§45ΚΡ. εἰ γάρ τι τοιοῦτον φοβῇ, ἔασον αὐτὸ χαίρειν·
Crito: If you fear any such thing, let it go; for we are surely justified in running this risk in saving you, and even a greater one if necessary.
ἡμεῖς γάρ που δίκαιοί ἐσμεν σώσαντές σε κινδυνεύειν τοῦτον τὸν κίνδυνον καὶ ἐὰν δέῃ ἔτι τούτου μείζω. ἀλλʼ ἐμοὶ πείθου καὶ μὴ ἄλλως ποίει.
But listen to me and do not do otherwise.
ΣΩ. καὶ ταῦτα προμηθοῦμαι, ὦ Κρίτων, καὶ ἄλλα πολλά.
Socrates: I am anticipating these things, Crito, and many others as well.
ΚΡ. μήτε τοίνυν ταῦτα φοβοῦ—καὶ γὰρ οὐδὲ πολὺ τἀργύριόν ἐστιν ὃ θέλουσι λαβόντες τινὲς σῶσαί σε καὶ ἐξαγαγεῖν ἐνθένδε.
Crito: Do not fear these things then—for indeed, the money is not even large which some are willing to take to save you and lead you out of here.
ἔπειτα οὐχ ὁρᾷς τούτους τοὺς συκοφάντας ὡς εὐτελεῖς, καὶ οὐδὲν ἂν δέοι ἐπʼ αὐτοὺς πολλοῦ ἀργυρίου;
Next, do you not see these sycophants, how cheap they are, and that there would be no need of much money for them?
σοὶ δὲ ὑπάρχει μὲν τὰ ἐμὰ χρήματα, ὡς ἐγὼ οἶμαι, ἱκανά· ἔπειτα καὶ εἴ τι ἐμοῦ κηδόμενος οὐκ οἴει δεῖν ἀναλίσκειν τἀμά, ξένοι οὗτοι ἐνθάδε ἕτοιμοι ἀναλίσκειν· εἷς δὲ καὶ κεκόμικεν ἐπʼ αὐτὸ τοῦτο ἀργύριον ἱκανόν, Σιμμίας ὁ Θηβαῖος, ἕτοιμος δὲ καὶ Κέβης καὶ ἄλλοι πολλοὶ πάνυ.
My property is at your disposal, which I think is sufficient; and further, even if out of care for me you do not think you should spend my money, these foreigners here are ready to spend theirs; and one has even brought sufficient money for this very purpose, Simmias of Thebes, and Cebes is also ready, and very many others.
ὥστε, ὅπερ λέγω, μήτε ταῦτα φοβούμενος ἀποκάμῃς σαυτὸν σῶσαι, μήτε, ὃ ἔλεγες ἐν τῷ δικαστηρίῳ, δυσχερές σοι γενέσθω ὅτι οὐκ ἂν ἔχοις ἐξελθὼν ὅτι χρῷο σαυτῷ· πολλαχοῦ μὲν γὰρ καὶ ἄλλοσε ὅποι ἂν ἀφίκῃ ἀγαπήσουσί σε· ἐὰν δὲ βούλῃ εἰς Θετταλίαν ἰέναι, εἰσὶν ἐμοὶ ἐκεῖ ξένοι οἵ σε περὶ πολλοῦ ποιήσονται καὶ ἀσφάλειάν σοι παρέξονται, ὥστε σε μηδένα λυπεῖν τῶν κατὰ Θετταλίαν.
So, as I say, do not grow weary of saving yourself through fear of these things, nor let it be a trouble to you, as you said in the court, that if you went out you would not know what to do with yourself; for in many places, wherever you go, they will welcome you; and if you wish to go to Thessaly, I have friends there who will value you highly and provide safety for you, so that no one in Thessaly will trouble you.
ἔτι δέ, ὦ Σώκρατες, οὐδὲ δίκαιόν μοι δοκεῖς ἐπιχειρεῖν πρᾶγμα, σαυτὸν προδοῦναι, ἐξὸν σωθῆναι, καὶ τοιαῦτα σπεύδεις περὶ σαυτὸν γενέσθαι ἅπερ ἂν καὶ οἱ ἐχθροί σου σπεύσαιέν τε καὶ ἔσπευσαν σὲ διαφθεῖραι βουλόμενοι.
And further, Socrates, you do not even seem to me to be undertaking a just deed in betraying yourself when you could be saved, and you are hastening to bring upon yourself the very things that your enemies would hasten to bring, and indeed did bring, in their desire to destroy you.
πρὸς δὲ τούτοις καὶ τοὺς ὑεῖς τοὺς σαυτοῦ ἔμοιγε δοκεῖς προδιδόναι, οὕς σοι ἐξὸν καὶ ἐκθρέψαι καὶ ἐκπαιδεῦσαι οἰχήσῃ καταλιπών, καὶ τὸ σὸν μέρος ὅτι ἂν τύχωσι τοῦτο πράξουσιν· τεύξονται δέ, ὡς τὸ εἰκός, τοιούτων οἷάπερ εἴωθεν γίγνεσθαι ἐν ταῖς ὀρφανίαις περὶ τοὺς ὀρφανούς.
Besides these things, you also seem to me to be betraying your own sons, whom you will leave and abandon when you could bring them up and educate them, and for your part they will meet with whatever fortune they chance upon; and they will meet, in all probability, with the sort of fate that usually befalls orphans in their orphanhood.
ἢ γὰρ οὐ χρὴ ποιεῖσθαι παῖδας ἢ συνδιαταλαιπωρεῖν καὶ τρέφοντα καὶ παιδεύοντα, σὺ δέ μοι δοκεῖς τὰ ῥᾳθυμότατα αἱρεῖσθαι.
Either one should not make children, or one should go through the trouble of bringing them up and educating them to the end, but you seem to me to be choosing the easiest path.
χρὴ δέ, ἅπερ ἂν ἀνὴρ ἀγαθὸς καὶ ἀνδρεῖος ἕλοιτο, ταῦτα αἱρεῖσθαι, φάσκοντά γε δὴ ἀρετῆς διὰ παντὸς τοῦ βίου ἐπιμελεῖσθαι· ὡς ἔγωγε καὶ ὑπὲρ σοῦ καὶ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν τῶν σῶν ἐπιτηδείων αἰσχύνομαι μὴ δόξῃ ἅπαν τὸ πρᾶγμα τὸ περὶ σὲ ἀνανδρίᾳ τινὶ τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ πεπρᾶχθαι, καὶ ἡ εἴσοδος τῆς δίκης εἰς τὸ δικαστήριον ὡς εἰσῆλθεν ἐξὸν μὴ εἰσελθεῖν, καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ ἀγὼν τῆς δίκης ὡς ἐγένετο, καὶ τὸ τελευταῖον δὴ τουτί, ὥσπερ κατάγελως τῆς πράξεως, κακίᾳ τινὶ καὶ ἀνανδρίᾳ τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ διαπεφευγέναι ἡμᾶς δοκεῖν, οἵτινές σε οὐχὶ ἐσώσαμεν οὐδὲ σὺ σαυτόν, οἷόν τε ὂν καὶ δυνατὸν εἴ τι καὶ μικρὸν ἡμῶν ὄφελος ἦν.
One should choose what a good and brave man would choose, especially one who claims to have cared for virtue throughout his whole life; for my part, I am ashamed both for you and for us, your friends, lest the whole affair concerning you seem to have been conducted through some cowardice on our part—both the bringing of the case to court when it might have been avoided, and the way the trial itself was conducted, and finally this climax, which is like a ridiculous mockery of the whole affair, which will seem to have escaped us through some lack of spirit and cowardice on our part, since we did not save you, nor did you save yourself, though it was possible and feasible if we had been of even some small use.
§46ΚΡ. ταῦτα οὖν, ὦ Σώκρατες, ὅρα μὴ ἅμα τῷ κακῷ καὶ αἰσχρὰ ᾖ σοί τε καὶ ἡμῖν.
Crito: Consider then, Socrates, whether these things, in addition to being bad, are also shameful both to you and to us.
ἀλλὰ βουλεύου—μᾶλλον δὲ οὐδὲ βουλεύεσθαι ἔτι ὥρα ἀλλὰ βεβουλεῦσθαι—μία δὲ βουλή· τῆς γὰρ ἐπιούσης νυκτὸς πάντα ταῦτα δεῖ πεπρᾶχθαι, εἰ δʼ ἔτι περιμενοῦμεν, ἀδύνατον καὶ οὐκέτι οἷόν τε.
Decide—or rather, it is no longer the time to decide, but to have decided—and there is only one decision; for on the oncoming night all these things must be done, and if we delay any longer, it will be impossible and no longer feasible.
ἀλλὰ παντὶ τρόπῳ, ὦ Σώκρατες, πείθου μοι καὶ μηδαμῶς ἄλλως ποίει.
By all means, Socrates, listen to me and do not do otherwise.
ΣΩ. ὦ φίλε Κρίτων, ἡ προθυμία σου πολλοῦ ἀξία εἰ μετά τινος ὀρθότητος εἴη· εἰ δὲ μή, ὅσῳ μείζων τοσούτῳ χαλεπωτέρα.
Socrates: My dear Crito, your zeal is of great value if it should be accompanied by some rightness; but if not, the greater it is, the more difficult it becomes.
σκοπεῖσθαι οὖν χρὴ ἡμᾶς εἴτε ταῦτα πρακτέον εἴτε μή· ὡς ἐγὼ οὐ νῦν πρῶτον ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀεὶ τοιοῦτος οἷος τῶν ἐμῶν μηδενὶ ἄλλῳ πείθεσθαι ἢ τῷ λόγῳ ὃς ἄν μοι λογιζομένῳ βέλτιστος φαίνηται.
We must therefore examine whether these things ought to be done or not; for I am not only now but always the kind of person who obeys nothing else of my own than the logos which, upon reflection, seems best to me.
τοὺς δὴ λόγους οὓς ἐν τῷ ἔμπροσθεν ἔλεγον οὐ δύναμαι νῦν ἐκβαλεῖν, ἐπειδή μοι ἥδε ἡ τύχη γέγονεν, ἀλλὰ σχεδόν τι ὅμοιοι φαίνονταί μοι, καὶ τοὺς αὐτοὺς πρεσβεύω καὶ τιμῶ οὕσπερ καὶ πρότερον· ὧν ἐὰν μὴ βελτίω ἔχωμεν λέγειν ἐν τῷ παρόντι, εὖ ἴσθι ὅτι οὐ μή σοι συγχωρήσω, οὐδʼ ἂν πλείω τῶν νῦν παρόντων ἡ τῶν πολλῶν δύναμις ὥσπερ παῖδας ἡμᾶς μορμολύττηται, δεσμοὺς καὶ θανάτους ἐπιπέμπουσα καὶ χρημάτων ἀφαιρέσεις.
The logoi which I used to speak in the past I cannot now cast aside because this fortune has come upon me, but they seem to me almost the same, and I respect and honor the same ones as before; and if we cannot speak of better ones in the present, know well that I will not agree with you, not even if the power of the majority frightens us like children with more bogies than those present, inflicting imprisonments and deaths and confiscations of property.
πῶς οὖν ἂν μετριώτατα σκοποίμεθα αὐτά;
How then might we examine these things most reasonably?
εἰ πρῶτον μὲν τοῦτον τὸν λόγον ἀναλάβοιμεν, ὃν σὺ λέγεις περὶ τῶν δοξῶν. πότερον καλῶς ἐλέγετο ἑκάστοτε ἢ οὔ, ὅτι ταῖς μὲν δεῖ τῶν δοξῶν προσέχειν τὸν νοῦν, ταῖς δὲ οὔ;
If first we take up this logos which you speak concerning opinions, whether it was well said on each occasion or not, that to some opinions we must pay attention, and to others not?
ἢ πρὶν μὲν ἐμὲ δεῖν ἀποθνῄσκειν καλῶς ἐλέγετο, νῦν δὲ κατάδηλος ἄρα ἐγένετο ὅτι ἄλλως ἕνεκα λόγου ἐλέγετο, ἦν δὲ παιδιὰ καὶ φλυαρία ὡς ἀληθῶς;
Or was it well said before I had to die, but now it has become clear indeed that it was said merely for the sake of argument, and was in truth only play and nonsense?
ἐπιθυμῶ δʼ ἔγωγʼ ἐπισκέψασθαι, ὦ Κρίτων, κοινῇ μετὰ σοῦ εἴ τί μοι ἀλλοιότερος φανεῖται, ἐπειδὴ ὧδε ἔχω, ἢ ὁ αὐτός, καὶ ἐάσομεν χαίρειν ἢ πεισόμεθα αὐτῷ.
I desire indeed, Crito, to examine in common with you whether the logos will appear in any way different to me in my present situation, or the same, and whether we shall let it go or obey it.
ἐλέγετο δέ πως, ὡς ἐγᾦμαι, ἑκάστοτε ὧδε ὑπὸ τῶν οἰομένων τὶ λέγειν, ὥσπερ νυνδὴ ἐγὼ ἔλεγον, ὅτι τῶν δοξῶν ἃς οἱ ἄνθρωποι δοξάζουσιν δέοι τὰς μὲν περὶ πολλοῦ ποιεῖσθαι, τὰς δὲ μή.
It was usually said, I think, on each occasion by those who think they are saying something of value, just as I was saying just now, that of the opinions which men hold, some should be highly valued, and others not.
τοῦτο πρὸς θεῶν, ὦ Κρίτων, οὐ δοκεῖ καλῶς σοι λέγεσθαι;
By the gods, Crito, does this not seem to you to be well said?