Antiphon, On the Choreutes, ed. Kenneth John Maidment, 34

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[34] On the first day, the day of the boy’s death, and on the second, when the body was laid out, not even the prosecution themselves thought of accusing me of having played any kind of criminal part in the accident: on the contrary, they avoided neither meeting me nor speaking to me.¹ It was only on the third day, the day of the boy’s burial, that they yielded to my enemies and set about bringing a charge and proclaiming me to be under the usual disabilities.² Now who was it who instigated them? And what reason had those others for wanting to do such a thing? I must enlighten you on these further points.

On the Choreutes. Antiphon. ed. Kenneth John Maidment. London. 1941.

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Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Perseus

On the Choreutes (English) (Antiphon. Minor Attic Orators, Vol. 1. Maidment, Kenneth John, translator. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1941 (printing); 1960 (reprint).)

Editions (1)

Περὶ τοῦ χορευτοῦ Perseus (Antiphon. Minor Attic Orators, Vol. 1. Maidment, Kenneth John, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1941 (printing); 1960 (reprint).) — 34 focus

[34] οὗτοι γὰρ τῇ μὲν πρώτῃ ἡμέρᾳ ᾗ ἀπέθανεν ὁ παῖς, καὶ τῇ ὑστεραίᾳ¹ ᾗ προέκειτο, οὐδʼ αὐτοὶ ἠξίουν αἰτιᾶσθαι ἐμὲ [οὐδʼ]² ἀδικεῖν ἐν τῷ πράγματι τούτῳ οὐδέν, ἀλλὰ συνῆσαν ἐμοὶ καὶ διελέγοντο· τῇ δὲ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ ᾗ ἐξεφέρετο ὁ παῖς, ταύτῃ δὴ πεπεισμένοι ἦσάν [τινες]³ ὑπὸ τῶν ἐχθρῶν τῶν ἐμῶν, καὶ παρεσκευάζοντο αἰτιᾶσθαι καὶ προαγορεύειν εἴργεσθαι τῶν νομίμων. τίνες οὖν ἦσαν οἱ πείσαντες αὐτούς; καὶ τίνος ἕνεκα καὶ πρόθυμοι ἐγένοντο πεῖσαι αὐτούς; δεῖ γάρ με καὶ ταῦτα ὑμᾶς διδάξαι.

Notes on the current edition

On the Choreutes

1. The force of συνῆσαν καὶ διελέγοντο can be best conveyed by a negative. The implication is, of course, that had the prosecution believed the speaker guilty, they would have avoided all contact with him for fear of being tainted with the μίασμα which rested on him. Cf. Antiph. 2.1.10 .

2. τὸ εἴργεσθαι τῶν νομίμων was the immediate consequence of a πρόρρησις. A suspected murderer had to withdraw from intercourse with his fellows until his innocence had been established or his guilt expiated. Cf. Herodes, Introduction.

Antiphon On the Choreutes 34

ed. Kenneth John Maidment

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