Plato · Complete work
Stephanus 35c
Stephanus 35c of 125. Read it here for reference, or continue through the entire work without leaving the reader.
Open the complete readerOriginal Ancient Greek
εἶναι δεῖσθαι τοῦ δικαστοῦ οὐδὲ δεόμενον ἀποφεύγειν, ἀλλὰ διδάσκειν καὶ πείθειν. οὐ γὰρ ἐπὶ τούτῳ κάθηται ὁ δικαστής, ἐπὶ τῷ καταχαρίζεσθαι τὰ δίκαια, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ τῷ κρίνειν ταῦτα· καὶ ὀμώμοκεν οὐ χαριεῖσθαι οἷς ἂν δοκῇ αὐτῷ, ἀλλὰ δικάσειν κατὰ τοὺς νόμους. οὔκουν χρὴ οὔτε ἡμᾶς ἐθίζειν ὑμᾶς ἐπιορκεῖν οὔθʼ ὑμᾶς ἐθίζεσθαι· οὐδέτεροι γὰρ ἂν ἡμῶν εὐσεβοῖεν. μὴ οὖν ἀξιοῦτέ με, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τοιαῦτα δεῖν πρὸς ὑμᾶς πράττειν ἃ μήτε ἡγοῦμαι καλὰ εἶναι 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.
just nor pious—especially, by Zeus, when I am being prosecuted for impiety by this very Meletus. For clearly, if I were to persuade you by entreaty and compel you to violate your oaths, I should be teaching you to believe that there are no gods; and in the very act of defending myself, I should be accusing myself of not believing in them. But that is very far from the truth. I believe in the gods, men of Athens, as none of my accusers does; and I entrust it to you and to the god to judge my case in whatever way will be best for both me and you.
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete Plain English edition, made independently and directly from all 125 Ancient Greek Stephanus sections.
just nor pious—especially, by Zeus, when I am being prosecuted for impiety by this man Meletus. For clearly, if I persuaded you and, by my begging, pressured you despite your oaths, I would be teaching you not to believe that gods exist; and in the very act of making my defense, I would simply be accusing myself of not believing in the gods. But that is very far from the truth. I do believe in them, men of Athens, as none of my accusers does, and I leave it to you and to the god to judge me in whatever way will be best both for me and for you.