The Apology

The Apology by Xenophon is given in a translation by H. G. Dakyns. An introductory note says Xenophon the Athenian was born in 431 B.C., was a pupil of Socrates, marched with the Spartans, was exiled from Athens, lived at Scillus and later Corinth, and died in 354 B.C. It adds that he was away at the time, involved in the march of the ten thousand.

The text, headed The Apology of Socrates, says Socrates took counsel with himself about his defence and about the ending of his life, and had come to regard death as preferable to life for himself. It reports Hermogenes, son of Hipponicus, asking whether he ought not to be thinking of his defence, and Socrates answering that he had spent his whole life doing nothing wrong. In another passage Socrates says he has not sacrificed to new divinities in place of Zeus and Hera, and asks how he could corrupt the young by teaching manliness and frugality. Footnotes cite Plato and other ancient writers.