Ἐκ κατηγορίας ὃ ὕστερος

[1] ἥ τε ἀτυχία ἀδικεῖται ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ, ἣν προϊστάμενος τῆς κακουργίας ἀφανίσαι τὴν αὑτοῦ μιαρίαν ζητεῖ· ὑπό τε ὑμῶν οὐκ ἄξιος ἐλεεῖσθαί ἐστιν, ἀκούσιον μὲν τῷ παθόντι περιθεὶς τὴν συμφοράν, ἑκουσίως δὲ αὐτὸς εἰς τοὺς κινδύνους καταστάς. ὡς μὲν οὖν ἀπέκτεινε τὸν ἄνδρα, ἐν τῷ προτέρῳ λόγῳ ἀπεδείξαμεν· ὡς δὲ οὐκ ὀρθῶς ἀπελογήθη, νῦν πειρασόμεθα ἐλέγχοντες.

[2] εἴτε γὰρ προσιόντας τινὰς προϊδόντες οἱ ἀποκτείναντες αὐτοὺς ἀπολιπόντες ᾤχοντο φεύγοντες πρότερον ἢ ἀπέδυσαν, οἱ ἐντυχόντες ἂν αὐτοῖς,¹ εἰ καὶ τὸν δεσπότην τεθνεῶτα ηὗρον, τόν γε θεράποντα,² ὃς ἔμπνους ἀρθεὶς ἐμαρτύρει³, ἔτι ἔμφρονα εὑρόντες, σαφῶς ἀνακρίναντες τοὺς ἐργασαμένους ἤγγειλαν ἂν ἡμῖν, καὶ οὐχ οὗτος ἂν τὴν αἰτίαν εἶχεν· εἴτε ἄλλοι τινὲς ἕτερόν τι τοιοῦτον κακουργοῦντες ὀφθέντες ὑπʼ αὐτῶν, ἵνα μὴ γνωσθῶσι διέφθειραν αὐτούς, ἅμα τῷ τούτων φόνῳ τὸ κακούργημα ἂν ἐκηρύσσετο καὶ εἰς τούτους ἂν ἡ ὑποψία ἧκεν.

[3] οἵ τε ἧσσον κινδυνεύοντες τῶν μᾶλλον ἐν φόβῳ ὄντων οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅπως ἂν μᾶλλον ἐπεβούλευσαν αὐτῷ· τοὺς μὲν γὰρ ὅ τε φόβος ἥ τε ἀδικία ἱκανὴ ἦν παῦσαι τῆς προμηθίας, τοῖς δὲ ὅ τε κίνδυνος ἥ τε αἰσχύνη μείζων οὖσα τῆς διαφορᾶς, εἰ καὶ διενοήθησαν ταῦτα πρᾶξαι, ἀρκοῦσα ἦν σωφρονίσαι τὸ θυμούμενον τῆς γνώμης.

[4] οὐκ ὀρθῶς δὲ τὴν τοῦ ἀκολούθου μαρτυρίαν ἄπιστον λέγουσιν εἶναι. οὐ γὰρ ἐπὶ ταῖς τοιαύταις μαρτυρίαις βασανίζονται, ἀλλʼ ἐλεύθεροι ἀφίενται· ὁπόταν δὲ ἢ κλέψαντες ἀπαρνῶνται ἢ συγκρύπτωσι τοῖς δεσπόταις, τότε βασανίζοντες ἀξιοῦμεν τἀληθῆ λέγειν αὐτούς.

[5] οὐδὲ μὴν ἀπογενέσθαι ἢ παραγενέσθαι εἰκότερον αὐτόν ἐστιν. εἰ γὰρ ἀπεγένετο, τὸν μὲν κίνδυνον τὸν αὐτὸν ἔμελλε καὶ παρὼν κινδυνεύειν—πᾶς γὰρ αὐτῶν ληφθεὶς τοῦτον ἂν τὸν ἐπιβουλεύσαντα ἤλεγχεν ὄντα—τὸ δʼ ἔργον ἧσσον πράσσειν· οὐδεὶς γὰρ ὅστις τῶν παρόντων οὐκ ἂν ὀκνηρότερος εἰς τὴν πρᾶξιν ἦν.

[6] ὡς δʼ οὐκ ἐλάσσω ἀλλὰ πολὺ μείζω τὸν ἀπὸ τῆς γραφῆς κίνδυνον ἢ τόνδε ἡγεῖτο εἶναι, διδάξω. τὸ μὲν ἁλῶναι καὶ ἀποφυγεῖν ἀμφοτέρας τὰς διώξεις ἐν ἴσαις ἐλπίσι θῶμεν αὐτῷ εἶναι. μὴ παραχθῆναι δὲ τὴν γραφὴν οὐδεμίαν ἐλπίδα εἶχε τούτου γε ζῶντος· οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἐπείθετο αὐτῷ· εἰς⁴ δὲ τόνδε τὸν ἀγῶνα⁵ ἥξειν οὐκ ἤλπισε· λήσειν γὰρ ἐδόκει ἀποκτείνας αὐτόν.

[7] ἀξιῶν δὲ διὰ τὸ φανερὰν εἶναι τὴν ὑποψίαν αὐτῷ μὴ καταδοκεῖσθαι ὑφʼ ὑμῶν, οὐκ ὀρθῶς ἀξιοῖ. εἰ γὰρ⁶ τοῦτον ἐν τοῖς μεγίστοις κινδύνοις ὄντα ἱκανὴ ἦν ἡ ὑποψία ἀποτρέψαι⁷ τῆς ἐπιθέσεως, οὐδείς γʼ ἂν⁸ ἐπεβούλευσεν αὐτῷ· πᾶς γὰρ ἄν τις τῶν ἧσσον κινδυνευόντων, τὴν ὑποψίαν μᾶλλον τοῦ κινδύνου φοβούμενος, ἧσσον ἢ οὗτος ἐπέθετο⁹ αὐτῷ.

[8] αἱ δʼ εἰσφοραὶ καὶ χορηγίαι εὐδαιμονίας μὲν ἱκανὸν σημεῖόν ἐστι, τοῦ δὲ μὴ ἀποκτεῖναι τἀναντία· περὶ γὰρ αὐτῆς τῆς εὐδαιμονίας τρέμων μὴ ἀποστερηθῇ, εἰκότως μὲν ἀνοσίως δὲ ἀπέκτεινε¹⁰ τὸν ἄνδρα. φάσκων δὲ οὐ τοὺς εἰκότως ἀλλʼ ὄντως¹¹ ἀποκτείναντας φονέας εἶναι, περὶ μὲν τῶν ἀποκτεινάντων ὀρθῶς λέγει, εἴπερ ἐγένετο φανερὸν ἡμῖν τίνες ἦσαν οἱ ἀποκτείναντες αὐτόν· μὴ δεδηλωμένων δὲ τῶν ἀποκτεινάντων, ὑπὸ τῶν εἰκότων ἐλεγχόμενος οὗτος ἂν καὶ οὐδεὶς ἕτερος ὁ¹² ἀποκτείνας αὐτὸν εἴη. οὐ γὰρ ἐπὶ¹³ μαρτύρων ἀλλὰ κρυπτόμενα πράσσεται τὰ τοιαῦτα.

[9] οὕτω δὲ φανερῶς ἐκ τῆς αὑτοῦ ἀπολογίας ἐλεγχθεὶς διαφθείρας αὐτόν, οὐδὲν ἕτερον ὑμῶν δεῖται ἢ τὴν αὑτοῦ μιαρίαν εἰς ὑμᾶς αὐτοὺς ἐκτρέψαι. ἡμεῖς δὲ ὑμῶν δεόμεθα μὲν οὐδέν, λέγομεν δʼ ὑμῖν, εἰ μήτε ἐκ τῶν εἰκότων μήτε ἐκ τῶν μαρτυρουμένων οὗτος νῦν ἐλέγχεται, οὐκ ἔστιν ἔτι τῶν διωκομένων ἔλεγχος οὐδείς.

[10] σαφῆ μὲν γὰρ τὸν θάνατον γιγνώσκοντες, φανερῶς δὲ τὰ ἴχνη τῆς ὑποψίας εἰς τοῦτον φέροντα, πιστῶς δὲ τοῦ ἀκολούθου μαρτυροῦντος, πῶς ἂν δικαίως ἀπολύοιτε αὐτόν; ἀδίκως δʼ ἀπολυομένου τούτου ὑφʼ ὑμῶν, ἡμῖν μὲν προστρόπαιος ὁ ἀποθανὼν οὐκ ἔσται, ὑμῖν δὲ ἐνθύμιος γενήσεται.¹⁴

[11] ταῦτα οὖν εἰδότες βοηθεῖτε μὲν τῷ ἀποθανόντι, τιμωρεῖσθε δὲ τὸν ἀποκτείναντα, ἁγνεύετε δὲ τὴν πόλιν. τρία γὰρ ἀγαθὰ πράξετε· ἐλάσσους μὲν τοὺς ἐπιβουλεύοντας καταστήσετε, πλείους δὲ τοὺς τὴν εὐσέβειαν ἐπιτηδεύοντας, ἀπολύσεσθε¹⁵ δʼ αὐτοὶ τῆς ὑπὲρ τούτου μιαρίας.

Second Speech for the Prosecution

[1] It is an outrage to misfortune that he should use it to cloak his crime, in the hope of concealing his defilement. Neither does he deserve your pity¹ he did not consult his victim’s wishes² in bringing doom upon him: whereas he did consult his own before exposing himself to danger. We proved in our first speech that he is the murderer; we shall now endeavor to show by examination that his defense was unsound.

[2] Assume that the murderers hurried off, leaving their victims before they had stripped them, because they noticed the approach of passers-by. Then even if the persons who came upon them found the master dead, they would have found the slave still conscious, as he was picked up alive and gave evidence. They would have questioned him closely and have informed us who the criminals were; so that the defendant would not have been accused. Or assume, on the other hand, that others, who had been seen by the two committing some similar outrage, had murdered them to keep the matter dark. Then news of that outrage would have been published at the same time as the news of the present murder, and suspicion would have fallen on those concerned in it.

[3] Again, how persons whose position was not so serious should have plotted against the dead man sooner than persons who had more to fear, I fail to understand. The fears and sense of injury of the second were enough to put an end to caution; whereas with the first the risk and disgrace involved, to which their resentment could not blind them, were sufficient to sober the anger in their hearts, even if they had intended to do the deed.

[4] The defense are wrong when they say that the evidence of the slave is not to be trusted; where evidence of this sort is concerned, slaves are not tortured; they are given their freedom. It is when they deny a theft or conspire with their masters to keep silence that we believe them to tell the truth only under torture.³

[5] Again, the probabilities are not in favor of his having been absent from the scene of the crime rather than present at it. In remaining absent he was going to run the same risks as he would run if present, as any of his confederates if caught would have shown that it was he who had originated the plot. And not only that; he was going to dispatch the business on hand less satisfactorily, as not one of the criminals taking part would have felt the same enthusiasm for the deed.

[6] Further, he did not believe the danger threatened by the indictment to be less serious than that in which he now stands, but much more so, as I will prove to you. Let us assume that his expectations of conviction or acquittal were the same in the one suit as in the other.⁴ Now he had no hope of the indictment being dropped as long as his enemy was alive; his entreaties would never have been listened to. But he did not, on the other hand, expect to be involved in the present trial, as he thought that he could commit the murder without being found out.

[7] Again, in claiming an acquittal on the ground that he could foresee that he would be suspected, he is arguing falsely. If the defendant, whose position was desperate could be deterred from violence by the knowledge that suspicion would fall on himself, nobody at all would have planned the crime. Every one who stood in less danger than he would have been more frightened by the certainty of being suspected than by that danger, and would therefore have been less ready than he to use violence.

[8] His contributions to the Treasury and his provision of choruses may be satisfactory evidence of his wealth; but they are anything but evidence of his innocence. It was precisely his fear of losing his wealth which drove him to commit the murder; though an unscrupulous crime, it was to be expected of him. He objects that murderers are not those who were to be expected to commit murder, but those who actually did so. Now he would be quite right, provided that those who did commit it were known to us; but as they are not, proof must be based on what was to be expected; and that shows that the defendant, and the defendant alone, is the murderer. Crimes of this kind are committed in secret, not in front of witnesses.

[9] As he has been proved guilty of the murder so conclusively from his own defense, he is simply asking you to transfer his own defilement to yourselves. We make no requests; we merely remind you that if neither inferences from probability nor the evidence of witnesses prove the defendant guilty today, there remains no means of proving any defendant guilty.

[10] As you see, there is no doubt about the circumstances of the murder; suspicion points plainly to the defendant;⁵ and the evidence of the slave is to be trusted so how can you in fairness acquit him? And if you acquit him unfairly, it is not upon us that the dead man’s curse will lie; it is upon you that he will bring disquiet.⁶

[11] So with this in mind come to the victim’s aid, punish his murderer, and cleanse the city. Do this, and you will do three beneficial things; you will reduce the number of deliberate criminals; you will increase that of the godfearing; and you will yourselves be rid of the defilement which rests upon you in the defendant’s name.

Antiphon The First Tetralogy 3

ed. Kenneth John Maidment

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Ἐκ κατηγορίας ὃ ὕστερος

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Second Speech for the Prosecution

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