by Demosthenes
[80] She gave information against her mistress, and this rascal has had children by her, and with her help he plays juggling tricks and professes to cure fits, being himself subject to fits of wickedness of every kind. So this is the man who will beg him off! This poisoner, this public pest, whom any man would ban at sight as an evil omen rather than choose to accost him, and who has pronounced himself worthy of death by bringing such an action.
[81] τί οὖν λοιπόν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι; ἃ κοινὰ νὴ Δία πᾶσιν ὑπάρχει τοῖς ἀγωνιζομένοις παρὰ τῆς τῶν ἄλλων ὑμῶν φύσεως, καὶ οὐδεὶς αὐτὸς ἑαυτῷ ταῦτα φέρει τῶν κρινομένων, ἀλλ᾽ ὑμῶν ἕκαστος ἔχων οἴκοθεν ἔρχεται, ἔλεον, συγγνώμην, φιλανθρωπίαν. ἀλλὰ τούτων γ᾽ οὔθ᾽ ὅσιον οὔτε θέμις τῷ μιαρῷ τούτῳ μεταδοῦναι. διὰ τί; ὅτι ὃν ἂν αὐτὸς ἕκαστος νόμον τῇ φύσει κατὰ πάντων ἔχῃ, τούτου τυγχάνειν παρ᾽ ἑκάστου δίκαιός ἐστι καὶ αὐτός.
[81] What help, then, remains for him, Athenians? The help, I suppose, that comes to all defendants alike from the natural temper of the jury, the help that no man on his trial provides for himself, but that each of you brings with him from home to the court — I mean pity, pardon, benevolence. But of such help religion and justice alike demand that this unclean wretch should receive no share. Why? Because whatever law each man’s nature prompts him to apply to his neighbors, that law it is only fair that they should apply to him.
[82] τίν᾽ οὖν νόμον ὑμῖν ἢ τίνα βούλησιν ἔχειν Ἀριστογείτων κατὰ πάντων δοκεῖ; πότερ᾽ εὐτυχοῦντας ὁρᾶν καὶ ἐν εὐδαιμονίᾳ καὶ χρηστῇ δόξῃ διάγοντας; καὶ τί ποιῶν ζήσεται; τὰ γὰρ τῶν ἄλλων κακὰ τοῦτον τρέφει. οὐκοῦν ἐν κρίσεσι καὶ ἀγῶσι καὶ πονηραῖς αἰτίαις ἅπαντας εἶναι βούλεται: ταῦτα γεωργεῖ, ταῦτ᾽ ἐργάζεται. ὁ δὲ ποῖός τις, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, καλοῖτ᾽ ἂν δικαίως ὁ τρισκατάρατος, ὁ κοινὸς ἐχθρός, ὁ πᾶσι δυσμενής, ὅτῳ μήτε γῆ φέροι καρπὸν μήτ᾽ ἀποθανόντα δέξαιτο; οὐχ ὁ τοιοῦτος; ἔγωγε νομίζω.
[82] What law do you think Aristogeiton applies to all other men, and what are his wishes concerning them? Does he wish to see them enjoying prosperity, happiness and good fame? If so, what becomes of his livelihood? For he thrives on the misfortunes of others. Therefore he likes to see everyone involved in trials, lawsuits and vile charges. That is the crop he sows; that is the trade he plies. Men of Athens, what sort of man deserves to be called the complete villain, the thrice-accursed, the common foe, the universal enemy, against whom one prays that the earth may neither yield him fruit nor receive him after death? Is it not such a man as this? That is my opinion.
[83] τίνος δὲ συγγνώμης ἢ ποίων ἐλέων οἱ σεσυκοφαντημένοι τετυχήκασιν παρὰ τούτου, οἷς οὗτος θανάτου πᾶσιν ἐτιμᾶτ᾽ ἐν τουτοισὶ τοῖς δικαστηρίοις, καὶ ταῦτα πρὶν τὴν πρώτην ψῆφον διενεχθῆναι; καὶ ἐφ᾽ οἷς ὁ βάσκανος οὗτος οὕτως ὠμῶς καὶ πικρῶς εἶχεν, τούτους ὑμῶν οἱ λαχόντες, ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τὰ δίκαια ποιοῦντες ἔσῳζον, καὶ τοὺς ὑπὸ τούτου συκοφαντουμένους ἀπεψηφίζοντο, καὶ τὸ πέμπτον μέρος τῶν ψήφων οὐ μετεδίδοσαν τούτῳ.
[83] What pardon, what pity did the victims of his blackmail obtain from him, the men whose execution he was always demanding in your courts — yes, even before the first verdict was decided? Those against whom this wretch showed such cruelty and bitterness were saved from death by the righteous conduct of those of you who had been allotted to try their case, who acquitted the men he was falsely accusing and withheld from him the necessary fifth part of the votes.
[84] ἀλλ᾽ ἥ γε τούτου πικρία καὶ μιαιφονία καὶ ὠμότης παρῆν καὶ ἐξητάζετο. οὐχὶ παιδία, οὐχὶ μητέρας τῶν κρινομένων ἐνίων γραῦς παρεστώσας ὁρῶν οὗτος ἠλέει. εἶτα σοὶ συγγνώμη; πόθεν ἢ παρὰ τοῦ; ἢ τοῖς σοῖς παιδίοις ἔλεος; πολλοῦ γε καὶ δεῖ. σὺ τὸν εἰς ταῦτ᾽ ἔλεον προδέδωκας, Ἀριστογεῖτον, μᾶλλον δ᾽ ἀνῄρηκας ὅλως. μὴ δὴ πρὸς οὓς αὐτὸς ἔχωσας λιμένας καὶ προβόλων ἐνέπλησας, πρὸς τούτους προσορμίζου: οὐ γὰρ δίκαιον.
[84] But his bitterness, cruelty and blood-thirstiness were displayed and proved. The sight of the children of some of the defendants and their aged mothers standing in court did not move him to pity? And do you, Aristogeiton, look for pardon? Whence? From whom? Are your children to be pitied? Far from it. You have yourself thrown away their right to pity; nay, you have destroyed it once for all. Do not then seek anchorage in harbors that you have yourself blocked up and filled with stakes; for that is unfair.
[85] εἰ τοίνυν ἀκούσαιτε καὶ τὰς βλασφημίας ἃς κατὰ τὴν ἀγορὰν περιιὼν καθ᾽ ὑμῶν ἔλεγεν, ἔτι μᾶλλον ἂν αὐτὸν μισήσαιτε, καὶ δικαίως. φησὶ γὰρ πολλοὺς ὀφείλειν τῷ δημοσίῳ, τούτους δ᾽ ἅπαντας ὁμοίους ὑπάρχειν ἑαυτῷ. ἐγὼ δὲ πολλοὺς μὲν εἶναι τοὺς ἠτυχηκότας, εἰ καὶ δύ᾽ εἰσὶ μόνοι, συγχωρῶ: παντὶ γὰρ πλείους εἰσὶ τοῦ δέοντος, καὶ οὐδένα τῶν ἄλλων ὀφείλειν ἔδει. οὐ μέντοι μὰ τοὺς θεοὺς τούτῳ γ᾽ ὑπάρχειν ὁμοίους οἴομαι τούτους, οὐδὲ πολλοῦ δεῖ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὐναντίον.
[85] If you heard the slanderous language that he used against you, as he paraded the market-place, you would hate him even more than you do, and with justice. For he says there are many men in debt to the treasury, and all of them in the same case as himself. I admit that these unfortunate men are “many,” though there are but a couple of them; for every state-debtor is one too many, and no others ought to be in debt to the State. But I solemnly swear that their case is not the same as the defendant’s, nor anything like it, but quite the contrary. Look at it in this way.
[86] οὑτωσὶ δὲ λογίζεσθε. καὶ μή μ᾽ ὑπολάβητ᾽, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ὡς πρὸς ὀφείλοντας ὑμᾶς τῷ δημοσίῳ διαλέγεσθαι: οὔτε γὰρ ἔστιν μήτε γένοιτο τοῦτο, οὔτ᾽ ἐγὼ νομίζω. ἀλλ᾽ εἴ τῴ τις ἄρ᾽ ἢ φίλος ἢ γνώριμός ἐστιν ἐν τούτοις, ὡς ὑπὲρ τούτου τοῦτον προσήκει μισεῖν, τοῦτο βούλομαι δεῖξαι. πρῶτον μὲν ὅτι ἀνθρώπους ἐπιεικεῖς, οἷς ἐγγύαι καὶ φιλανθρωπίαι γίγνονται καὶ ὀφλήματ᾽ ἴδια, οἷς οὐ πρόσεστι κοίν᾽ ἀδικήματα, ἠτυχηκέναι δὲ συμβέβηκεν, εἰς τὴν ὁμοίαν τάξιν ἑαυτῷ καὶ βλασφημίαν ἄγει, οὐκ ὀρθῶς οὐδὲ προσηκόντως.
[86] And do not imagine, Athenians, that I am debating the point with you, as if you were debtors to the treasury. That is not so, and I hope it never may be; it is no idea of mine. But if
any of you has a friend or acquaintance among the debtors, I propose to show you that for that friend’s sake he ought to hate the defendant.
My first reason is that honest folk, who are hampered by security for others and kind offices and private debts involving no wrong to the State, but who happen to have been unlucky, are placed by him in the same infamous category as himself, contrary to what is right and fitting.
[87] οὐ γὰρ ὅμοιόν ἐστιν, Ἀριστογεῖτον, οὐδὲ πολλοῦ δεῖ, γράψαντά σε τῶν πολιτῶν τρεῖς ἀκρίτους ἀποκτεῖναι γραφὴν ἁλῶναι παρανόμων καὶ δέον σε τεθνάναι ἐπὶ ταύτῃ τιμήματος τυχεῖν, καὶ φίλον ἐγγυησάμενον μὴ δύνασθαι ζημίαν ἀπροσδόκητον ἐνεγκεῖν: οὐχ ὅμοιον, οὔ. ἔπειθ᾽ ὅτι τὴν κοινὴν φιλανθρωπίαν ἣν ὑμεῖς ἔχετ᾽ ἐκ φύσεως πρὸς ἀλλήλους οὗτος ἀναιρεῖ καὶ διαφθείρει. ὑμεῖς γάρ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τῇ τῆς φύσεως πρὸς ἀλλήλους, ὅπερ εἶπον, χρώμενοι φιλανθρωπίᾳ, ὥσπερ αἱ συγγένειαι τὰς ἰδίας οἰκοῦσιν οἰκίας, οὕτω τὴν πόλιν οἰκεῖτε δημοσίᾳ.
[87] When you, Aristogeiton, were convicted of a breach of the constitution for having moved that three citizens should be executed without trial, and you escaped with a fine, though you ought to have suffered the extreme penalty, there is no parallel, not the slightest, between your case and that of a man who has gone bail for a friend and then finds himself unable to pay an unexpected fine. My second reason is that the bond of mutual kindness, which you yourselves naturally preserve towards one another, is broken and destroyed by Aristogeiton, as far as in him lies. You will understand this from what I am going to say. For you, Athenians, observing what I have called the natural bond of mutual kindness, live as a corporate body in this city just as families live in their private homes.
[88] πῶς οὖν ἐκεῖναι; ὅπου πατήρ ἐστι καὶ υἱεῖς ἄνδρες, τυχὸν δὲ καὶ τούτων παῖδες, ἐνταῦθ᾽ ἀνάγκη πολλὰς καὶ μηδὲν ὁμοίας εἶναι βουλήσεις: οὐ γὰρ τῶν αὐτῶν οὔτε λόγων οὔτ᾽ ἔργων ἐστὶν ἡ νεότης τῷ γήρᾳ. ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως οἵ τε νέοι πάνθ᾽ ὅσ᾽ ἂν πράττωσιν, ἄνπερ ὦσιν μέτριοι, οὕτω ποιοῦσιν ὥστε μάλιστα μὲν πειρᾶσθαι λανθάνειν, εἰ δὲ μή, φανεροί γ᾽ εἶναι τοῦτο βουλόμενοι ποιεῖν: οἵ τε πρεσβύτεροι πάλιν, ἂν ἄρ᾽ ἴδωσιν ἢ δαπάνην ἢ πότον ἢ παιδιὰν πλείω τῆς μετρίας, οὕτω ταῦθ᾽ ὁρῶσιν ὥστε μὴ δοκεῖν ἑορακέναι. ἐκ δὲ τούτων γίγνεταί τε πάνθ᾽ ἃ φέρουσιν αἱ φύσεις καὶ καλῶς γίγνεται.
[88] How then do such families live? Where there is a father and grown-up sons and possibly also grandchildren, there are bound to be many divergent wishes; for youth and age do not talk or act in the same way. Nevertheless whatever the young men do, if they are modest, they do in such a way as to avoid notice; or if this is impossible, at any rate they make it that such was their intention. The elders in their turn, if they see any lack of moderation in spending or drinking or amusement, manage to see it without showing that they have seen it. The result is that everything that their various natures suggest is done, and done satisfactorily.
[89] τὸν αὐτὸν τοίνυν τρόπον ὑμεῖς, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τὴν πόλιν οἰκεῖτε συγγενικῶς καὶ φιλανθρώπως, οἱ μὲν οὕτως ὁρῶντες τὰ τῶν ἠτυχηκότων ἔργα ὥστε, τὸ τῆς παροιμίας, ὁρῶντας μὴ ὁρᾶν καὶ ἀκούοντας μὴ ἀκούειν, οἱ δ᾽ οὕτω ποιοῦντες ἃ πράττουσιν ὥστ᾽ εἶναι φανεροὶ καὶ φυλαττόμενοι καὶ αἰσχυνόμενοι. ἐκ δὲ τούτων ἡ κοινὴ καὶ πάντων τῶν ἀγαθῶν αἰτία τῇ πόλει μένει καὶ συνέστηκεν ὁμόνοια.
[89] And that is just how you, men of Athens, live in this community on humane and brotherly principles, one class watching the proceedings of the unfortunate in such a way that, as the saying runs, “seeing, they see not; hearing, do not hear”; while the others by their behavior show that they are both on their guard and alive to a sense of shame. Hence it is that that general harmony, which is the source of all our blessings, is firmly established in our city.
[90] ταῦτα τοίνυν Ἀριστογείτων τὰ καλῶς οὕτω πεπηγότα τῇ φύσει καὶ τοῖς ἤθεσι τοῖς ὑμετέροις κινεῖν καὶ ἀναιρεῖ καὶ μεταρρίπτει, καὶ ἃ τῶν ἄλλων τῶν ἠτυχηκότων ἕκαστος ἀψοφητεὶ ποιεῖ, ταῦθ᾽ οὗτος μόνον οὐ κώδωνας ἐξαψάμενος διαπράττεται. οὐ πρυτάνεις, οὐ κῆρυξ, οὐκ ἐπιστάτης, οὐχ ἡ προεδρεύουσα φυλὴ τούτου κρατεῖν δύναται.
[90] Those feelings, so happily implanted in your nature and your habits, Aristogeiton would change and remove and overturn. What every other citizen does with as little noise as possible, he performs, one might almost say, with a peal of bells hung about his neck. Neither the president nor the crier nor the chairman nor the tribe on duty can control him.
[91] ἐπειδὰν οὖν τις ὑμῶν ἐφ᾽ οἷς οὗτος ἀσελγαίνει λυπηθεὶς εἴπῃ ‘τοῦτον δὲ ταῦτα ποιεῖν, καὶ ταῦτ᾽ ὀφείλοντα τῷ δημοσίῳ,’ ‘τί δ᾽; οὐ καὶ ὁ δεῖνα’ φησὶν ‘ὀφείλει’; τὸν ἐχθρὸν ἕκαστος ὑπειπὼν τὸν αὑτοῦ: ὥστε τὴν πονηρίαν τὴν τούτου αἰτίαν εἶναι τῶν βλασφημιῶν αἳ περὶ τῶν οὐχ ὁμοίων τούτῳ διὰ τοῦτον γίγνονται.
[91] So when any of you, annoyed at his outrageous conduct, cries, “To think that he should act like this, and he a debtor to the treasury!” the reply is, “What! Is not So-and-so a debtor too?” — each man suggesting his personal enemy. Thus his wickedness is the cause of the scandals which are circulated about men who do not resemble him.
[92] λοιπὸν τοίνυν ἐστίν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τοῖς ἀπαλλαγῆναι βουλομένοις τούτου, ἀδίκημα σαφὲς καὶ ἐναργὲς ἔχοντας ἐκ τῶν νόμων, μάλιστα μὲν αὐτῷ θανάτου τιμῆσαι, εἰ δὲ μή, τοσοῦτον ἀναθεῖναι τίμημα χρημάτων ὅσον μὴ δυνήσεται φέρειν: ἄλλη γὰρ οὐκ ἔστιν ἀπαλλαγὴ τούτου, σαφῶς ἐπίστασθε.
[92] Therefore the one thing left, men of Athens, for those who wish to get rid of this man, now that they can charge him with a clear and manifest offence against the laws, is, if possible, to punish him with death, or, if not, to impose such a money fine as he will not be able to pay. For depend upon it, there is no other way to be rid of him.
[93] καὶ γάρ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τῶν μὲν ἄλλων ἀνθρώπων ἄν τις ἴδοι τοὺς μὲν βελτίστους καὶ μετριωτάτους αὐτῇ τῇ φύσει πάντα ποιοῦντας ἑκόντας ἃ δεῖ, τοὺς δὲ χείρους μὲν τούτων, ἔξω δὲ τοῦ πονηροὺς ἄγαν κληθῆναι, τῷ φόβῳ τῷ πρὸς ὑμᾶς καὶ τῷ τοῖς αἰσχροῖς καὶ λόγοις καὶ ὀνείδεσιν ἀλγεῖν εὐλαβουμένους ἐξαμαρτάν�
�ιν: τοὺς δὲ πονηροτάτους καὶ ἐξαγίστους ὀνομαζομένους τάς γε συμφορὰς σωφρονίζειν λέγουσιν.
[93] Among other men, Athenians, you may see the best and most respectable ready at the prompting of nature to do what is right; those who are worse men, but are not classed as the very bad, are careful of offending, because they are afraid of you and are sensitive to disgrace and reproach; the utterly wicked, the moral lepers, as we call them, are said to be taught wisdom only by suffering.
[94] οὑτοσὶ τοίνυν Ἀριστογείτων τοσοῦτον ὑπερῆρκεν ἅπαντας ἀνθρώπους πονηρίᾳ ὥστ᾽ οὐδὲ παθὼν ἐνουθετήθη, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἀδικήμασι καὶ πλεονεκτήμασιν πάλιν εἴληπται. καὶ τοσούτῳ πλείονος ὀργῆς ἄξιός ἐστιν νῦν ἢ πρότερον, ὅσῳ τότε μὲν γράφειν μόνον ᾤετο δεῖν παρὰ τοὺς νόμους, νυνὶ δὲ πάντα ποιεῖν, αἰτιᾶσθαι, λέγειν, διαβάλλειν, βλασφημεῖν, θανάτου τιμᾶσθαι, εἰσαγγέλλειν, κακολογεῖν τοὺς ἐπιτίμους αὐτὸς ὀφείλων τῷ δημοσίῳ: τούτου γὰρ οὐδέν ἐστι δεινότερον.
[94] Now here is Aristogeiton, who has so far outstripped all men in wickedness that his punishments have not disciplined him and he is once more detected in the same illegal and rapacious acts. Also he is the more deserving of your anger now than before, inasmuch as previously it was only by moving decrees that he ventured to transgress the laws, but now he transgresses them in every possible way — by accusations, by public speeches, by calumnies, by demanding the death penalty, by impeaching and maligning the fully qualified citizens, when he himself is a state-debtor. For nothing is more abominable than that.