§24καὶ ἐγὼ μὲν ἐπεξέρχομαι [λέγων], ἵνα δῷ δίκην ὧν ἠδίκηκε καὶ τιμωρήσω τῷ τε πατρὶ τῷ ἡμετέρῳ καὶ τοῖς νόμοις τοῖς ὑμετέροις·
And for my part, I am prosecuting so that she may pay the penalty for the wrongs she has committed, and that I may avenge our father and your laws.
ταύτῃ καὶ ἄξιόν μοι βοηθῆσαι ὑμᾶς ἅπαντας, εἰ ἀληθῆ λέγω· οὗτος δὲ τἀναντία, ὅπως ἡ τοὺς νόμους παριδοῦσα μὴ δῷ δίκην ὧν ἠδίκηκε, ταύτῃ βοηθὸς καθέστηκε.
In this respect, it is fitting for you all to help me, if I speak the truth; but this man, on the contrary, has set himself up as her helper, so that the woman who has disregarded the laws may not pay the penalty for the wrongs she has committed.
§25καίτοι πότερον δικαιότερον τὸν ἐκ προνοίας ἀποκτείναντα δοῦναι δίκην ἢ μή;
And yet, which is more just: that the one who killed with premeditation should pay the penalty, or not?
καὶ πότερον δεῖ οἰκτεῖραι μᾶλλον τὸν τεθνεῶτα ἢ τὴν ἀποκτείνασαν;
And which of the two should you pity more: the deceased or the woman who killed him?
ἐγὼ μὲν οἶμαι τὸν τεθνεῶτα· καὶ γὰρ ἂν δικαιότερον καὶ ὁσιώτερον καὶ πρὸς θεῶν καὶ πρὸς ἀνθρώπων γίγνοιτο ὑμῖν.
I, for my part, think the deceased; for that would be more just and more pious for you in the eyes of both gods and men.
ἤδη οὖν ἐγὼ ἀξιῶ, ὥσπερ κἀκεῖνον ἀνελεημόνως καὶ ἀνοικτίστως αὕτη ἀπώλεσεν, οὕτω καὶ αὐτήν ταύτην ἀπολέσθαι ὑπό τε ὑμῶν καὶ τοῦ δικαίου.
Therefore, I now demand that, just as this woman destroyed that man without mercy and without pity, so she herself should be destroyed by you and by justice.
§26ἡ μὲν γὰρ ἑκουσίως καὶ βουλεύσασα τὸν θάνατον ἀπέκτεινεν, ὁ δʼ ἀκουσίως καὶ βιαίως ἀπέθανε.
For she killed voluntarily and by plotting the death, while he died involuntarily and violently.
πῶς γὰρ οὐ βιαίως ἀπέθανεν, ὦ ἄνδρες;
For how, gentlemen, did he not die violently?
ὅς γʼ ἐκπλεῖν ἔμελλεν ἐκ τῆς γῆς τῆσδε, παρά τε ἀνδρὶ φίλῳ αὑτοῦ εἱστιᾶτο· ἡ δὲ πέμψασα τὸ φάρμακον καὶ κελεύσασα ἐκείνῳ δοῦναι πιεῖν ἀπέκτεινεν ἡμῶν τὸν πατέρα.
He was about to sail from this land and was being entertained at the house of a friend of his; but she, by sending the drug and ordering it to be given to him to drink, killed our father.
πῶς οὖν ταύτην ἐλεεῖν ἄξιόν ἐστιν ἢ αἰδοῦς τυγχάνειν παρʼ ὑμῶν ἢ ἄλλου του;
How, then, is this woman worthy of pity, or how does she deserve to obtain consideration from you or anyone else?
ἥτις αὐτὴ οὐκ ἠξίωσεν ἐλεῆσαι τὸν ἑαυτῆς ἄνδρα, ἀλλʼ ἀνοσίως καὶ αἰσχρῶς ἀπώλεσεν.
She herself did not think it right to pity her own husband, but destroyed him unholily and shamefully.
§27οὕτω δέ τοι καὶ ἐλεεῖν ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀκουσίοις παθήμασι μᾶλλον προσήκει ἢ τοῖς ἑκουσίοις καὶ ἐκ προνοίας ἀδικήμασι καὶ ἁμαρτήμασι.
Thus, indeed, it is more fitting to show pity for involuntary sufferings than for voluntary and premeditated wrongs and transgressions.
καὶ ὥσπερ ἐκεῖνον αὕτη οὔτε θεοὺς οὔθʼ ἥρωας οὔτʼ ἀνθρώπους αἰσχυνθεῖσα οὐδὲ δείσασʼ ἀπώλεσεν, οὕτω καὶ αὐτὴ ὑφʼ ὑμῶν καὶ τοῦ δικαίου ἀπολομένη, καὶ μὴ τυχοῦσα μήτʼ αἰδοῦς μήτʼ ἐλέου μήτʼ αἰσχύνης μηδεμιᾶς παρʼ ὑμῶν, τῆς δικαιοτάτης ἂν τύχοι τιμωρίας.
And just as this woman destroyed that man, without shame or fear before gods, heroes, or men, so she herself, being destroyed by you and by justice, and obtaining neither consideration nor pity nor any respect from you, would receive the most just punishment.
§28θαυμάζω δὲ ἔγωγε τῆς τόλμης τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ καὶ τῆς διανοίας, τὸ διομόσασθαι ὑπὲρ τῆς μητρὸς εὖ εἰδέναι μὴ πεποιηκυῖαν ταῦτα.
But I, for my part, marvel at the boldness and the mind of my brother, in swearing solemnly on behalf of his mother that he knows well she has not done these things.
πῶς γὰρ ἄν τις εὖ εἰδείη οἷς μὴ παρεγένετο αὐτός;
For how could anyone know well those things at which he himself was not present?
οὐ γὰρ δήπου μαρτύρων γʼ ἐναντίον οἱ ἐπιβουλεύοντες τοὺς θανάτους τοῖς πέλας μηχανῶνταί τε καὶ παρασκευάζουσιν, ἀλλʼ ὡς μάλιστα δύνανται λαθραιότατα καὶ ὡς ἀνθρώπων μηδένα εἰδέναι·
For surely those who plot death against their neighbors do not devise and prepare it in the presence of witnesses, but as much as possible in the most secret manner, and so that no human being may know.
§29οἱ δʼ ἐπιβουλευόμενοι οὐδὲν ἴσασι, πρίν γʼ ἤδη ἐν αὐτῷ ὦσι τῷ κακῷ καὶ γιγνώσκωσι τὸν ὄλεθρον ἐν ᾧ εἰσί.
On the other hand, those who are plotted against know nothing until they are already in the midst of the disaster and recognize the destruction in which they find themselves.
τότε δέ, ἐὰν μὲν δύνωνται καὶ φθάνωσι πρὶν ἀποθανεῖν, καὶ φίλους καὶ ἀναγκαίους τοὺς σφετέρους αὐτῶν καλοῦσι καὶ μαρτύρονται, καὶ λέγουσιν αὐτοῖς ὑφʼ ὧν ἀπόλλυνται, καὶ ἐπισκήπτουσι τιμωρῆσαι σφίσιν αὐτοῖς ἠδικημένοις·
But at that moment, if they are able and can anticipate it before they die, they call their friends and relatives and call them to witness, and tell them by whom they are being destroyed, and charge them to avenge them for the wrongs they have suffered.
§30ἃ κἀμοὶ παιδὶ ὄντι ὁ πατήρ, τὴν ἀθλίαν καὶ τελευταίαν νόσον νοσῶν, ἐπέσκηπτεν.
These are the very things which my father, when I was still a child, during his miserable and last illness, charged me with.
ἐὰν δὲ τούτων ἁμαρτάνωσι, γράμματα γράφουσι, καὶ οἰκέτας τοὺς σφετέρους αὐτῶν ἐπικαλοῦνται μάρτυρας, καὶ δηλοῦσιν ὑφʼ ὧν ἀπόλλυνται.
But if they fail in these opportunities, they write letters, and call upon their own slaves as witnesses, and reveal by whom they are being destroyed.
κἀκεῖνος ἐμοὶ νέῳ ἔτι ὄντι ταῦτα ἐδήλωσε καὶ ἐπέστειλεν, ὦ ἄνδρες, οὐ τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ δούλοις.
And that man revealed and enjoined these things upon me, gentlemen, while I was still young, and not upon his own slaves.
§31ἐμοὶ μὲν οὖν διήγηται καὶ βεβοήθηται τῷ τεθνεῶτι καὶ τῷ νόμῳ· ἐν ὑμῖν δʼ ἐστὶ σκοπεῖν τὰ λοιπὰ πρὸς ὑμᾶς αὐτοὺς καὶ δικάζειν τὰ δίκαια.
Thus, for my part, I have completed my narrative and my defense of the deceased and of the law; it is now up to you to consider among yourselves what remains and to render a just verdict.
οἶμαι δὲ καὶ τοῖς θεοῖς τοῖς κάτω μέλειν οἳ ἠδίκηνται.
And I believe that the gods below, who have been wronged, also care about this.