§1Σωκράτους δὲ ἄξιόν μοι δοκεῖ εἶναι μεμνῆσθαι καὶ ὡς ἐπειδὴ ἐκλήθη εἰς τὴν δίκην ἐβουλεύσατο περί τε τῆς ἀπολογίας καὶ τῆς τελευτῆς τοῦ βίου.
Now it seems to me to be worth remembering Socrates also in respect to how, when he was summoned to trial, he deliberated concerning his defense and the end of his life.
γεγράφασι μὲν οὖν περὶ τούτου καὶ ἄλλοι καὶ πάντες ἔτυχον τῆς μεγαληγορίας αὐτοῦ· ᾧ καὶ δῆλον ὅτι τῷ ὄντι οὕτως ἐρρήθη ὑπὸ Σωκράτους.
Others indeed have written about this, and all touched upon his lofty tone; whence it is also clear that it was truly spoken in this manner by Socrates.
ἀλλʼ ὅτι ἤδη ἑαυτῷ ἡγεῖτο αἱρετώτερον εἶναι τοῦ βίου θάνατον, τοῦτο οὐ διεσαφήνισαν· ὥστε ἀφρονεστέρα αὐτοῦ φαίνεται εἶναι ἡ μεγαληγορία.
But this they did not make clear: that he already considered death to be more desirable for himself than life; and so his lofty tone appears rather foolish.
§2Ἑρμογένης μέντοι ὁ Ἱππονίκου ἑταῖρός τε ἦν αὐτῷ καὶ ἐξήγγειλε περὶ αὐτοῦ τοιαῦτα ὥστε πρέπουσαν φαίνεσθαι τὴν μεγαληγορίαν αὐτοῦ τῇ διανοίᾳ.
However, Hermogenes, the son of Hipponicus, was a companion of his and reported such things about him that his lofty tone appears consistent with his state of mind.
ἐκεῖνος γὰρ ἔφη ὁρῶν αὐτὸν περὶ πάντων μᾶλλον διαλεγόμενον ἢ περὶ τῆς δίκης εἰπεῖν· §3οὐκ ἐχρῆν μέντοι σκοπεῖν, ὦ Σώκρατες, καὶ ὅ τι ἀπολογήσῃ; τὸν δὲ τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἀποκρίνασθαι· οὐ γὰρ δοκῶ σοι ἀπολογεῖσθαι μελετῶν διαβεβιωκέναι; ἐπεὶ δʼ αὐτὸν ἐρέσθαι· πῶς; ὅτι οὐδὲν ἄδικον διαγεγένημαι ποιῶν· ἥνπερ νομίζω μελέτην εἶναι καλλίστην ἀπολογίας. §4ἐπεὶ δὲ αὐτὸν πάλιν λέγειν· οὐχ ὁρᾷς τὰ Ἀθηναίων δικαστήρια ὡς πολλάκις μὲν οὐδὲν ἀδικοῦντας λόγῳ παραχθέντες ἀπέκτειναν, πολλάκις δὲ ἀδικοῦντας ἢ ἐκ τοῦ λόγου οἰκτίσαντες ἢ ἐπιχαρίτως εἰπόντας ἀπέλυσαν; ἀλλὰ ναὶ μὰ Δία, φάναι αὐτόν, καὶ δὶς ἤδη ἐπιχειρήσαντός μου σκοπεῖν περὶ τῆς ἀπολογίας ἐναντιοῦταί μοι τὸ δαιμόνιον. §5ὡς δὲ αὐτὸν εἰπεῖν· θαυμαστὰ λέγεις, τὸν δʼ αὖ ἀποκρίνασθαι· ἦ θαυμαστὸν νομίζεις εἰ καὶ τῷ θεῷ δοκεῖ ἐμὲ βέλτιον εἶναι ἤδη τελευτᾶν;
For he said that, seeing him discussing everything else rather than his trial, he said: "O Socrates, should you not indeed consider what you will say in your defense?" And he at first replied: "Do I not seem to you to have spent my whole life preparing my defense?" And when he asked, "How so?", Socrates said, "Because I have gone through life doing nothing unjust; which indeed I consider to be the finest preparation for a defense." And when he spoke again: "Do you not see how the Athenian courts have often, led astray by speech, put to death those who did no wrong, and often, out of pity or because they spoke agreeably, acquitted the guilty?" "But indeed, by Zeus," he replied, "though I have already twice attempted to consider my defense, the divine sign opposes me." And when he said, "You say surprising things," Socrates replied in turn: "Do you really find it surprising if indeed it seems better to the god that I should end my life now?
οὐκ οἶσθα ὅτι μέχρι μὲν τοῦδε οὐδενὶ ἀνθρώπων ὑφείμην ἂν βέλτιον ἐμοῦ βεβιωκέναι;
Do you not know that up to this point I would not yield to any man that he has lived better than I?
ὅπερ γὰρ ἥδιστόν ἐστιν, ᾔδειν ὁσίως μοι καὶ δικαίως ἅπαντα τὸν βίον βεβιωμένον· ὥστε ἰσχυρῶς ἀγάμενος ἐμαυτὸν ταὐτὰ ηὕρισκον καὶ τοὺς ἐμοὶ συγγιγνομένους γιγνώσκοντας περὶ ἐμοῦ. §6νῦν δὲ εἰ ἔτι προβήσεται ἡ ἡλικία, οἶδʼ ὅτι ἀνάγκη ἔσται τὰ τοῦ γήρως ἐπιτελεῖσθαι καὶ ὁρᾶν τε χεῖρον καὶ ἀκούειν ἧττον καὶ δυσμαθέστερον εἶναι καὶ ὧν ἔμαθον ἐπιλησμονέστερον.
For, what is sweetest, I knew that I had lived my entire life piously and justly; so that, strongly admiring myself, I found those who associated with me holding the same opinion about me." "But now, if my age advances further, I know that it will be necessary for the afflictions of old age to be fulfilled: both to see worse and to hear less, to be slower to learn and more forgetful of what I have learned.
ἂν δὲ αἰσθάνωμαι χείρων γιγνόμενος καὶ καταμέμφωμαι ἐμαυτόν, πῶς ἄν, εἰπεῖν, ἐγὼ ἔτι ἂν ἡδέως βιοτεύοιμι; §7ἴσως δέ τοι, φάναι αὐτόν, καὶ ὁ θεὸς διʼ εὐμένειαν προξενεῖ μοι οὐ μόνον τὸ ἐν καιρῷ τῆς ἡλικίας καταλῦσαι τὸν βίον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ ᾗ ῥᾷστα.
And if I perceive myself growing worse and reproach myself, how," he said, "could I still live with pleasure?" "And perhaps, indeed," he said, "the god out of kindness is procuring for me not only the ending of my life at the right time of age, but also in the easiest way.
ἂν γὰρ νῦν κατακριθῇ μου, δῆλον ὅτι ἐξέσται μοι τῇ τελευτῇ χρῆσθαι ἣ ῥᾴστη μὲν ὑπὸ τῶν τούτου ἐπιμεληθέντων κέκριται, ἀπραγμονεστάτη δὲ τοῖς φίλοις, πλεῖστον δὲ πόθον ἐμποιοῦσα τῶν τελευτώντων.
For if I am now condemned, it is clear that it will be permitted to me to meet a death which has been judged the easiest by those who have charge of this, and the least troublesome to friends, and inspiring the greatest longing for the deceased.
ὅταν γὰρ ἄσχημον μὲν μηδὲν μηδὲ δυσχερὲς ἐν ταῖς γνώμαις τῶν παρόντων καταλείπηταί τις, ὑγιὲς δὲ τὸ σῶμα ἔχων καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν δυναμένην φιλοφρονεῖσθαι ἀπομαραίνηται, πῶς οὐκ ἀνάγκη τοῦτον ποθεινὸν εἶναι; §8ὀρθῶς δὲ οἱ θεοὶ τότε μου ἠναντιοῦντο, φάναι αὐτόν, τῇ τοῦ λόγου ἐπισκέψει ὅτε ἐδόκει ἡμῖν ζητητέα εἶναι ἐκ παντὸς τρόπου τὰ ἀποφευκτικά.
For when one leaves behind nothing unseemly or unpleasant in the minds of those present, but fades away with a healthy body and a soul capable of friendliness, how is it not necessary that he be missed?" "And rightly did the gods then oppose my consideration of the speech," he said, "when it seemed to us that we should seek by all means the ways to get acquitted.
εἰ γὰρ τοῦτο διεπραξάμην, δῆλον ὅτι ἡτοιμασάμην ἂν ἀντὶ τοῦ ἤδη λῆξαι τοῦ βίου ἢ νόσοις ἀλγυνόμενος τελευτῆσαι ἢ γήρᾳ, εἰς ὃ πάντα τὰ χαλεπὰ συρρεῖ καὶ μάλα ἔρημα τῶν εὐφροσυνῶν. §9μὰ Δίʼ, εἰπεῖν αὐτόν, ὦ Ἑρμόγενες, ἐγὼ ταῦτα οὐδὲ προθυμήσομαι, ἀλλʼ ὅσων νομίζω τετυχηκέναι καλῶν καὶ παρὰ θεῶν καὶ παρʼ ἀνθρώπων, καὶ ἣν ἐγὼ δόξαν ἔχω περὶ ἐμαυτοῦ, ταύτην ἀναφαίνων εἰ βαρυνῶ τοὺς δικαστάς, αἱρήσομαι τελευτᾶν μᾶλλον ἢ ἀνελευθέρως τὸ ζῆν ἔτι προσαιτῶν κερδᾶναι τὸν πολὺ χείρω βίον ἀντὶ θανάτου.
For if I had accomplished this, it is clear that I would have prepared for myself, instead of ending my life now, either to die pained by diseases or by old age, into which all troublesome things flow, and which is utterly devoid of joys." "By Zeus, Hermogenes," he said, "I will not even be eager for these things, but rather, by making manifest those beautiful things which I believe I have received from both gods and men, and the opinion I have of myself, if I annoy the judges, I will choose to die rather than basely beg to live longer, gaining a far worse life instead of death."