Plato, Apology, 29a - 29e start

[29α] δεινόν τἂν εἴη, καὶ ὡς ἀληθῶς τότ᾽ ἄν με δικαίως εἰσάγοι τις εἰς δικαστήριον, ὅτι οὐ νομίζω θεοὺς εἶναι ἀπειθῶν τῇ μαντείᾳ καὶ δεδιὼς θάνατον καὶ οἰόμενος σοφὸς εἶναι οὐκ ὤν. τὸ γάρ τοι θάνατον δεδιέναι, ὦ ἄνδρες, οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἐστὶν ἢ δοκεῖν σοφὸν εἶναι μὴ ὄντα: δοκεῖν γὰρ εἰδέναι ἐστὶν ἃ οὐκ οἶδεν. οἶδε μὲν γὰρ οὐδεὶς τὸν θάνατον οὐδ᾽ εἰ τυγχάνει τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ πάντων μέγιστον ὂν τῶν ἀγαθῶν, δεδίασι δ᾽ ὡς εὖ εἰδότες

It would be terrible, as truly then if someone accuses me justly in the lawcourt, that I don't believe gods exist, being disobedient to the prophecy and fearing death and considering myself to be wise while not being. For to fear death indeed, O men, is nothing other than to think to be wise while not being: for to think to know is what one does not know. For no one knows death, if whether it chances to be greatest of all goods to man, but they fear [it] as though knowing

[29β] ὅτι μέγιστον τῶν κακῶν ἐστι. καίτοι πῶς οὐκ ἀμαθία ἐστὶν αὕτη ἡ ἐπονείδιστος, ἡ τοῦ οἴεσθαι εἰδέναι ἃ οὐκ οἶδεν; ἐγὼ δ᾽, ὦ ἄνδρες, τούτῳ καὶ ἐνταῦθα ἴσως διαφέρω τῶν πολλῶν ἀνθρώπων, καὶ εἰ δή τῳ σοφώτερός του φαίην εἶναι, τούτῳ ἄν, ὅτι οὐκ εἰδὼς ἱκανῶς περὶ τῶν ἐν Ἅιδου οὕτω καὶ οἴομαι οὐκ εἰδέναι: τὸ δὲ ἀδικεῖν καὶ ἀπειθεῖν τῷ βελτίονι καὶ θεῷ καὶ ἀνθρώπῳ, ὅτι κακὸν καὶ αἰσχρόν ἐστιν οἶδα. πρὸ οὖν τῶν κακῶν ὧν οἶδα ὅτι κακά ἐστιν, ἃ μὴ οἶδα εἰ καὶ ἀγαθὰ ὄντα τυγχάνει οὐδέποτε φοβήσομαι οὐδὲ φεύξομαι: ὥστε οὐδ᾽ εἴ

that it was greatest of evils. And indeed how much this ignorance is reprehensible, of considering one knows what one does not know? And I, O men, in this and from this thing perhaps I differ from many other people, and if indeed I appear to be wiser than someone, in this, that not knowing sufficiently concerning the things in Hades in this way and I don't think I know: but [I think] I do wrong even to disobey the better one either a god or a man, that it is wrong and shameful I know. So concerning the evil things which I know that are evil, which I do not know whether they happen to be good or bad, never I will fear nor flee: so that neither if

[29ξ] με νῦν ὑμεῖς ἀφίετε Ἀνύτῳ ἀπιστήσαντες, ὃς ἔφη ἢ τὴν ἀρχὴν οὐ δεῖν ἐμὲ δεῦρο εἰσελθεῖν ἤ, ἐπειδὴ εἰσῆλθον, οὐχ οἷόν τ᾽ εἶναι τὸ μὴ ἀποκτεῖναί με, λέγων πρὸς ὑμᾶς ὡς εἰ διαφευξοίμην ἤδη ἂν ὑμῶν οἱ ὑεῖς ἐπιτηδεύοντες ἃ Σωκράτης διδάσκει πάντες παντάπασι διαφθαρήσονται, —εἴ μοι πρὸς ταῦτα εἴποιτε: ‘ὦ Σώκρατες, νῦν μὲν Ἀνύτῳ οὐ πεισόμεθα ἀλλ᾽ ἀφίεμέν σε, ἐπὶ τούτῳ μέντοι, ἐφ᾽ ᾧτε μηκέτι ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ ζητήσει διατρίβειν μηδὲ φιλοσοφεῖν: ἐὰν δὲ ’

you set me free now, disbelieving Anytos, who said that either it is not necessary to bring me in here or, since I was brought in, not to consider it be not possible not to kill me, saying to you that if I were not already fleeing, your sons practicing the things which Socrates teaches all men will be altogether destroyed utterly - if to me concerning these things you were to say, "O Socrates, we are not persuaded by Anytos but we will release you, on this thing however, on which no longer in this search [you are] to waste time or to philosophise: but if

‘[29δ] ἁλῷς ἔτι τοῦτο πράττων, ἀποθανῇ’ —εἰ οὖν με, ὅπερ εἶπον, ἐπὶ τούτοις ἀφίοιτε, εἴποιμ᾽ ἂν ὑμῖν ὅτι ‘ἐγὼ ὑμᾶς, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ἀσπάζομαι μὲν καὶ φιλῶ, πείσομαι δὲ μᾶλλον τῷ θεῷ ἢ ὑμῖν, καὶ ἕωσπερ ἂν ἐμπνέω καὶ οἷός τε ὦ, οὐ μὴ παύσωμαι φιλοσοφῶν καὶ ὑμῖν παρακελευόμενός τε καὶ ἐνδεικνύμενος ὅτῳ ἂν ἀεὶ ἐντυγχάνω ὑμῶν, λέγων οἷάπερ εἴωθα, ὅτι ‘ὦ ἄριστε ἀνδρῶν, Ἀθηναῖος ὤν, πόλεως τῆς μεγίστης καὶ εὐδοκιμωτάτης εἰς σοφίαν καὶ ἰσχύν, χρημάτων μὲν οὐκ αἰσχύνῃ ἐπιμελούμενος ὅπως σοι ἔσται ὡς πλεῖστα, ’’

you should be taken still practicing this, you'll die," - so if you release me, as you'd say, on these conditions, I'd say to you that, "I embrace you, O Athenian me, and I love you, but I will rather obey the god than you, and as long as I can breathe, I won't cease from loving wisdom and encouraging you and pointing out to you to anyone of you with whom I meet always, saying just as I'm accustomed, that, "O best of men, being Athenian, the greatest city and the best-famed in wisdom and might, are you not ashamed to attend to riches in such a manner as will be to you greatest,

‘‘ [29ε] καὶ δόξης καὶ τιμῆς, φρονήσεως δὲ καὶ ἀληθείας καὶ τῆς ψυχῆς ὅπως ὡς βελτίστη ἔσται οὐκ ἐπιμελῇ οὐδὲ φροντίζεις;’

and glory and honour, when for purpose and for truth and for the soul in the manner as best it will be, you neither care nor consider?"

she may have forsaken some other like me

So, today I climbed. In terms of physical recovery, I'm much improved from last week, and at about the right level of strength/ability for where I should be after nine months either irregular or off climbing.

(The total: two 5s, one 4(twice), one 6A, half of two other 6As - which are now my projects until I actually succeed in not falling off.)

There's a mini-gym-triathlon in ten days. I've signed up for that. I need a lot of training to get the stamina back... and meanwhile, I need to turn a review of Sharps in for Vector, sort my thesis priorities into some sort of order, figure out how to allocate time for my Greek study - modern and ancient - and rough out some more column pieces.

In my copious free time, I'm sure I'll figure out how I'm going to get all the other things that need doing done.

Towards thee I roll, thou all-destroying but unconquering whale; to the last I grapple with thee; from hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee.

Books 2012: also, have I told you about HUNTED?

Books 2012: 202-204


202. Marie Brennan, Lies and Prophecy. The Book View Café, 2012. Ebook.

An entertaining, if lightweight, quasi-urban college fantasy. Were it not that it comes from Brennan, I would praise it more highly - but when Brennan's on top of her game, she makes her material shine so much more brightly than this, so that what from many others would be a laudable effort seems instead on the disappointing side.

Merely a good book, where I expected a better one. But recommended, nonetheless.


203. Kelly McCullough, Bared Blade. Ace, 2012.

Thieves and spies and assassins do politics! In a fantasy city. Sequel to Broken Blade: undemanding light entertainment in one of my preferred fantasy modes.


204. K.J. Parker, Sharps. Orbit, 2012. Review copy courtesy of Vector.

An interesting book, and a competent one, but one which - it is my feeling - tries too hard to have too many twisty complicated things going at once, and does not signal well enough which of the complicated things are resolved or recomplicated by which actions.

I enjoyed it while reading it, but I am middling-eh about it now. Should think more before writing it up proper.

---

So, Hunted. Have I mentioned it to you before? It is a most excellent, understated, brilliantly shot BBC/American collaboration directed by SJ Clarkson and starring Melissa George. I've watched the first three episodes, and it is the best damn espionage television I've seen to date. Better than Spooks. Better than the first season of the new Nikita, which I loved. Better than The Fixer, with which it shares an understated, almost poetic grace of visual expression. Acres better than Alias or Undercovers or Homeland. It is gorgeously shot, and superbly directed - long, slow stretches of mounting quiet tension erupt into brief flashes of visceral, physically real violence; emotional tension isn't angsty, isn't diffuse; the visual palette is beautiful; the acting is understated and affecting. George is astonishingly believable in the role of Sam Hunter, and the rest of the casting is perfectly apt.

I ordered the DVD boxset on the strength of the first episode. I never do that. It's brilliant. Go and watch it. Seriously.