Plato · Complete work
Stephanus 40a
Stephanus 40a of 125. Read it here for reference, or continue through the entire work without leaving the reader.
Open the complete readerOriginal Ancient Greek
γὰρ ὡς φίλοις οὖσιν ἐπιδεῖξαι ἐθέλω τὸ νυνί μοι συμβεβηκὸς τί ποτε νοεῖ. ἐμοὶ γάρ, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί—ὑμᾶς γὰρ δικαστὰς καλῶν ὀρθῶς ἂν καλοίην—θαυμάσιόν τι γέγονεν. ἡ γὰρ εἰωθυῖά μοι μαντικὴ ἡ τοῦ δαιμονίου ἐν μὲν τῷ πρόσθεν χρόνῳ παντὶ πάνυ πυκνὴ ἀεὶ ἦν καὶ πάνυ ἐπὶ σμικροῖς ἐναντιουμένη, εἴ τι μέλλοιμι μὴ ὀρθῶς πράξειν. νυνὶ δὲ συμβέβηκέ μοι ἅπερ ὁρᾶτε καὶ αὐτοί, ταυτὶ ἅ γε δὴ οἰηθείη ἄν τις καὶ νομίζεται ἔσχατα κακῶν εἶναι· ἐμοὶ δὲ
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from the complete Ancient Greek text across all 125 Stephanus sections for fidelity, philosophical precision, Socratic voice, legal clarity, and structure.
as my friends, I wish to explain what this thing that has now happened to me can mean. For something remarkable has happened to me, gentlemen of the jury—and in calling you jurors, I would be calling you by your proper name. The prophetic sign of the divine thing, which is familiar to me, was at all earlier times constantly very frequent, opposing me even in the smallest matters if I was about to act wrongly. But now there have befallen me the things you yourselves see—things one might suppose, and which are commonly held, to be the very worst of evils. Yet for me,
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete Plain English edition, made independently and directly from all 125 Ancient Greek Stephanus sections.
as my friends, I want to explain what the event that has just happened to me may mean. For something remarkable has happened to me, gentlemen of the jury—and I would be right to call you judges. My customary prophetic sign, the divine sign, was always very frequent throughout all my earlier life and opposed me even in very small matters whenever I was about to do something wrong. But now what you yourselves see has happened to me—something that a person might think, and that is commonly believed, to be the worst of evils. Yet for me,