§1Σωκράτης
βάλλε βάλλε τὸν κατάρατον ἀφθόνοις τοῖς λίθοις·
\nSocrates\nPelt him, pelt the accursed one with stones without stint!
ἐπίβαλλε τῶν βώλων· προσεπίβαλλε καὶ τῶν ὀστράκων·
Cast clods at him, and fling potsherds too!
παῖε τοῖς ξύλοις τὸν ἀλιτήριον·
Beat the scoundrel with your sticks!
ὅρα μὴ διαφύγῃ·
See that he does not escape!
καὶ σὺ βάλλε, ὦ Πλάτων·
You too throw, Plato!
καὶ σύ, ὦ Χρύσιππε, καὶ σὺ δέ, καὶ πάντες ἅμα·
And you, Chrysippus, and you as well, and all of you together!
συνασπίσωμεν ἐπʼ αὐτόν,
"ὡς πήρη πήρῃφιν ἀρήγῃ, βάκτρα δὲ βάκτροις,"
κοινὸς γὰρ πολέμιος, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἡμῶν ὅντινα οὐχ ὕβρικε.
Let us lock shields against him,\n"as wallet succors wallet, and staff staff,"\nfor he is a common enemy, and there is none of us whom he has not outraged.
σὺ δέ, ὦ Διόγενες, εἴ ποτε καὶ ἄλλοτε, χρῶ τῷ ξύλῳ·
And you, Diogenes, if ever at any other time, use your stick!
μηδὲ ἀνῆτε·
Do not slacken!
διδότω τὴν ἀξίαν βλάσφημος ὤν.
Let him pay the penalty, being a blasphemer.
τί τοῦτο;
What is this?
κεκμήκατε, ὦ Ἐπίκουρε καὶ Ἀρίστιππε;
Have you grown weary, Epicurus and Aristippus?
καὶ μὴν οὐκ ἐχρῆν. "ἀνέρες ἔστε, σοφοί, μνήσασθε δὲ θούριδος ὀργῆς. " §2Σωκράτης
Ἀριστότελες, ἐπισπούδασον·
And yet you ought not to have.\n"Be men, O wise ones, and remember impetuous wrath."\n\nSocrates\nAristotle, hurry!
ἔτι θᾶττον.
Even faster!
εὖ ἔχει· ἑάλωκεν τὸ θηρίον.
Well done; the beast is caught.
εἰλήφαμέν σε, ὦ μιαρέ.
We have you, you scoundrel.
εἴσῃ γοῦν αὐτίκα οὕστινας ἡμᾶς ὄντας ἐκακηγόρεις.
You shall know immediately what kind of men we are whom you were slandering.
τῷ τρόπῳ δέ τις αὐτὸν καὶ μετέλθῃ;
But in what way shall one pursue him?
ποικίλον γάρ τινα θάνατον ἐπινοῶμεν κατʼ αὐτοῦ πᾶσιν ἡμῖν ἐξαρκέσαι δυνάμενον· καθʼ ἕκαστον γοῦν ἑπτάκις δίκαιός ἐστιν ἀπολωλέναι. Φιλόσοφος
ἐμοὶ μὲν ἀνασκολοπισθῆναι δοκεῖ αὐτόν. Ἄλλος1
νὴ Δία, μαστιγωθέντα γε πρότερον. Ἄλλος2
πολὺ πρότερον τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἐκκεκολάφθω. Ἄλλος3
τὴν γλῶτταν αὐτὴν ἔτι πολὺ πρότερον ἀποτετμήσθω. Σωκράτης
σοὶ δὲ τί, Ἐμπεδόκλεις, δοκεῖ; Ἐμπεδοκλῆς
εἰς τοὺς κρατῆρας ἐμπεσεῖν αὐτόν, ὡς μάθῃ μὴ λοιδορεῖσθαι τοῖς κρείττοσιν. Πλάτων
καὶ μὴν ἄριστον ἦν καθάπερ τινὰ Πενθέα ἢ Ὀρφέα
"λακιστὸν ἐν πέτραισιν εὑρέσθαι μόρον,"
ἵνα ἂν καὶ τὸ μέρος αὐτοῦ ἕκαστος ἔχων ἀπηλλάττετο.
For let us devise a manifold death against him that can suffice for all of us; at least he deserves to die seven times for each one of us.\nPhilosopher\nTo me indeed, it seems he should be impaled.\nAnother 1\nBy Zeus, yes, but scourged first.\nAnother 2\nMuch before that, let his eyes be gouged out.\nAnother 3\nHis tongue itself, much before even that, let it be cut off.\nSocrates\nAnd what do you think, Empedocles?\nEmpedocles\nThat he should fling himself into the craters, so that he may learn not to abuse his betters.\nPlato\nAnd indeed, it would have been best if, like some Pentheus or Orpheus,\n"he were to find a torn fate among the rocks,"\nso that each of us, having his own share of him, might have departed.\n\nParresiades\nBy no means!
§3Παρρησιάδης
μηδαμῶς· ἀλλὰ πρὸς Ἱκεσίου φείσασθέ μου. Πλάτων
Ἄραρεν· οὐκ ἂν ἀφεθείης ἔτι.
But by the God of Suppliants, spare me!\n Plato\nIt is fixed; you cannot be released anymore.
ὁρᾷς δὲ δὴ καὶ τὸν Ὅμηρον ἅ φησιν,
"ὡς οὐκ ἔστι λέουσι καὶ ἀνδράσιν ὅρκια πιστά. "
Παρρησιάδης
καὶ μὴν καθʼ Ὅμηρον ὑμᾶς καὶ αὐτὸς ἱκετεύσω· αἰδέσεσθε γὰρ ἴσως τὰ ἔπη καὶ οὐ παρόψεσθε ῥαψῳδήσαντά με· "
ζωγρεῖτʼ οὐ κακὸν ἄνδρα καὶ ἄξια δέχθε ἄποινα,
χαλκόν τε χρυσόν τε, τὰ δὴ φιλέουσι σοφοί περ.
Surely you see what Homer says,\n"As there are no faithful oaths between lions and men."\nParresiades\nIndeed, according to Homer, I too will supplicate you; for perhaps you will respect his verses and will not overlook me when I rhapsodize:\n"\nTake me alive, not a bad man, and receive worthy ransom,\nbronze and gold, which wise men indeed love.\n"\nPlato\nBut we shall not lack a Homeric reply to you either.
"
Πλάτων
ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ ἡμεῖς ἀπορήσομεν πρὸς σὲ Ὁμηρικῆς ἀντιλογίας. ἄκουε γοῦν· "
μὴ δή μοι φύξιν γε, κακηγόρε, βάλλεο θυμῷ
χρυσόν περ λέξας, ἐπεὶ ἵκεο χεῖρας ἐς ἀμάς.
Listen, then:\n"\nDo not indeed, slanderous one, cast escape in your mind,\nthough you speak of gold, since you have come into our hands.\n"\nParresiades\nAlas for my woes!
"
Παρρησιάδης
οἴμοι τῶν κακῶν. ὁ μὲν Ὅμηρος ἡμῖν ἄπρακτος, ἡ μεγίστη ἐλπίς.
Homer is of no avail to us, our greatest hope.
ἐπὶ τὸν Εὐριπίδην δή μοι καταφευκτέον· τάχα γὰρ ἂν ἐκεῖνος σώσειέ με. "μὴ κτεῖνε· τὸν ἱκέτην γὰρ οὐ θέμις κτανεῖν.
I must flee to Euripides, for perhaps he might save me.\n"Do not kill; for it is not lawful to kill a suppliant."\nPlato\nWhat?
"
Πλάτων
τί δέ; οὐχὶ κἀκεῖνα Εὐριπίδου ἐστίν,
"οὐ δεινὰ πάσχειν δεινὰ τοὺς εἰργασμένους; "
Παρρησιάδης
"νῦν οὖν ἕκατι ῥημάτων κτενεῖτέ με; "
Πλάτων
νὴ Δία· φησὶ γοῦν ἐκεῖνος αὐτός,
"
ἀχαλίνων στομάτων
ἀνόμου τʼ ἀφροσύνας
τὸ τέλος δυστυχία. "
Are those not also Euripides' words:\n"Is it not dreadful that those who have done dreadful things should suffer dreadful things?"\n Parresiades\n"Now then, on account of words, will you kill me?"\nPlato\nBy Zeus, yes!
§4Παρρησιάδης
οὐκοῦν ἐπεὶ δέδοκται πάντως ἀποκτιννύναι καὶ οὐδεμία μηχανὴ τὸ διαφυγεῖν με, φέρε τοῦτο γοῦν εἴπατέ μοι, τίνες ὄντες ἢ τί πεπονθότες ἀνήκεστον πρὸς ἡμῶν ἀμείλικτα ὀργίζεσθε καὶ ἐπὶ θανάτῳ συνειλήφατε; Πλάτων
ἅτινα μὲν εἴργασαι ἡμᾶς τὰ δεινά, σεαυτὸν ἐρώτα, ὦ κάκιστε, καὶ τοὺς καλοὺς ἐκείνους σου λόγους ἐν οἷς φιλοσοφίαν τε αὐτὴν κακῶς ἠγόρευες καὶ εἰς ἡμᾶς ὕβριζες, ὥσπερ ἐξ ἀγορᾶς ἀποκηρύττων σοφοὺς ἄνδρας, καὶ τὸ μέγιστον, ἐλευθέρους·
For he himself says:\n"\nOf unbridled mouths\nand lawless folly,\nthe end is misfortune.\n"\n\nParresiades\nWell then, since it has been decided at all events to kill me and there is no means for me to escape, come, tell me this at least: who are you, or what incurable wrong having suffered at my hands do you rage so implacably and have seized me for death?\nPlato\nWhat dreadful things you have done to us, ask yourself, you scoundrel, and those fine speeches of yours in which you spoke ill of Philosophy herself and insulted us, as if auctioning off wise men—and what is greatest, free men—from the marketplace.
ἐφʼ οἷς ἀγανακτήσαντες ἀνεληλύθαμεν ἐπὶ σὲ παραιτησάμενοι πρὸς ὀλίγον τὸν Ἀϊδωνέα, Χρύσιππος οὑτοσὶ καὶ Ἐπίκουρος καὶ ὁ Πλάτων ἐγὼ καὶ Ἀριστοτέλης ἐκεῖνος καὶ ὁ σιωπῶν οὗτος Πυθαγόρας καὶ Διογένης καὶ ἅπαντες ὁπόσους διέσυρες ἐν τοῖς λόγοις.
Indignant at these things, we have come up against you, having begged off Aidoneus for a little while—this Chrysippus here, and Epicurus, and I Plato, and that Aristotle there, and this silent Pythagoras, and Diogenes, and all as many as you tore to pieces in your speeches.