§26ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ μέντοι ὅτι ἀδίκως ἀποθνῄσκω, διὰ τοῦτο μεῖον φρονητέον· οὐ γὰρ ἐμοὶ ἀλλὰ τοῖς καταγνοῦσι τοῦτο αἰσχρόν [γάρ] ἐστι.
But indeed, neither because I die unjustly must I think less of myself; for this is shameful not to me, but to those who condemned me.
παραμυθεῖται δʼ ἔτι με καὶ Παλαμήδης ὁ παραπλησίως ἐμοὶ τελευτήσας· ἔτι γὰρ καὶ νῦν πολὺ καλλίους ὕμνους παρέχεται Ὀδυσσέως τοῦ ἀδίκως ἀποκτείναντος αὐτόν·
Furthermore, Palamedes, who met his end in a similar way to me, comforts me; for even now he provides much more beautiful hymns than Odysseus, who unjustly slew him.
οἶδʼ ὅτι καὶ ἐμοὶ μαρτυρήσεται ὑπό τε τοῦ ἐπιόντος καὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ παρεληλυθότος χρόνου ὅτι ἠδίκησα μὲν οὐδένα πώποτε οὐδὲ πονηρότερον ἐποίησα, εὐηργέτουν δὲ τοὺς ἐμοὶ διαλεγομένους προῖκα διδάσκων ὅ τι ἐδυνάμην ἀγαθόν.
I know that testimony will be borne to me both by the time to come and by time past, that I never wronged any man nor made anyone more wicked, but benefited those who conversed with me by teaching freely whatever good I could.
§27εἰπὼν δὲ ταῦτα μάλα ὁμολογουμένως δὴ τοῖς εἰρημένοις ἀπῄει καὶ ὄμμασι καὶ σχήματι καὶ βαδίσματι φαιδρός.
And having said this, he went away, quite in harmony indeed with what had been spoken, bright both in his eyes, his bearing, and his gait.
ὡς δὲ ᾔσθετο ἄρα τοὺς παρεπομένους δακρύοντας, τί τοῦτο; εἰπεῖν αὐτόν, ἦ ἄρτι δακρύετε;
But when he perceived that those who followed him were weeping, 'What is this?' he said, 'Are you just now weeping?
οὐ γὰρ πάλαι ἴστε ὅτι ἐξ ὅτουπερ ἐγενόμην κατεψηφισμένος ἦν μου ὑπὸ τῆς φύσεως ὁ θάνατος;
Did you not know long ago that from the moment I was born, death had been condemned against me by nature?
ἀλλὰ μέντοι εἰ μὲν ἀγαθῶν ἐπιρρεόντων προαπόλλυμαι, δῆλον ὅτι ἐμοὶ καὶ τοῖς ἐμοῖς εὔνοις λυπητέον· εἰ δὲ χαλεπῶν προσδοκωμένων καταλύω τὸν βίον, ἐγὼ μὲν οἶμαι ὡς εὐπραγοῦντος ἐμοῦ πᾶσιν ὑμῖν εὐθυμητέον εἶναι. §28παρὼν δέ τις Ἀπολλόδωρος, ἐπιθυμητὴς μὲν ὢν ἰσχυρῶς αὐτοῦ, ἄλλως δʼ εὐήθης, εἶπεν ἄρα· ἀλλὰ τοῦτο ἔγωγε, ὦ Σώκρατες, χαλεπώτατα φέρω ὅτι ὁρῶ σε ἀδίκως ἀποθνῄσκοντα. τὸν δὲ λέγεται καταψήσαντα αὐτοῦ τὴν κεφαλὴν εἰπεῖν· σὺ δέ, ὦ φίλτατε Ἀπολλόδωρε, μᾶλλον ἐβούλου με ὁρᾶν δικαίως ἢ ἀδίκως ἀποθνῄσκοντα; καὶ ἅμα ἐπιγελάσαι.
But indeed, if I were perish beforehand while good things were flowing in, clearly I and my well-wishers would have to grieve; but if I end my life when troublesome things are expected, I think you should all be of good cheer, since I am faring well.' But a certain Apollodorus, who was present, being an intense admirer of him, but otherwise simple-minded, said, 'But I, Socrates, find this hardest to bear, that I see you dying unjustly.' And he, stroking Apollodorus' head, is said to have replied, 'But, my dearest Apollodorus, would you rather see me dying justly or unjustly?' and at the same time he laughed.
§29λέγεται δὲ καὶ Ἄνυτον παριόντα ἰδὼν εἰπεῖν· ἀλλʼ ὁ μὲν ἀνὴρ ὅδε κυδρός, ὡς μέγα τι καὶ καλὸν διαπεπραγμένος, εἰ ἀπέκτονέ με, ὅτι αὐτὸν τῶν μεγίστων ὑπὸ τῆς πόλεως ὁρῶν ἀξιούμενον οὐκ ἔφην χρῆναι τὸν υἱὸν περὶ βύρσας παιδεύειν.
And it is said that, seeing Anytus pass by, he said, 'Well, this man is proud, as though he had performed some great and noble deed, because he has killed me, for the reason that, seeing him deemed worthy of the greatest honors by the city, I said that he ought not to educate his son in the leather trade.
ὡς μοχθηρὸς οὗτος, ἔφη, ὃς οὐκ ἔοικεν εἰδέναι ὅτι ὁπότερος ἡμῶν καὶ συμφορώτερα καὶ καλλίω εἰς τὸν ἀεὶ χρόνον διαπέπρακται, οὗτός ἐστι καὶ ὁ νικῶν. §30ἀλλὰ μέντοι, φάναι αὐτόν, ἀνέθηκε μὲν καὶ Ὅμηρος ἔστιν οἷς τῶν ἐν καταλύσει τοῦ βίου προγιγνώσκειν τὰ μέλλοντα, βούλομαι δὲ καὶ ἐγὼ χρησμῳδῆσαί τι.
How wretched is this man,' he said, 'who seems not to know that whichever of us has performed more useful and noble deeds for all time, he is the conqueror.' 'But indeed,' he said, 'Homer also has attributed to some of those who are at the end of their lives the power to foresee the future, and I too wish to prophesy something.
συνεγενόμην γάρ ποτε βραχέα τῷ Ἀνύτου υἱῷ, καὶ ἔδοξέ μοι οὐκ ἄρρωστος τὴν ψυχὴν εἶναι· ὥστε φημὶ αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τῇ δουλοπρεπεῖ διατριβῇ ἣν ὁ πατὴρ αὐτῷ παρεσκεύακεν οὐ διαμενεῖν· διὰ δὲ τὸ μηδένα ἔχειν σπουδαῖον ἐπιμελητὴν προσπεσεῖσθαί τινι αἰσχρᾷ ἐπιθυμίᾳ, καὶ προβήσεσθαι μέντοι πόρρω μοχθηρίας. §31ταῦτα δʼ εἰπὼν οὐκ ἐψεύσατο, ἀλλʼ ὁ νεανίσκος ἡσθεὶς οἴνῳ οὔτε νυκτὸς οὔτε ἡμέρας ἐπαύετο πίνων, καὶ τέλος οὔτε τῇ ἑαυτοῦ πόλει οὔτε τοῖς φίλοις οὔτε αὑτῷ ἄξιος οὐδενὸς ἐγένετο.
For I once associated briefly with Anytus' son, and he seemed to me not to be weak in soul; therefore I say that he will not remain in the servile occupation which his father has provided for him, but due to having no serious guardian, he will fall into some shameful desire, and will indeed advance far in wickedness.' And having said this, he did not lie, but the young man, taking pleasure in wine, ceased drinking neither by night nor by day, and finally became worth nothing to his city, his friends, or himself.
Ἄνυτος μὲν δὴ διὰ τὴν τοῦ υἱοῦ πονηρὰν παιδείαν καὶ διὰ τὴν αὑτοῦ ἀγνωμοσύνην ἔτι καὶ τετελευτηκὼς τυγχάνει κακοδοξίας.
Anytus indeed, because of the bad education of his son and his own foolishness, still meets with an ill repute even though he has died.
§32Σωκράτης δὲ διὰ τὸ μεγαλύνειν ἑαυτὸν ἐν τῷ δικαστηρίῳ φθόνον ἐπαγόμενος μᾶλλον καταψηφίσασθαι ἑαυτοῦ ἐποίησε τοὺς δικαστάς.
Socrates, then, by magnifying himself in the court, brought envy upon himself and made the judges all the more vote for his condemnation.
ἐμοὶ μὲν οὖν δοκεῖ θεοφιλοῦς μοίρας τετυχηκέναι· τοῦ μὲν γὰρ βίου τὸ χαλεπώτατον ἀπέλιπε, τῶν δὲ θανάτων τοῦ ῥᾴστου ἔτυχεν.
To me indeed, he seems to have met with a divinely favored lot; for he left behind the hardest part of life, and met with the easiest of deaths.
§33ἐπεδείξατο δὲ τῆς ψυχῆς τὴν ῥώμην· ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἔγνω τοῦ ἔτι ζῆν τὸ τεθνάναι αὐτῷ κρεῖττον εἶναι, ὥσπερ οὐδὲ πρὸς τἆλλα τἀγαθὰ προσάντης ἦν, οὐδὲ πρὸς τὸν θάνατον ἐμαλακίσατο, ἀλλʼ ἱλαρῶς καὶ προσεδέχετο αὐτὸν καὶ ἐπετελέσατο.
And he demonstrated the strength of his soul; for since he knew that dying was better for him than living longer, just as he was not adverse to other good things, neither did he play the coward in the face of death, but cheerfully both awaited and met it.
§34ἐγὼ μὲν δὴ κατανοῶν τοῦ ἀνδρὸς τήν τε σοφίαν καὶ τὴν γενναιότητα οὔτε μὴ μεμνῆσθαι δύναμαι αὐτοῦ οὔτε μεμνημένος μὴ οὐκ ἐπαινεῖν.
I, indeed, contemplating the wisdom and the nobility of the man, can neither fail to remember him, nor, remembering him, fail to praise him.
εἰ δέ τις τῶν ἀρετῆς ἐφιεμένων ὠφελιμωτέρῳ τινὶ Σωκράτους συνεγένετο, ἐκεῖνον ἐγὼ τὸν ἄνδρα ἀξιομακαριστότατον νομίζω.
And if anyone of those who strive for virtue has associated with anyone more useful than Socrates, I consider that man to be most worthy of being called blessed.