Plato · Complete work
Stephanus 17c
Stephanus 17c of 125. Read it here for reference, or continue through the entire work without leaving the reader.
Open the complete readerOriginal Ancient Greek
ῥήμασί τε καὶ ὀνόμασιν οὐδὲ κεκοσμημένους, ἀλλʼ ἀκούσεσθε εἰκῇ λεγόμενα τοῖς ἐπιτυχοῦσιν ὀνόμασιν—πιστεύω γὰρ δίκαια εἶναι ἃ λέγω—καὶ μηδεὶς ὑμῶν προσδοκησάτω ἄλλως· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἂν δήπου πρέποι, ὦ ἄνδρες, τῇδε τῇ ἡλικίᾳ ὥσπερ μειρακίῳ πλάττοντι λόγους εἰς ὑμᾶς εἰσιέναι. καὶ μέντοι καὶ πάνυ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τοῦτο ὑμῶν δέομαι καὶ παρίεμαι· ἐὰν διὰ τῶν αὐτῶν λόγων ἀκούητέ μου ἀπολογουμένου διʼ ὧνπερ εἴωθα λέγειν καὶ ἐν ἀγορᾷ ἐπὶ τῶν τραπεζῶν, ἵνα ὑμῶν πολλοὶ ἀκηκόασι, καὶ ἄλλοθι, μήτε
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.
or embellished with carefully chosen words and expressions. No, you shall hear things spoken simply, in whatever words occur to me—for I trust that what I say is just—and let none of you expect anything else. For surely, gentlemen, it would not become a man of my age to come before you like a youngster fashioning elaborate speeches. And there is one thing, men of Athens, that I earnestly ask and beg of you: if you hear me making my defense in the same language I have been accustomed to use in the marketplace, at the bankers’ tables, where many of you have heard me, and elsewhere, do not
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete Plain English edition, made independently and directly from all 125 Ancient Greek Stephanus sections.
or embellished with carefully chosen phrases and words. Instead, you will hear things said plainly, in whatever words occur to me—for I trust that what I say is just—and let none of you expect anything else. Surely it would not be fitting, gentlemen, for someone of my age to come before you like a young man composing elaborate speeches. And so, men of Athens, I earnestly ask and beg this of you: if you hear me making my defense in the same kind of language I normally use in the marketplace by the bankers’ tables, where many of you have heard me, and elsewhere, do not