§3.1ὅτι μὲν αὐτὴ ἡ χρεία παρὰ φύσιν καὶ λέγειν καὶ δρᾶν ἅπαντας ἀναγκάζει, ἔργῳ καὶ οὐ λόγῳ δοκεῖ μοι σημαίνειν οὗτος· ἥκιστα γὰρ ἔν γε τῷ ἔμπροσθεν χρόνῳ ἀναιδὴς καὶ τολμηρὸς ὤν, νῦν ὑπʼ αὐτῆς τῆς συμφορᾶς ἠνάγκασται λέγειν οἷα οὐκ ἄν ποτε ᾤμην ἐγὼ τοῦτον εἰπεῖν.
That necessity itself forces everyone both to speak and to act contrary to nature, this man seems to me to show by deed and not by word; for being least impudent and daring in the time before, now by the misfortune itself he has been forced to say such things as I would never have expected him to say.
§3.2ἐγώ τε γὰρ πολλῇ ἀνοίᾳ χρώμενος οὐκ ἂν ὑπέλαβον τοῦτον ἀντειπεῖν· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἂν ἕνα λόγον ἀντὶ δυοῖν λέξας τὸ ἥμισυ τῆς κατηγορίας ἐμαυτὸν ἂν ἀπεστέρησα· οὗτός τε μὴ τολμῶν οὐκ ἂν προεῖχε τῷ διπλασίῳ μου, ἕνα μὲν πρὸς ἕνα λόγον ἀπολογηθείς, ἃ δὲ κατηγόρησεν ἀναποκρίτως εἰπών.
For I, using much foolishness, would not have expected this man to reply; for indeed, by speaking one speech instead of two, I would not have deprived myself of half of the accusation; and this man, if he were not daring, would not have had a double advantage over me, by making his defense speech one against one, but having spoken without reply the things he accused.
§3.3τοσοῦτον δὲ προέχων ἐν τοῖς λόγοις ἡμῶν, ἔτι δὲ ἐν οἷς ἔπρασσε πολλαπλάσια τούτων, οὗτος μὲν οὐχ ὁσίως δεῖται ὑμῶν εὐμενῶς τὴν ἀπολογίαν ἀποδέχεσθαι αὐτοῦ· ἐγὼ δὲ δράσας μὲν οὐδὲν κακόν, παθὼν δὲ ἄθλια καὶ δεινά, καὶ νῦν ἔτι δεινότερα τούτων, ἔργῳ καὶ οὐ λόγῳ εἰς τὸν ὑμέτερον ἔλεον καταπεφευγὼς δέομαι ὑμῶν, ὦ ἄνδρες ἀνοσίων ἔργων τιμωροί, ὁσίων δὲ διαγνώμονες, μὴ παρʼ ἔργα φανερὰ ὑπὸ πονηρᾶς λόγων ἀκριβείας πεισθέντας ψευδῆ τὴν ἀλήθειαν τῶν πραχθέντων ἡγήσασθαι· §3.4ἡ μὲν γὰρ πιστότερον ἢ ἀληθέστερον σύγκειται, ἡ δʼ ἀδολώτερον καὶ ἀδυνατώτερον λεχθήσεται.
Having so much advantage in our speeches, and still many times more than this in what he did, this man impiously begs you to receive his defense favorably; but I, having done no evil, but having suffered wretched and terrible things, and now still more terrible things than these, having fled to your pity by deed and not by word, beg you, gentlemen punishers of impious deeds and judges of pious ones, not to be persuaded by the wicked precision of words to consider the truth of what was done to be false, contrary to clear deeds; for the one (their defense) is put together more believably than truthfully, while the other (our accusation) will be spoken more without guile and more weakly.
τῷ μὲν οὖν δικαίῳ πιστεύων ὑπερορῶ τῆς ἀπολογίας· τῇ δὲ σκληρότητι τοῦ δαίμονος ἀπιστῶν ὀρρωδῶ μὴ οὐ μόνον τῆς χρείας τοῦ παιδὸς ἀποστερηθῶ, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐθέντην προσκαταγνωσθέντα ὑφʼ ὑμῶν ἐπίδω αὐτόν.
Believing therefore in what is just, I disregard his defense; but distrusting the harshness of the deity, I dread lest I be not only deprived of the service of my boy, but also see him himself condemned by you as his own killer.
εἰς τοῦτο γὰρ τόλμης καὶ ἀναιδείας ἥκει, §3.5ὥστε τὸν μὲν βαλόντα καὶ ἀποκτείναντα οὔτε τρῶσαι οὔτε ἀποκτεῖναί φησι, τὸν δὲ οὔτε ψαύσαντα τοῦ ἀκοντίου οὔτε ἐπινοήσαντα ἀκοντίσαι, ἁπάσης μὲν γῆς ἁμαρτόντα, πάντων δὲ σωμάτων, διὰ τῶν ἑαυτοῦ πλευρῶν διαπῆξαι τὸ ἀκόντιον λέγει.
For he has come to such a pitch of daring and impudence, that he says that the one who threw and killed neither wounded nor killed, and that the one who neither touched the javelin nor intended to throw, missing all the earth and all bodies, drove the javelin through his own ribs.
ἐγὼ δὲ ἑκουσίως κατηγορῶν ἀποκτεῖναι αὐτὸν πιστότερος ἄν μοι δοκῶ εἶναι ἢ οὗτος, ὃς μήτε βαλεῖν μήτε ἀποκτεῖναί φησι τὸ μειράκιον.
And I, accusing him of killing him intentionally, think I would be more believable than this man, who says that the youth neither threw nor killed.
§3.6ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἐν τούτῳ τῷ καιρῷ κελευόμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ παιδοτρίβου, ὃς ὑπεδέχετο τοῖς ἀκοντίζουσι τὰ ἀκόντια, ἀναιρεῖσθαι, διὰ τὴν τοῦ βαλόντος ἀκολασίαν πολεμίῳ τῷ τούτου βέλει περιπεσών, οὐδὲν οὐδʼ εἰς ἕνʼ ἁμαρτών, ἀθλίως ἀπέθανεν· ὁ δὲ περὶ τὸν τῆς ἀναιρέσεως καιρὸν πλημμελήσας, οὐ τοῦ σκοποῦ τυχεῖν ἐκωλύθη, ἀλλʼ ἄθλιον καὶ πικρὸν σκοπὸν ἐμοὶ ἀκοντίσας, ἑκὼν μὲν οὐκ ἀπέκτεινεν, μᾶλλον δὲ ἑκὼν ἢ οὔτʼ ἔβαλεν οὔτʼ ἀπέκτεινεν.
For the one, being ordered at that moment by the trainer, who was receiving the javelins for those throwing, to pick them up, fell in with this man's hostile weapon through the licentiousness of the thrower, and having erred in nothing against anyone, died wretchedly; while the other, having erred around the time of the picking up, was not prevented from hitting the target, but having thrown a wretched and bitter target for me, did not indeed kill intentionally, but was more intentional than that he neither threw nor killed.
§3.7ἀκουσίως δὲ οὐχ ἧσσον ἢ ἑκουσίως ἀποκτείναντες μου τὸν παῖδα, τὸ παράπαν δʼ ἀρνούμενοι μὴ ἀποκτεῖναι αὐτόν, οὐδʼ ὑπὸ τοῦ νόμου καταλαμβάνεσθαί φασιν, ὃς ἀπαγορεύει μήτε δικαίως μήτε ἀδίκως ἀποκτείνειν.
But having killed my boy no less unintentionally than intentionally, and denying altogether that they killed him, they say that they are not even caught by the law, which forbids anyone to kill either justly or unjustly.
ἀλλὰ τίς ὁ βαλών;
But who was the thrower?
εἰς τίνʼ ὁ φόνος ἀνήκει;
To whom does the killing belong?
εἰς τοὺς θεωμένους ἢ εἰς τοὺς παιδαγωγοὺς, ὧν οὐδεὶς οὐδὲν κατηγορεῖ;
To the spectators or to the attendants, of whom no one accuses anyone?
οὐ γὰρ ἀφανὴς ἀλλὰ καὶ λίαν φανερὸς ἔμοιγε αὐτοῦ ὁ θάνατός ἐστιν.
For his death is not unseen but all too clear to me.
ἐγὼ δὲ τὸν νόμον ὀρθῶς ἀγορεύειν φημὶ τοὺς ἀποκτείναντας κολάζεσθαι· ὅ τε γὰρ ἄκων ἀποκτείνας ἀκουσίοις κακοῖς περιπεσεῖν δίκαιός ἐστιν, ὅ τε διαφθαρεὶς οὐδὲν ἧσσον ἀκουσίως ἢ ἑκουσίως βλαφθεὶς ἀδικοῖτʼ ἂν ἀτιμώρητος γενόμενος.
And I say that the law correctly speaks that those who kill should be punished; for both the one who kills unintentionally is just to fall into involuntary evils, and the one who is destroyed, being harmed no less unintentionally than intentionally, would be wronged if he should go unavenged.