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CRITO BY PLATO

TRANSLATE BY BEN!A"IN !O#ETT

INTRO $CTION The Crito seems intended to e*hibit the character of -ocrates in one light only! not as the philosopher! fulfilling a divine mission and trusting in the will of heaven! but simply as the good citiEen! who having been unjustly condemned is willing to give up his life in obedience to the laws of the state . . . The days of -ocrates are drawing to a closeF the fatal ship has been seen off -unium! as he is informed by his aged friend and contemporary Crito! who visits him before the dawn has brokenF he himself has been warned in a dream that on the third day he must depart. Time is precious! and Crito has come early in order to gain his consent to a plan of escape. This can be easily accomplished by his friends! who will incur no danger in making the attempt to save him! but will be disgraced for ever if they allow him to perish. ,e should think of his duty to his children! and not play into the hands of his enemies. 4oney is already provided by Crito as well as by

-immias and others! and he will have no difficulty in finding friends in Thessaly and other places. -ocrates is afraid that Crito is but pressing upon him the opinions of the manyF whereas! all his life long he has followed the dictates of reason only and the opinion of the one wise or skilled man. There was a time when Crito himself had allowed the propriety of this. 3nd although someone will say Gthe many can kill us!H that makes no differenceF but a good life! in other words! a just and honourable life! is alone to be valued. 3ll considerations of loss of reputation or injury to his children should be dismissed2 the only Iuestion is whether he would be right in attempting to escape. Crito! who is a disinterested person not having the fear of death before his eyes! shall answer this for him. Before he was condemned they had often held discussions! in which they agreed that no man should either do evil! or return evil for evil! or betray the right. 3re these principles to be altered because the circumstances of -ocrates are alteredJ Crito admits that they remain the same. Then is his escape consistent with the maintenance of themJ To this Crito is unable or unwilling to reply. -ocrates proceeds2K-uppose the :aws of 3thens to come and remonstrate with him2 they will ask! G&hy does he seek to overturn themJH and if he replies! GThey have injured him!H will not the :aws answer! G$es! but was that the agreementJ ,as he any objection to make to them which would justify him in overturning themJ &as he not brought into the world and educated by their help! and are they not his parentsJ ,e might have left 3thens and gone where he pleased! but he has lived there for seventy years more constantly than any other citiEen.H Thus he has clearly shown that he acknowledged the agreement! which he cannot now break without dishonour to himself and danger to his friends. )ven in the course of the trial he might have proposed e*ile as the penalty! but then he declared that he preferred death to e*ile. 3nd whither will he direct his footstepsJ #n any well?ordered state the :aws will consider him as an enemy. Possibly in a land of misrule like Thessaly he may be welcomed at first! and the unseemly narrative of his escape will be regarded by the inhabitants as an amusing tale. But if he offends them he will have to learn another sort of lesson. &ill he continue to give lectures in virtueJ That would hardly be decent. 3nd how will his children be the gainers if he takes them into Thessaly! and deprives them of 3thenian citiEenshipJ >r if he leaves them behind! does he e*pect that they will be better taken care of by his friends because he is in ThessalyJ &ill not true friends care for them eIually whether he is alive or deadJ

'inally! they e*hort him to think of justice first! and of life and children afterwards. ,e may now depart in peace and innocence! a sufferer and not a doer of evil. But if he breaks agreements! and returns evil for evil! they will be angry with him while he livesF and their brethren the :aws of the world below will receive him as an enemy. -uch is the mystic voice which is always murmuring in his ears. That -ocrates was not a good citiEen was a charge made against him during his lifetime! which has been often repeated in later ages. The crimes of 3lcibiades! Critias! and Charmides! who had been his pupils! were still recent in the memory of the now restored democracy. The fact that he had been neutral in the death?struggle of 3thens was not likely to conciliate popular good?will. Plato! writing probably in the ne*t generation! undertakes the defence of his friend and master in this particular! not to the 3thenians of his day! but to posterity and the world at large. &hether such an incident ever really occurred as the visit of Crito and the proposal of escape is uncertainF Plato could easily have invented far more than thatF . and in the selection of Crito! the aged friend! as the fittest person to make the proposal to -ocrates! we seem to recogniEe the hand of the artist. &hether anyone who has been subjected by the laws of his country to an unjust judgment is right in attempting to escape! is a thesis about which casuists might disagree. -helley ; is of opinion that -ocrates Gdid well to die!H but not for the GsophisticalH reasons which Plato has put into his mouth. 3nd there would be no difficulty in arguing that -ocrates should have lived and preferred to a glorious death the good which he might still be able to perform. G3 rhetorician would have had much to say upon that point.H #t may be observed however that Plato never intended to answer the Iuestion of casuistry! but only to e*hibit the ideal of patient virtue which refuses to do the least evil in order to avoid the greatest! and to show his master maintaining in death the opinions which he had professed in his life. Cot Gthe world!H but the Gone wise man!H is still the parado* of -ocrates in his last hours. ,e must be guided by reason! although her conclusions may be fatal to him. The remarkable sentiment that the wicked can do neither good nor evil is true! if taken in the sense! which he means! of moral evilF in his own words! Gthey cannot make a man wise or foolish.H This little dialogue is a perfect piece of dialectic! in which granting the Gcommon principle!H there is no escaping from the conclusion. #t is anticipated at the beginning by the dream of -ocrates and the parody of

,omer. The personification of the :aws! and of their brethren the :aws in the world below! is one of the noblest and boldest figures of speech which occur in Plato.

CRITO P)+->C- >' T,) D#3:>GB)2 Socrates, Crito. -C)C)2 The Prison of Socrates.

->C+3T)-2 &hy have you come at this hour! CritoJ it must be Iuite earlyJ C+#T>2 $es! certainly. ->C+3T)-2 &hat is the e*act timeJ C+#T>2 The dawn is breaking. ->C+3T)-2 # wonder that the keeper of the prison would let you in. C+#T>2 ,e knows me! because # often come! -ocratesF moreover! # have done him a kindness. ->C+3T)-2 3nd are you only just arrivedJ C+#T>2 Co! # came some time ago. ->C+3T)-2 Then why did you sit and say nothing! instead of at once awakening meJ C+#T>2 # should not have liked myself! -ocrates! to be in such great trouble and unrest as you areKindeed # should not2 # have been watching with amaEement your peaceful slumbersF and for that reason # did not awake you! because # wished to minimiEe the pain. # have always thought you to be

of a happy dispositionF but never did # see anything like the easy! tranIuil manner in which you bear this calamity. ->C+3T)-2 &hy! Crito! when a man has reached my age he ought not to be repining at the approach of death. C+#T>2 3nd yet other old men find themselves in similar misfortunes! and age does not prevent them from repining. ->C+3T)-2 That is true. But you have not told me why you come at this early hour. C+#T>2 # come to bring you a message which is sad and painfulF not! as # believe! to yourself! but to all of us who are your friends! and saddest of all to me. ->C+3T)-2 &hatJ ,as the ship come from Delos! on the arrival of which # am to dieJ C+#T>2 Co! the ship has not actually arrived! but she will probably be here to?day! as persons who have come from -unium tell me that they have left her thereF and therefore to?morrow! -ocrates! will be the last day of your life. ->C+3T)-2 (ery well! CritoF if such is the will of God! # am willingF but my belief is that there will be a delay of a day. C+#T>2 &hy do you think soJ ->C+3T)-2 # will tell you. # am to die on the day after the arrival of the shipJ C+#T>2 $esF that is what the authorities say. ->C+3T)-2 But # do not think that the ship will be here until to? morrowF this # infer from a vision which # had last night! or rather only just now! when you fortunately allowed me to sleep. C+#T>2 3nd what was the nature of the visionJ

->C+3T)-2 There appeared to me the likeness of a woman! fair and comely! clothed in bright raiment! who called to me and said2 > -ocrates! GThe third day hence to fertile Phthia shalt thou go.H = C+#T>2 &hat a singular dream! -ocrates1 ->C+3T)-2 There can be no doubt about the meaning! Crito! # think. C+#T>2 $esF the meaning is only too clear. But! oh1 my beloved -ocrates! let me entreat you once more to take my advice and escape. 'or if you die # shall not only lose a friend who can never be replaced! but there is another evil2 people who do not know you and me will believe that # might have saved you if # had been willing to give money! but that # did not care. Cow! can there be a worse disgrace than thisKthat # should be thought to value money more than the life of a friendJ 'or the many will not be persuaded that # wanted you to escape! and that you refused. ->C+3T)-2 But why! my dear Crito! should we care about the opinion of the manyJ Good men! and they are the only persons who are worth considering! will think of these things truly as they occurred. C+#T>2 But you see! -ocrates! that the opinion of the many must be regarded! for what is now happening shows that they can do the greatest evil to anyone who has lost their good opinion. ->C+3T)-2 # only wish it were so! CritoF and that the many could do the greatest evilF for then they would also be able to do the greatest goodK and what a fine thing this would be1 But in reality they can do neitherF for they cannot make a man either wise or foolishF and whatever they do is the result of chance. C+#T>2 &ell! # will not dispute with youF but please to tell me! -ocrates! whether you are not acting out of regard to me and your other friends2 are you not afraid that if you escape from prison we may get into trouble with the informers for having stolen you away! and lose either the whole or a great part of our propertyF or that even a worse evil may happen to usJ Cow! if you fear on our account! be at easeF for in order to save you! we ought surely to run this! or even a greater riskF be persuaded! then! and do as # say.

->C+3T)-2 $es! Crito! that is one fear which you mention! but by no means the only one. C+#T>2 'ear notKthere are persons who are willing to get you out of prison at no great costF and as for the informers! they are far from being e*orbitant in their demandsKa little money will satisfy them. 4y means! which are certainly ample! are at your service! and if you have a scruple about spending all mine! here are strangers who will give you the use of theirsF and one of them! -immias the Theban! has brought a large sum of money for this very purposeF and Cebes and many others are prepared to spend their money in helping you to escape. # say! therefore! do not hesitate on our account! and do not say! as you did in the court L that you will have a difficulty in knowing what to do with yourself anywhere else. 'or men will love you in other places to which you may go! and not in 3thens onlyF there are friends of mine in Thessaly! if you like to go to them! who will value and protect you! and no Thessalian will give you any trouble. Cor can # think that you are at all justified! -ocrates! in betraying your own life when you might be savedF in acting thus you are playing into the hands of your enemies! who are hurrying on your destruction. 3nd further # should say that you are deserting your own childrenF for you might bring them up and educate themF instead of which you go away and leave them! and they will have to take their chanceF and if they do not meet with the usual fate of orphans! there will be small thanks to you. Co man should bring children into the world who is unwilling to persevere to the end in their nurture and education. But you appear to be choosing the easier part! not the better and manlier! which would have been more becoming in one who professes to care for virtue in all his actions! like yourself. 3nd indeed! # am ashamed not only of you! but of us who are your friends! when # reflect that the whole business will be attributed entirely to our want of courage. The trial need never have come on! or might have been managed differentlyF and this last act! or crowning folly! will seem to have occurred through our negligence and cowardice! who might have saved you! if we had been good for anythingF and you might have saved yourself! for there was no difficulty at all. -ee now! -ocrates! how sad and discreditable are the conseIuences! both to us and you. 4ake up your mind then! or rather have your mind already made up! for the time of deliberation is over! and there is only one thing to be done! which must be done this very night! and! if we delay at all! will be no longer practicable or possibleF # beseech you therefore! -ocrates! be persuaded by me! and do as # say.

->C+3T)-2 Dear Crito! your Eeal is invaluable! if a right oneF but if wrong! the greater the Eeal the greater the dangerF and therefore we ought to consider whether # shall or shall not do as you say. 'or # am and always have been one of those natures who must be guided by reason! whatever the reason may be which upon reflection appears to me to be the bestF and now that this chance has befallen me! # cannot repudiate my own words2 the principles which # have hitherto honoured and revered # still honour! and unless we can at once find other and better principles! # am certain not to agree with youF no! not even if the power of the multitude could inflict many more imprisonments! confiscations! deaths! frightening us like children with hobgoblin terrors. 8 &hat will be the fairest way of considering the IuestionJ -hall # return to your old argument about the opinions of menJKwe were saying that some of them are to be regarded! and others not. Cow were we right in maintaining this before # was condemnedJ 3nd has the argument which was once good now proved to be talk for the sake of talkingKmere childish nonsenseJ That is what # want to consider with your help! Crito2K whether! under my present circumstances! the argument appears to be in any way different or notF and is to be allowed by me or disallowed. That argument! which! as # believe! is maintained by many persons of authority! was to the effect! as # was saying! that the opinions of some men are to be regarded! and of other men not to be regarded. Cow you! Crito! are not going to die to?morrowKat least! there is no human probability of thisKand therefore you are disinterested and not liable to be deceived by the circumstances in which you are placed. Tell me then! whether # am right in saying that some opinions! and the opinions of some men only! are to be valued! and that other opinions! and the opinions of other men! are not to be valued. # ask you whether # was right in maintaining thisJ C+#T>2 Certainly. ->C+3T)-2 The good are to be regarded! and not the badJ C+#T>2 $es. ->C+3T)-2 3nd the opinions of the wise are good! and the opinions of the unwise are evilJ C+#T>2 Certainly. ->C+3T)-2 3nd what was said about another matterJ #s the pupil who devotes himself to the practice of gymnastics supposed to attend to the

praise and blame and opinion of every man! or of one man onlyKhis physician or trainer! whoever he may beJ C+#T>2 >f one man only. ->C+3T)-2 3nd he ought to fear the censure and welcome the praise of that one only! and not of the manyJ C+#T>2 Clearly so. ->C+3T)-2 3nd he ought to act and train! and eat and drink in the way which seems good to his single master who has understanding! rather than according to the opinion of all other men put togetherJ C+#T>2 True. ->C+3T)-2 3nd if he disobeys and disregards the opinion and approval of the one! and regards the opinion of the many who have no understanding! will he not suffer evilJ C+#T>2 Certainly he will. ->C+3T)-2 3nd what will the evil be! whither tending and what affecting! in the disobedient personJ C+#T>2 Clearly! affecting the bodyF that is what is destroyed by the evil. ->C+3T)-2 (ery goodF and is not this true! Crito! of other things which we need not separately enumerateJ #n Iuestions of just and unjust! fair and foul! good and evil! which are the subjects of our present consultation! ought we to follow the opinion of the many and to fear themF or the opinion of the one man who has understandingJ ought we not to fear and reverence him more than all the rest of the world2 and if we desert him shall we not destroy and injure that principle in us which may be assumed to be improved by justice and deteriorated by injusticeKthere is such a principleJ C+#T>2 Certainly there is! -ocrates. ->C+3T)-2 Take a parallel instance2Kif! acting under the advice of those who have no understanding! we destroy that which is improved by

health and is deteriorated by disease! would life be worth havingJ 3nd that which has been destroyed isKthe bodyJ C+#T>2 $es. ->C+3T)-2 Could we live! having an evil and corrupted bodyJ C+#T>2 Certainly not. ->C+3T)-2 3nd will life be worth having! if that higher part of man be destroyed! which is improved by justice and depraved by injusticeJ Do we suppose that principle! whatever it may be in man! which has to do with justice and injustice! to be inferior to the bodyJ C+#T>2 Certainly not. ->C+3T)-2 4ore honourable than the bodyJ C+#T>2 'ar more. ->C+3T)-2 Then! my friend! we must not regard what the many say of usF but what he! the one man who has understanding of just and unjust! will say! and what the truth will say. 3nd therefore you begin in error when you advise that we should regard the opinion of the many about just and unjust! good and evil! honourable and dishonourable.KG&ell!H someone will say! Gbut the many can kill us.H C+#T>2 $es! -ocratesF that will clearly be the answer. ->C+3T)-2 3nd it is trueF but still # find with surprise that the old argument is unshaken as ever. 3nd # should like to know whether # may say the same of another propositionKthat not life! but a good life! is to be chiefly valuedJ C+#T>2 $es! that also remains unshaken. ->C+3T)-2 3nd a good life is eIuivalent to a just and honourable one Kthat holds alsoJ C+#T>2 $es! it does.

->C+3T)-2 'rom these premises # proceed to argue the Iuestion whether # ought or ought not to try and escape without the consent of the 3thenians2 and if # am clearly right in escaping! then # will make the attemptF but if not! # will abstain. The other considerations which you mention! of money and loss of character and the duty of educating oneHs children! are! # fear! only the doctrines of the multitude! who would be as ready to restore people to life! if they were able! as they are to put them to deathKand with as little reason. But now! since the argument has thus far prevailed! the only Iuestion which remains to be considered is whether we shall do rightly either in escaping or in suffering others to aid in our escape and paying them in money and thanks! or whether in reality we shall not do rightlyF and if the latter! then death or any other calamity which may ensue on my remaining here must not be allowed to enter into the calculation. C+#T>2 # think that you are right! -ocratesF how then shall we proceedJ ->C+3T)-2 :et us consider the matter together! and do you either refute me if you can! and # will be convincedF or else cease! my dear friend! from repeating to me that # ought to escape against the wishes of the 3thenians2 for # highly value your attempts to persuade me to do so! but # may not be persuaded against my own better judgment. 3nd now please to consider my first position! and try how you can best answer me. C+#T>2 # will. ->C+3T)-2 3re we to say that we are never intentionally to do wrong! or that in one way we ought and in another way we ought not to do wrong! or is doing wrong always evil and dishonourable! as # was just now saying! and as has been already acknowledged by usJ 3re all our former admissions which were made within a few days to be thrown awayJ 3nd have we! at our age! been earnestly discoursing with one another all our life long only to discover that we are no better than childrenJ >r! in spite of the opinion of the many! and in spite of conseIuences whether better or worse! shall we insist on the truth of what was then said! that injustice is always an evil and dishonour to him who acts unjustlyJ -hall we say so or notJ C+#T>2 $es. ->C+3T)-2 Then we must do no wrongJ C+#T>2 Certainly not.

->C+3T)-2 Cor! when injured! injure in return! as the many imagineF for we must injure no one at allJ 7 C+#T>2 Clearly not. ->C+3T)-2 3gain! Crito! may we do evilJ C+#T>2 -urely not! -ocrates. ->C+3T)-2 3nd what of doing evil in return for evil! which is the morality of the manyKis that just or notJ C+#T>2 Cot just. ->C+3T)-2 'or doing evil to another is the same as injuring himJ C+#T>2 (ery true. ->C+3T)-2 Then we ought not to retaliate or render evil for evil to anyone! whatever evil we may have suffered from him. But # would have you consider! Crito! whether you really mean what you are saying. 'or this opinion has never been held! and never will be held! by any considerable number of personsF and those who are agreed and those who are not agreed upon this point have no common ground! and can only despise one another when they see how widely they differ. Tell me! then! whether you agree with and assent to my first principle! that neither injury nor retaliation nor warding off evil by evil is ever right. 3nd shall that be the premise of our argumentJ >r do you decline and dissent from thisJ 'or so # have ever thought! and continue to thinkF but! if you are of another opinion! let me hear what you have to say. #f! however! you remain of the same mind as formerly! # will proceed to the ne*t step. C+#T>2 $ou may proceed! for # have not changed my mind. ->C+3T)-2 Then # will go on to the ne*t point! which may be put in the form of a Iuestion2K>ught a man to do what he admits to be right! or ought he to betray the rightJ C+#T>2 ,e ought to do what he thinks right.

->C+3T)-2 But if this is true! what is the applicationJ #n leaving the prison against the will of the 3thenians! do # wrong anyJ or rather do # not wrong those whom # ought least to wrongJ Do # not desert the principles which were acknowledged by us to be justKwhat do you sayJ C+#T>2 # cannot tell! -ocratesF for # do not know. ->C+3T)-2 Then consider the matter in this way2K#magine that # am about to play truant Myou may call the proceeding by any name which you likeN! and the laws and the government come and interrogate me2 GTell us! -ocrates!H they sayF Gwhat are you aboutJ are you not going by an act of yours to overturn usKthe laws! and the whole state! as far as in you liesJ Do you imagine that a state can subsist and not be overthrown! in which the decisions of law have no power! but are set aside and trampled upon by individualsJH &hat will be our answer! Crito! to these and the like wordsJ 3nyone! and especially a rhetorician! will have a good deal to say on behalf of the law which reIuires a sentence to be carried out. ,e will argue that this law should not be set asideF and shall we reply! G$esF but the state has injured us and given an unjust sentence.H -uppose # say thatJ C+#T>2 (ery good! -ocrates. ->C+3T)-2 G3nd was that our agreement with youJH the law would answerF Gor were you to abide by the sentence of the stateJH 3nd if # were to e*press my astonishment at their words! the law would probably add2 G3nswer! -ocrates! instead of opening your eyesKyou are in the habit of asking and answering Iuestions. Tell us!K&hat complaint have you to make against us which justifies you in attempting to destroy us and the stateJ #n the first place did we not bring you into e*istenceJ $our father married your mother by our aid and begat you. -ay whether you have any objection to urge against those of us who regulate marriageJH Cone! # should reply. G>r against those of us who after birth regulate the nurture and education of children! in which you also were trainedJ &ere not the laws! which have the charge of education! right in commanding your father to train you in music and gymnasticJH +ight! # should reply. G&ell then! since you were brought into the world and nurtured and educated by us! can you deny in the first place that you are our child and slave! as your fathers were before youJ 3nd if this is true you are not on eIual terms with usF nor can you think that you have a right to do to us what we are doing to you. &ould you have any right to strike or revile or do any other evil to your father or your master!

if you had one! because you have been struck or reviled by him! or received some other evil at his handsJ $ou would not say this. 3nd because we think right to destroy you! do you think that you have any right to destroy us in return! and your country as far as in you liesJ &ill you! > professor of true virtue! pretend that you are justified in thisJ ,as a philosopher like you failed to discover that our country is more to be valued and higher and holier far than mother or father or any ancestor! and more to be regarded in the eyes of the gods and of men of understandingJ also to be soothed! and gently and reverently entreated when angry! even more than a father! and either to be persuaded! or if not persuaded! to be obeyedJ 3nd when we are punished by her! whether with imprisonment or stripes! the punishment is to be endured in silenceF and if she lead us to wounds or death in battle! thither we follow as is rightF neither may anyone yield or retreat or leave his rank! but whether in battle or in a court of law! or in any other place! he must do what his city and his country order himF or he must change their view of what is just2 and if he may do no violence to his father or mother! much less may he do violence to his country.H &hat answer shall we make to this! CritoJ Do the laws speak truly! or do they notJ C+#T>2 # think that they do. ->C+3T)-2 Then the laws will say2 GConsider! -ocrates! if we are speaking truly that in your present attempt you are going to do us an injury. 'or! having brought you into the world! and nurtured and educated you! and given you and every other citiEen a share in every good which we had to give! we further proclaim to any 3thenian by the liberty which we allow him! that if he does not like us when he has become of age and has seen the ways of the city! and made our acIuaintance! he may go where he pleases and take his goods with him. Cone of us laws will forbid him or interfere with him. 3nyone who does not like us and the city! and who wants to emigrate to a colony or to any other city! may go where he likes! retaining his property. But he who has e*perience of the manner in which we order justice and administer the state! and still remains! has entered into an implied contract that he will do as we command him. 3nd he who disobeys us is! as we maintain! thrice wrongF first! because in disobeying us he is disobeying his parentsF secondly! because we are the authors of his educationF thirdly! because he has made an agreement with us that he will duly obey our commandsF and he neither obeys them nor convinces us that our commands are unjustF and we do not rudely impose them! but give him the alternative of obeying or convincing usFKthat is what we offer! and he does neither.

These are the sort of accusations to which! as we were saying! you! -ocrates! will be e*posed if you accomplish your intentionsF you! above all other 3thenians.H -uppose now # ask! why # rather than anybody elseJ they will justly retort upon me that # above all other men have acknowledged the agreement. GThere is clear proof!H they will say! G-ocrates! that we and the city were not displeasing to you. >f all 3thenians you have been the most constant resident in the city! which! as you never leave! you may be supposed to love. 0 'or you never went out of the city either to see the games! e*cept once when you went to the #sthmus! or to any other place unless when you were on military serviceF nor did you travel as other men do. Cor had you any curiosity to know other states or their laws2 your affections did not go beyond us and our stateF we were your especial favourites! and you acIuiesced in our government of youF and here in this city you begat your children! which is a proof of your satisfaction. 4oreover! you might in the course of the trial! if you had liked! have fi*ed the penalty at banishmentF the state which refuses to let you go now would have let you go then. But you pretended that you preferred death to e*ile! @ and that you were not unwilling to die. 3nd now you have forgotten these fine sentiments! and pay no respect to us the laws! of whom you are the destroyerF and are doing what only a miserable slave would do! running away and turning your back upon the compacts and agreements which you made as a citiEen. 3nd first of all answer this very Iuestion2 3re we right in saying that you agreed to be governed according to us in deed! and not in word onlyJ #s that true or notJH ,ow shall we answer! CritoJ 4ust we not assentJ C+#T>2 &e cannot help it! -ocrates. ->C+3T)-2 Then will they not say2 G$ou! -ocrates! are breaking the covenants and agreements which you made with us at your leisure! not in any haste or under any compulsion or deception! but after you have had seventy years to think of them! during which time you were at liberty to leave the city! if we were not to your mind! or if our covenants appeared to you to be unfair. $ou had your choice! and might have gone either to :acedaemon or Crete! both which states are often praised by you for their good government! or to some other ,ellenic or foreign state. &hereas you! above all other 3thenians! seemed to be so fond of the state! or! in other words! of us! her laws Mand who would care about a state which has no lawsJN! that you never stirred out of herF the halt! the blind! the maimed were

not more stationary in her than you were. 3nd now you run away and forsake your agreements. Cot so! -ocrates! if you will take our adviceF do not make yourself ridiculous by escaping out of the city. G'or just consider! if you transgress and err in this sort of way! what good will you do either to yourself or to your friendsJ That your friends will be driven into e*ile and deprived of citiEenship! or will lose their property! is tolerably certainF and you yourself! if you fly to one of the neighbouring cities! as! for e*ample! Thebes or 4egara! both of which are well governed! will come to them as an enemy! -ocrates! and their government will be against you! and all patriotic citiEens will cast an evil eye upon you as a subverter of the laws! and you will confirm in the minds of the judges the justice of their own condemnation of you. 'or he who is a corrupter of the laws is more than likely to be a corrupter of the young and foolish portion of mankind. &ill you then flee from well?ordered cities and virtuous menJ and is e*istence worth having on these termsJ >r will you go to them without shame! and talk to them! -ocratesJ 3nd what will you say to themJ &hat you say here about virtue and justice and institutions and laws being the best things among menJ &ould that be decent of youJ -urely not. But if you go away from well?governed states to CritoHs friends in Thessaly! where there is great disorder and licence! they will be charmed to hear the tale of your escape from prison! set off with ludicrous particulars of the manner in which you were wrapped in a goatskin or some other disguise! and metamorphosed as the manner is of runawaysF but will there be no one to remind you that in your old age you were not ashamed to violate the most sacred laws from a miserable desire of a little more lifeJ Perhaps not! if you keep them in a good temperF but if they are out of temper you will hear many degrading thingsF you will live! but howJKas the flatterer of all men! and the servant of all menF and doing whatJKeating and drinking in Thessaly! having gone abroad in order that you may get a dinner. 3nd where will be your fine sentiments about justice and virtueJ -ay that you wish to live for the sake of your childrenKyou want to bring them up and educate themKwill you take them into Thessaly and deprive them of 3thenian citiEenshipJ #s this the benefit which you will confer upon themJ >r are you under the impression that they will be better cared for and educated here if you are still alive! although absent from themF for your friends will take care of themJ Do you fancy that if you are an inhabitant of Thessaly they will take care of them! and if you are an inhabitant of the other world that they will not take care of themJ CayF but if they who call themselves friends are good for anything! they willKto be sure they will.

G:isten! then! -ocrates! to us who have brought you up. Think not of life and children first! and of justice afterwards! but of justice first! that you may be justified before the princes of the world below. 'or neither will you nor any that belong to you be happier or holier or juster in this life! or happier in another! if you do as Crito bids. Cow you depart in innocence! a sufferer and not a doer of evilF a victim! not of the laws! but of men. But if you go forth! returning evil for evil! and injury for injury! breaking the covenants and agreements which you have made with us! and wronging those whom you ought least of all to wrong! that is to say! yourself! your friends! your country! and us! we shall be angry with you while you live! and our brethren! the laws in the world below! will receive you as an enemyF for they will know that you have done your best to destroy us. :isten! then! to us and not to Crito.H This! dear Crito! is the voice which # seem to hear murmuring in my ears! like the sound of the flute in the ears of the mysticF that voice! # say! is humming in my ears! and prevents me from hearing any other. 3nd # know that anything more which you may say will be vain. $et speak! if you have anything to say. C+#T>2 # have nothing to say! -ocrates. ->C+3T)-2 :eave me then! Crito! to fulfil the will of God! and to follow whither he leads. .. ;. =. L. 8. 7. 0. @. Cp. Apology -ee -ee ,omer! Cp. Cp. Cp. Cp. Prose Iliad! Phaedrus Works #O Apology Apology Republic Phaedrus

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