemes, a hero fi'om Eleusis, had a prominent role lit myster/cults.
106. Orpheus was a legendary bard and founder of the nwstical religion of Of
ldsm. Museus, tueally associated widi Orpheus, was also a legendary bard. Hesiod, an early Greek poet, is the author ofTheagonF (a work on the genealogy of
the gods) and Works arid Days (a work of practical advice and moral suasion).
Homer, the greatest Greek epic poet, is the author of the 1lind (which deals witl
events in the war between th Greeks and the Trojans) attd the Odyssey (which
deals with file adventures of Odysseus [41ol note] during liJs jorltney boule XOllt
; -107, Aescliyhu, Sophocles, and Euripides all wrote tragedies named aer htln, and
: '.Gorgias (19e,3 note) wrote a det'ense of him. Odysseus (4tel note) lfid gotdht |fl
.tent, forged a letter that compromised |th, accused blm of treason, and had lihn
stoned to death.

!1.108. Ajax was cheated of the armor of Achilles in competition with Odysseus
: (41el note). Driven mad, as a Jtesult of this So, justice, he committed suicide.
Sophocles' Ajax deals with these events.

,I

60

PLATO

APOLOGY

verdict, I could compare my own experience with theirss I sup

pose it wouldn't be unpleasing to do. And in partlculat; the most
impor tans t hing: I could spend time exanlimig aml sesrclfing people
there, just as I do here, to find out who among them is wise, and

who thinks he is, but isn't.

What wouldn't one give, gentlemen of the jury; to be able to

examine the leader of tile great expedition against Troy,t9 or Odya-

t
"!

4Ic seus,tla or Sisyphus,tit or couutless other men and women one could

mention?To talk to them there, to associate with them atnl examine

them, "\votddn't that be inconceivable happiness? In any case, tile pea-

"!

'! i

5 pie there certainly don't kill one for doing it. Per if what we're tohl is
true, tile people there are both happier in all other respects than the
people here and also deathless for the remainder oftinle.
But you too, gentlemen of the jury, should be of good hope in the
face of death, and bear ill mind this single truth: nothing bad can
41d happen to a good snail, whether Jtr llfe or in death, nor are tile gods
unconcerned about his troubles.WhaL has happened to me hasn't
happened by chance; rather, it's clear to me titat to die now attd
escape my troubles was a better thiug for me. Itwas for this v6ry rea-

:i !

son that my slgu never opposed ule.And so, for my part, I'm not at all
angry with those who voted to condetml the or with my accusers.

Arid yet this wasn't what they had in mind when they were condemning and accusing me. No, they thought to haml me--and for

that they deserve to be blanred.

This sntall favor, however, I ask ofthem.tiaWhen tn)
of age, gentlemen, punish them by harassing them in the very same
way that I harassed you, if they scent to you to take care of wealth or'
S anytlfiug before vir rue, if they think they're someone when they're
one. Reproach thenl, just as I reproached you: tell them that
don't care for the things they

4re
[: i-!

:, :,

i ;i;
"I

i.il

109. Agamenmon, king of Mycenae.

110, Odysseus is a legendary hero oLhe Trojan War,

arid central to ]ds Odyssey He was as famous for his cunning:
111, Sisyphus is a legendary klfig sttd founder of Corinth. A trickster who triad i
cheat death, he was punished in Hades by having
IR]I, only to have to do so oYer md over again, since it alwa
A spudou work ia the Platonic canon is named after lm.
112. Not just the jurors who voted to condettltl Socrates
'*gelldelnelt" ill th next sentence suggests th elltirejoty.

. :i t !

61

they're worth nothing. If you will do that, I'll have received my mvn 42a
just deserts hem you, as will my sons.
But now it's thne to leave, I to die and you to llve.Which of us goes
to the better thing, however; is unclear to everyone except tile god.