§2.1οὔ μοι δοκῶ ἁμαρτάνειν ἀτυχέστατον ἐμαυτὸν ἡγούμενος εἶναι τῶν πάντων ἀνθρώπων.
I do not think I am mistaken in considering myself the most unfortunate of all human beings.
τῶν μὲν γὰρ ἄλλων οἱ δυστυχοῦντες, ὁπόταν μὲν ὑπὸ χειμῶνος πονῶσιν, εὐδίας γενομένης παύονται· ὅταν δὲ νοσήσωσιν, ὑγιεῖς γενόμενοι σῴζονται· ἐὰν δέ τις ἄλλη συμφορὰ καταλαμβάνῃ αὐτούς, τὰ ἐναντία ἐπιγιγνόμενα ὀνίνησιν.
For of other people, those who suffer misfortune, when they are distressed by a storm, cease to suffer when fair weather comes; and when they fall ill, they are saved by recovering their health; and if any other calamity overtakes them, the opposite happening benefits them.
§2.2ἐμοὶ δὲ ζῶν τε ἅνθρωπος ἀνατροπεὺς τοῦ οἴκου ἐγένετο, ἀποθανών τε, κἂν ἀποφύγω, ἱκανὰς λύπας καὶ φροντίδας προσβέβληκεν.
But for me, that man while alive became the destroyer of my house, and now that he is dead, even if I am acquitted, he has inflicted sufficient grief and anxiety upon me.
εἰς τοῦτο γὰρ βαρυδαιμονίας ἥκω ὥστε οὐκ ἀρκοῦν μοί ἐστιν ἐμαυτὸν ὅσιον καὶ δίκαιον παρέχοντα μὴ διαφθαρῆναι, ἀλλὰ κἂν μὴ τὸν ἀποκτείναντα εὑρὼν ἐξελέγξω, ὃν οἱ τιμωροῦντες αὐτῷ ἀδύνατοι εὑρεῖν εἰσιν, αὐτὸς καταδοχθεὶς φονεὺς εἶναι ἀνοσίως ἁλώσομαι.
For I have reached such a pitch of misfortune that it is not enough for me, by showing myself pious and just, to escape destruction, but unless I myself find and convict the killer—whom those seeking vengeance for him are unable to find—I myself, suspected of being the murderer, shall be impiously convicted.
§2.3καὶ ἐμὲ ὡς δεινὸν μὲν παγχάλεπόν φασιν ἐλέγχεσθαι εἶναι, ὡς δʼ ἠλίθιον ἐξ αὐτῶν ὧν ἔπραξα φανερὸν εἶναι ἐργασάμενον τὸ ἔργον.
And they say that, while as a clever man I am extremely difficult to convict, yet as a fool I am clearly shown to have committed the deed by the very acts I performed.
εἰ γὰρ νῦν διὰ τῆς ἔχθρας τὸ μέγεθος εἰκότως ὑφʼ ὑμῶν καταδοκοῦμαι, πρὶν ἐργάσασθαι εἰκότερον ἦν προειδότα τὴν νῦν ὑποψίαν εἰς ἐμὲ ἰοῦσαν, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων εἴ τινα ἔγνων ἐπιβουλεύοντα αὐτῷ, διακωλύειν μᾶλλον ἢ αὐτὸν ἐργασάμενον εἰς ἑκουσίους καὶ προδήλους ὑποψίας ἐμπεσεῖν·
For if now, because of the magnitude of our enmity, I am reasonably suspected by you, it was more reasonable, before performing the deed, that I should foresee the present suspicion coming upon me, and if I knew of anyone else plotting against him, I should rather have prevented it than perform the deed myself and fall into voluntary and obvious suspicion.
ἔκ τε γὰρ αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἔργου φανερὸς γενόμενος ἀπωλλύμην, λαθών τε σαφῶς ᾔδη τήνδε τὴν ὑποψίαν εἰς ἐμὲ ἰοῦσαν.
For if I were detected by the deed itself, I would have been destroyed, and even if I went undetected, I knew clearly that this suspicion would come upon me.
§2.4ἄθλια μὲν οὖν πάσχω μὴ ἀπολογεῖσθαι μόνον βιαζόμενος, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ἀποκτείναντας φανεροὺς καταστῆσαι· ὅμως δὲ καὶ τοῦτο ἐπιχειρητέον· οὐδὲν γὰρ πικρότερον τῆς ἀνάγκης ἔοικεν εἶναι.
Indeed, I suffer a miserable fate, being forced not only to defend myself, but also to make the real killers manifest; nevertheless, this too must be attempted, for nothing seems to be harsher than necessity.
ἔχω δὲ οὐδαμῶς ἄλλως ἐλέγχειν ἢ ἐξ ὧν τοὺς ἄλλους ὁ κατήγορος ἀπολύων αὐτὸν τὸν θάνατόν φησι μηνύειν ἐμὲ τὸν φονέα ὄντα.
And I have no other way of proving this except from the very grounds on which the accuser, by acquitting the others, says that the death itself reveals me to be the murderer.
εἰ γὰρ τούτων ἀναιτίων δοκούντων εἶναι ἐν ἐμοὶ τἀδίκημα φανεῖται, τούτων ὑπόπτων ὄντων ἐγὼ εἰκότως ἂν καθαρὸς δοκοίην εἶναι.
For if, while these are thought to be innocent, the crime is to appear in me, it is reasonable that, if these are suspected, I should be thought clean.
§2.5ἔστι δὲ οὐκ ἀπεικός, ὡς οὗτοί φασιν, ἀλλὰ εἰκὸς ἀωρὶ τῶν νυκτῶν πλανώμενον ἐπὶ τοῖς ἱματίοις διαφθαρῆναι.
But it is not unlikely, as they say, but rather likely that he was killed late at night while wandering, for the sake of his clothes.
τὸ γὰρ μὴ ἐκδυθῆναι οὐδὲν σημεῖόν ἐστιν· εἰ γὰρ μὴ ἔφθησαν περιδύσαντες αὐτόν, ἀλλά τινας προσιόντας φοβηθέντες ἀπέλιπον, ἐσωφρόνουν καὶ οὐκ ἐμαίνοντο τὴν σωτηρίαν τοῦ κέρδους προτιμῶντες.
For the fact that he was not stripped is no sign; for if they did not manage to strip him in time, but left him because they were frightened by some people approaching, they were prudent and not mad, preferring safety to gain.
§2.6εἰ δὲ μὴ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἱματίοις διεφθάρη, ἀλλʼ ἑτέρους ἰδὼν ἄλλο τι κακὸν ποιοῦντας, ἵνα μὴ μηνυτὴς τοῦ ἀδικήματος γένηται, ἀπέθανεν ὑπʼ αὐτῶν, τίς οἶδε;
And if he was not killed for his clothes, but because he saw others committing some other crime, and was killed by them so that he might not become an informer of the wrongdoing, who knows?
τοὺς δὲ μὴ πολὺ ἧσσον ἐμοῦ μισοῦντας αὐτόν—ἦσαν δὲ πολλοί—πῶς οὐκ εἰκὸς ἦν ἐμοῦ μᾶλλον διαφθεῖραι αὐτόν;
And how was it not more likely that those who hated him not much less than I—and they were many—should kill him rather than I?
ἐκείνοις μὲν γὰρ φανερὰ ἦν ἡ ὑποψία εἰς ἐμὲ ἰοῦσα, ἐγὼ δὲ ὑπὲρ ἐκείνων ὑπαίτιος ἐσόμενος σαφῶς ᾔδη.
For to them, the suspicion coming upon me was obvious, whereas I clearly knew that I would be held responsible instead of them.
§2.7τοῦ δὲ ἀκολούθου ἡ μαρτυρία πῶς ἀξία πιστεύεσθαί ἐστιν;
And how is the testimony of the attendant worthy of belief?
ὑπό τε γὰρ τοῦ κινδύνου ἐκπεπληγμένον αὐτὸν οὐκ εἰκὸς ἦν τοὺς ἀποκτείναντας γνῶναι, ὑπό τε τῶν κυρίων ἀναγιγνωσκόμενον ἐπινεῦσαι ἦν εἰκός.
For it was not likely that he, terrified by the danger, should recognize the killers, and it was likely that, being prompted by his masters, he nodded assent.
ἀπιστουμένων δὲ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων δούλων ἐν ταῖς μαρτυρίαις—οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἐβασανίζομεν αὐτούς—πῶς δίκαιον τούτῳ μαρτυροῦντι πιστεύσαντας διαφθεῖραί με;
And since even other slaves are not believed in their testimonies—for otherwise we would not torture them—how is it just to destroy me by believing this man's testimony?