The Apology by Xenophon
page 13 of 19 (68%)
page 13 of 19 (68%)
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on that account to be prosecuted by you, sir, on the capital charge?"
Much more than this, it stands to reason, was urged, whether by himself or by the friends who advocated his cause.[40] But my object has not been to mention everything that arose out of the suit. It suffices me to have shown on the one hand that Socrates, beyond everything, desired not to display impiety to heaven,[41] and injustice to men; and on the other, that escape from death was not a thing, in his opinion, to be clamoured for importunately--on the contrary, he believed that the time was already come for him to die. That such was the conclusion to which he had come was made still more evident later when the case had been decided against him. In the first place, when called upon to suggest a counter-penalty,[42] he would neither do so himself nor suffer his friends to do so for him, but went so far as to say that to propose a counter-penalty was like a confession of guilt. And afterwards, when his companions wished to steal him out of prison,[43] he would not follow their lead, but would seem to have treated the idea as a jest, by asking "whether they happened to know of some place outside Attica where death was forbidden to set foot?" [40] {sunagoreuein}, L. and S. cf Thuc. vi. 6, "partisans," viii. 84, "pleaded the case of" (Jowett). [41] Or, "laid the greatest stress of not being guilty of impiety"; "attached the greatest importance to the fact that he was never guilty of impiety." [42] {upotimasthai}. See L. Dind. cf. Cic. "Orat." i. 54; the technical word is {antitimasthai}. Cf. Plat. "Apol." 36 D; Diog. |
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