| Apology | |
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[17a - 18a] [18b - 20c] [20d - 24b] [24c - 25e] [26a - 28a] [28b - 30d] [30e - 31c] [31d - 33b]
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(4) Corruption of the Youth |
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| I have said enough in my defence against the first class of my | Jowett's Notes |
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| accusers; I turn to the second class. They are headed by | The second class of accusers. | |
| Meletus, that good man and true lover of his country as he | ||
| calls himself. Against these, too, I must try to make my | ||
 Ruins of the Ancient City of Athens
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| defence: - Let their affidavit be read: it contains something of | ||
| this kind: It says that Socrates is a doer of evil, who corrupts | ||
| the youth; and who does not believe in the gods of the state, | ||
24c |
but has other new divinities of his own. Such is the charge; | |
| and now let us examine the particular counts. He says that I | ||
| am a doer of evil, and corrupt the youth; but I say, O men of | ||
| Athens that Meletus is a doer of evil, in that he pretends to be | ||
| earnest when he is only in jest, and is so eager to bring men to | ||
| trial from a pretended zeal and interest about matters in which | ||
| he really never had the smallest interest. And the truth of this I | ||
| endeavor to prove to you. | ||
| Come hither, Meletus, and let me ask a question of you. You | ||
24d |
think a great deal about the improvement of youth? | |
| Meletus: Yes, I do. | ||
| Socrates: Tell the judges, then, who is their improver; for you | All men are discovered to be improvers of youth with the single exception of Socrates. | |
| must know, as you have taken the pains to discover their | ||
| corrupter, and are citing and accusing me before them. Speak | ||
| then and tell the judges who their improver is. - Observe, | ||
| Meletus that you are silent, and have nothing to say. But is | ||
| not this rather disgraceful, and a very considerable proof of | ||
| what I was saying, that you have no interest in the matter? | ||
24e |
Speak up, friend, and tell us who their improver is. | |
| Mel: The laws. | ||
| Soc: But that, my good sir, is not my meaning. I want to know | ||
| who the person is, who, in the first place, knows the laws. | ||
| Mel: The judges ,Socrates, who are present in court. | ||
25a |
Soc: What, do you mean to say, Meletus, that they are able | |
| to instruct and improve youth? | ||
| Mel: Certainly they are. | ||
| Soc: What, all of them, or some only and not others? | ||
| Mel: All of them. | ||
| Soc: By the goddess, Hera, that is good news! There are | ||
| plenty of improvers, then. And what do you say of the | ||
| audience, do they improve them? | ||
| Mel: Yes, they do. | ||
| Soc: And the senators? | ||
| Mel: Yes, the senators improve them. | ||
| Soc: But perhaps the members of the assembly corrupt them? | ||
| - or do they too improve them? | ||
| Mel: They improve them. you a question: How about horses? | ||
| Soc: Then every Athenian improves and elevates them; all | ||
| with the exception of myself, and I alone am their corrupter? | ||
| Is that what you affirm? | ||
| Mel: That is what I stoutly affirm. | ||
| Soc: I am very unfortunate if you are right. But suppose I ask | But this rather unfortunate fact does not accord with the analogy of the animals. | |
| you a question: How about horses? Does one man do them | ||
| harm and all the world good? Is not the exact opposite the | ||
| truth? One man is able to do them good, or at least not many; | ||
25b |
- the trainer of horses, that is to say, does them good, and | |
| others who have to do with them rather injure them? Is not | ||
| that true, Meletus, of horses, or of any other animals? Most | ||
| assuredly it is; whether you and Anytus say yes or no. Happy | ||
| indeed would be the condition of youth if they had one | ||
25c |
corrupter only, and all the rest of the world were their | |
| improvers. But you, Meletus, have sufficiently shown that you | ||
| never had a thought about the young: your carelessness is | ||
| seen in your not caring about the very things which you bring | ||
| against me. | ||
| And now, Meletus, I will ask you another question - by Zeus | ||
| I will: Which is better, to live among bad citizens, or among | ||
| good ones? Answer, friend. I say, the question is one which | ||
| may be easily answered. Do not the good do their neighbours | ||
| good, and the bad do them evil? | ||
| Mel: Certainly. | ||
| Soc: And is there any one who would rather be injured than | ||
25d |
benefitted by those who live with him? Answer, my good | |
| friend, the law requires you to answer - does any one like to | ||
| be injured? | ||
| Mel: Certainly not. | ||
| Soc: And when you accuse me of corrupting and deteriorating | When I do harm to my neighbour I must do harm to myself: and therefore I cannot be supposed to injure them intentionally. | |
| the youth, do you allege that I corrupt them intentionally or | ||
| unintentionally? | ||
| Mel: Intentionally, I say. | ||
| Soc: But you have just admitted that the good do their | ||
| neighbours good and evil do them evil. Now, is that a truth | ||
25e |
which your superior wisdom has recognized this early in life, | |
| and am I, at my age, in such darkness and ignorance as not to | ||
| know that if a man with whom I have to live is corrupted by | ||
| me, I am very likely to be harmed by him; and yet I corrupt | ||
| him, and intentionally, too - so you say, although neither I nor | ||
| any other human being is ever likely to be convinced by you. | ||
| But either I do not corrupt them, or I corrupt them | ||
| unintentionally; and on either view of the case you lie. If my | ||
| offence is unintentional, the law has no cognizance of | ||
| unintentional offenses: you ought to have taken me privately, | ||
| and warned and admonished me, for if I had been better | ||
| advised, I should have left off doing what I only did | ||
| unintentionally - no doubt I should; but you would have | ||
| nothing to say to me and refused to teach me. And now you | ||
| bring me up in this court, which is a place not of instruction, | ||
| but of punishment. | ||
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