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Article THE DEFENCE OF SOCRATES. ← Page 3 of 5 →
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The Defence Of Socrates.
to reason and wisdom , being deceived themselves , and deluding others , are completely at their wit ' s end ! It is , then , impossible for me to cite any one of them here , or to bring forward any one who could confute them ; and I am , therefore , put to the necessity of defending myself , as one buffeting with the air , or contending with a shadow , and to ask questions where there is no one to l . As I have represented it to youso deem itthat my
repy , , accusers are of a two-fold description ;—one class , to which I am addressing myself , indulged their contumely against me at a very early period—the other is of a more recent date . The question is , do you deem it proper that I should defend myself , first of all , against the former ? As you previously heard their allegation , and as first impressions are always strongest , were naturally more influenced by them than by the arguments of the latter ?
You approve of my answering the older class of my calumniators first . Be it so . I am bound by every consideration , Athenians , to vindicate myself , and to endeavour to set aside , brief as the time allowed me is , a calumny so malevolent as the present charge against me , though you have been accustomed to receive it during the progress of a vast number of years . With this understanding then , that , if any circumstance in evidence more satisfactory to you as well as to myself should develop itselfI may be permitted to avail myself of it in rendering my defence
, more fully complete , I would desire the state of the case to remain ; premising that I consider the result pregnant of danger , neither do I conceal from myself that it is so . Nevertheless , I commend it to thepropitious auspices of the Deity , wholly relinquishing the issue to his determination— -all I have to do is , to obey the law , and defend my
cause . Allow me , then , hastily to take a review of the matter as it stands . There exists a certain prejudice , which is the origin of the slanderous accusation against me , and to which Melitus '" . having yielded implicit credit , has made it the argument of the present indictment . Well , well ! I am only astonished that the authors of those malignant slanders should g ive utterance to such deliberate falsehoods . But , as it forms the gist of the indictmentit is necessaryhowever absurd the recital may beto
, , , read over the tenor of their affidavit . It runs thus : — " Socrates acts without judgment , making himself very officious in the investigation of subjects both of metaphysical and natural science , and by the eloquence of his manner rendering in appearance the worst the better cause : and ' to add to those delinquencies , he instructs his disciples in the knowledge of such secrets . "
Such , in sum , is the character of the accusation on which you have to pronounce a verdict . Why , you yourselves have witnessed the articles of this impeachment represented in a comedy by Aristophanest . In the performance of that farce , you know there is an effigy , or figure pretending to represent me , which is carried about the stage of the theatre , and it is declared to say that it possesses the supernatural power of perambulating the air * " and of performing many other similarly ridi-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Defence Of Socrates.
to reason and wisdom , being deceived themselves , and deluding others , are completely at their wit ' s end ! It is , then , impossible for me to cite any one of them here , or to bring forward any one who could confute them ; and I am , therefore , put to the necessity of defending myself , as one buffeting with the air , or contending with a shadow , and to ask questions where there is no one to l . As I have represented it to youso deem itthat my
repy , , accusers are of a two-fold description ;—one class , to which I am addressing myself , indulged their contumely against me at a very early period—the other is of a more recent date . The question is , do you deem it proper that I should defend myself , first of all , against the former ? As you previously heard their allegation , and as first impressions are always strongest , were naturally more influenced by them than by the arguments of the latter ?
You approve of my answering the older class of my calumniators first . Be it so . I am bound by every consideration , Athenians , to vindicate myself , and to endeavour to set aside , brief as the time allowed me is , a calumny so malevolent as the present charge against me , though you have been accustomed to receive it during the progress of a vast number of years . With this understanding then , that , if any circumstance in evidence more satisfactory to you as well as to myself should develop itselfI may be permitted to avail myself of it in rendering my defence
, more fully complete , I would desire the state of the case to remain ; premising that I consider the result pregnant of danger , neither do I conceal from myself that it is so . Nevertheless , I commend it to thepropitious auspices of the Deity , wholly relinquishing the issue to his determination— -all I have to do is , to obey the law , and defend my
cause . Allow me , then , hastily to take a review of the matter as it stands . There exists a certain prejudice , which is the origin of the slanderous accusation against me , and to which Melitus '" . having yielded implicit credit , has made it the argument of the present indictment . Well , well ! I am only astonished that the authors of those malignant slanders should g ive utterance to such deliberate falsehoods . But , as it forms the gist of the indictmentit is necessaryhowever absurd the recital may beto
, , , read over the tenor of their affidavit . It runs thus : — " Socrates acts without judgment , making himself very officious in the investigation of subjects both of metaphysical and natural science , and by the eloquence of his manner rendering in appearance the worst the better cause : and ' to add to those delinquencies , he instructs his disciples in the knowledge of such secrets . "
Such , in sum , is the character of the accusation on which you have to pronounce a verdict . Why , you yourselves have witnessed the articles of this impeachment represented in a comedy by Aristophanest . In the performance of that farce , you know there is an effigy , or figure pretending to represent me , which is carried about the stage of the theatre , and it is declared to say that it possesses the supernatural power of perambulating the air * " and of performing many other similarly ridi-