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The only external evidence to them which is of +much value is that of Aristotle; for the Alexandrian catalogues of a +century later include manifest forgeries. Even the value of the +Aristotelian authority is a good deal impaired by the uncertainty +concerning the date and authorship of the writings which are ascribed to +him. And several of the citations of Aristotle omit the name of Plato, and +some of them omit the name of the dialogue from which they are taken. +Prior, however, to the enquiry about the writings of a particular author, +general considerations which equally affect all evidence to the genuineness +of ancient writings are the following: Shorter works are more likely to +have been forged, or to have received an erroneous designation, than longer +ones; and some kinds of composition, such as epistles or panegyrical +orations, are more liable to suspicion than others; those, again, which +have a taste of sophistry in them, or the ring of a later age, or the +slighter character of a rhetorical exercise, or in which a motive or some +affinity to spurious writings can be detected, or which seem to have +originated in a name or statement really occurring in some classical +author, are also of doubtful credit; while there is no instance of any +ancient writing proved to be a forgery, which combines excellence with +length. A really great and original writer would have no object in +fathering his works on Plato; and to the forger or imitator, the 'literary +hack' of Alexandria and Athens, the Gods did not grant originality or +genius. Further, in attempting to balance the evidence for and against a +Platonic dialogue, we must not forget that the form of the Platonic writing +was common to several of his contemporaries. Aeschines, Euclid, Phaedo, +Antisthenes, and in the next generation Aristotle, are all said to have +composed dialogues; and mistakes of names are very likely to have occurred. +Greek literature in the third century before Christ was almost as +voluminous as our own, and without the safeguards of regular publication, +or printing, or binding, or even of distinct titles. An unknown writing +was naturally attributed to a known writer whose works bore the same +character; and the name once appended easily obtained authority. A +tendency may also be observed to blend the works and opinions of the master +with those of his scholars. To a later Platonist, the difference between +Plato and his imitators was not so perceptible as to ourselves. The +Memorabilia of Xenophon and the Dialogues of Plato are but a part of a +considerable Socratic literature which has passed away. And we must +consider how we should regard the question of the genuineness of a +particular writing, if this lost literature had been preserved to us. + +These considerations lead us to adopt the following criteria of +genuineness: (1) That is most certainly Plato's which Aristotle attributes +to him by name, which (2) is of considerable length, of (3) great +excellence, and also (4) in harmony with the general spirit of the Platonic +writings. But the testimony of Aristotle cannot always be distinguished +from that of a later age (see above); and has various degrees of +importance. Those writings which he cites without mentioning Plato, under +their own names, e.g. the Hippias, the Funeral Oration, the Phaedo, etc., +have an inferior degree of evidence in their favour. They may have been +supposed by him to be the writings of another, although in the case of +really great works, e.g. the Phaedo, this is not credible; those again +which are quoted but not named, are still more defective in their external +credentials. There may be also a possibility that Aristotle was mistaken, +or may have confused the master and his scholars in the case of a short +writing; but this is inconceivable about a more important work, e.g. the +Laws, especially when we remember that he was living at Athens, and a +frequenter of the groves of the Academy, during the last twenty years of +Plato's life. Nor must we forget that in all his numerous citations from +the Platonic writings he never attributes any passage found in the extant +dialogues to any one but Plato. And lastly, we may remark that one or two +great writings, such as the Parmenides and the Politicus, which are wholly +devoid of Aristotelian (1) credentials may be fairly attributed to Plato, +on the ground of (2) length, (3) excellence, and (4) accordance with the +general spirit of his writings. Indeed the greater part of the evidence +for the genuineness of ancient Greek authors may be summed up under two +heads only: (1) excellence; and (2) uniformity of tradition--a kind of +evidence, which though in many cases sufficient, is of inferior value. + +Proceeding upon these principles we appear to arrive at the conclusion that +nineteen-twentieths of all the writings which have ever been ascribed to +Plato, are undoubtedly genuine. There is another portion of them, +including the Epistles, the Epinomis, the dialogues rejected by the +ancients themselves, namely, the Axiochus, De justo, De virtute, Demodocus, +Sisyphus, Eryxias, which on grounds, both of internal and external +evidence, we are able with equal certainty to reject. But there still +remains a small portion of which we are unable to affirm either that they +are genuine or spurious. They may have been written in youth, or possibly +like the works of some painters, may be partly or wholly the compositions +of pupils; or they may have been the writings of some contemporary +transferred by accident to the more celebrated name of Plato, or of some +Platonist in the next generation who aspired to imitate his master. Not +that on grounds either of language or philosophy we should lightly reject +them. Some difference of style, or inferiority of execution, or +inconsistency of thought, can hardly be considered decisive of their +spurious character. For who always does justice to himself, or who writes +with equal care at all times? Certainly not Plato, who exhibits the +greatest differences in dramatic power, in the formation of sentences, and +in the use of words, if his earlier writings are compared with his later +ones, say the Protagoras or Phaedrus with the Laws. Or who can be expected +to think in the same manner during a period of authorship extending over +above fifty years, in an age of great intellectual activity, as well as of +political and literary transition? Certainly not Plato, whose earlier +writings are separated from his later ones by as wide an interval of +philosophical speculation as that which separates his later writings from +Aristotle. + +The dialogues which have been translated in the first Appendix, and which +appear to have the next claim to genuineness among the Platonic writings, +are the Lesser Hippias, the Menexenus or Funeral Oration, the First +Alcibiades. Of these, the Lesser Hippias and the Funeral Oration are cited +by Aristotle; the first in the Metaphysics, the latter in the Rhetoric. +Neither of them are expressly attributed to Plato, but in his citation of +both of them he seems to be referring to passages in the extant dialogues. +From the mention of 'Hippias' in the singular by Aristotle, we may perhaps +infer that he was unacquainted with a second dialogue bearing the same +name. Moreover, the mere existence of a Greater and Lesser Hippias, and of +a First and Second Alcibiades, does to a certain extent throw a doubt upon +both of them. Though a very clever and ingenious work, the Lesser Hippias +does not appear to contain anything beyond the power of an imitator, who +was also a careful student of the earlier Platonic writings, to invent. +The motive or leading thought of the dialogue may be detected in Xen. Mem., +and there is no similar instance of a 'motive' which is taken from Xenophon +in an undoubted dialogue of Plato. On the other hand, the upholders of the +genuineness of the dialogue will find in the Hippias a true Socratic +spirit; they will compare the Ion as being akin both in subject and +treatment; they will urge the authority of Aristotle; and they will detect +in the treatment of the Sophist, in the satirical reasoning upon Homer, in +the reductio ad absurdum of the doctrine that vice is ignorance, traces of +a Platonic authorship. In reference to the last point we are doubtful, as +in some of the other dialogues, whether the author is asserting or +overthrowing the paradox of Socrates, or merely following the argument +'whither the wind blows.' That no conclusion is arrived at is also in +accordance with the character of the earlier dialogues. The resemblances +or imitations of the Gorgias, Protagoras, and Euthydemus, which have been +observed in the Hippias, cannot with certainty be adduced on either side of +the argument. On the whole, more may be said in favour of the genuineness +of the Hippias than against it. + +The Menexenus or Funeral Oration is cited by Aristotle, and is interesting +as supplying an example of the manner in which the orators praised 'the +Athenians among the Athenians,' falsifying persons and dates, and casting a +veil over the gloomier events of Athenian history. It exhibits an +acquaintance with the funeral oration of Thucydides, and was, perhaps, +intended to rival that great work. If genuine, the proper place of the +Menexenus would be at the end of the Phaedrus. The satirical opening and +the concluding words bear a great resemblance to the earlier dialogues; the +oration itself is professedly a mimetic work, like the speeches in the +Phaedrus, and cannot therefore be tested by a comparison of the other +writings of Plato. The funeral oration of Pericles is expressly mentioned +in the Phaedrus, and this may have suggested the subject, in the same +manner that the Cleitophon appears to be suggested by the slight mention of +Cleitophon and his attachment to Thrasymachus in the Republic; and the +Theages by the mention of Theages in the Apology and Republic; or as the +Second Alcibiades seems to be founded upon the text of Xenophon, Mem. A +similar taste for parody appears not only in the Phaedrus, but in the +Protagoras, in the Symposium, and to a certain extent in the Parmenides. + +To these two doubtful writings of Plato I have added the First Alcibiades, +which, of all the disputed dialogues of Plato, has the greatest merit, and +is somewhat longer than any of them, though not verified by the testimony +of Aristotle, and in many respects at variance with the Symposium in the +description of the relations of Socrates and Alcibiades. Like the Lesser +Hippias and the Menexenus, it is to be compared to the earlier writings of +Plato. The motive of the piece may, perhaps, be found in that passage of +the Symposium in which Alcibiades describes himself as self-convicted by +the words of Socrates. For the disparaging manner in which Schleiermacher +has spoken of this dialogue there seems to be no sufficient foundation. At +the same time, the lesson imparted is simple, and the irony more +transparent than in the undoubted dialogues of Plato. We know, too, that +Alcibiades was a favourite thesis, and that at least five or six dialogues +bearing this name passed current in antiquity, and are attributed to +contemporaries of Socrates and Plato. (1) In the entire absence of real +external evidence (for the catalogues of the Alexandrian librarians cannot +be regarded as trustworthy); and (2) in the absence of the highest marks +either of poetical or philosophical excellence; and (3) considering that we +have express testimony to the existence of contemporary writings bearing +the name of Alcibiades, we are compelled to suspend our judgment on the +genuineness of the extant dialogue. + +Neither at this point, nor at any other, do we propose to draw an absolute +line of demarcation between genuine and spurious writings of Plato. They +fade off imperceptibly from one class to another. There may have been +degrees of genuineness in the dialogues themselves, as there are certainly +degrees of evidence by which they are supported. The traditions of the +oral discourses both of Socrates and Plato may have formed the basis of +semi-Platonic writings; some of them may be of the same mixed character +which is apparent in Aristotle and Hippocrates, although the form of them +is different. But the writings of Plato, unlike the writings of Aristotle, +seem never to have been confused with the writings of his disciples: this +was probably due to their definite form, and to their inimitable +excellence. The three dialogues which we have offered in the Appendix to +the criticism of the reader may be partly spurious and partly genuine; they +may be altogether spurious;--that is an alternative which must be frankly +admitted. Nor can we maintain of some other dialogues, such as the +Parmenides, and the Sophist, and Politicus, that no considerable objection +can be urged against them, though greatly overbalanced by the weight +(chiefly) of internal evidence in their favour. Nor, on the other hand, +can we exclude a bare possibility that some dialogues which are usually +rejected, such as the Greater Hippias and the Cleitophon, may be genuine. +The nature and object of these semi-Platonic writings require more careful +study and more comparison of them with one another, and with forged +writings in general, than they have yet received, before we can finally +decide on their character. We do not consider them all as genuine until +they can be proved to be spurious, as is often maintained and still more +often implied in this and similar discussions; but should say of some of +them, that their genuineness is neither proven nor disproven until further +evidence about them can be adduced. And we are as confident that the +Epistles are spurious, as that the Republic, the Timaeus, and the Laws are +genuine. + +On the whole, not a twentieth part of the writings which pass under the +name of Plato, if we exclude the works rejected by the ancients themselves +and two or three other plausible inventions, can be fairly doubted by those +who are willing to allow that a considerable change and growth may have +taken place in his philosophy (see above). That twentieth debatable +portion scarcely in any degree affects our judgment of Plato, either as a +thinker or a writer, and though suggesting some interesting questions to +the scholar and critic, is of little importance to the general reader. + + +MENEXENUS + +by + +Plato (see Appendix I above) + +Translated by Benjamin Jowett + + +INTRODUCTION. + +The Menexenus has more the character of a rhetorical exercise than any +other of the Platonic works. The writer seems to have wished to emulate +Thucydides, and the far slighter work of Lysias. In his rivalry with the +latter, to whom in the Phaedrus Plato shows a strong antipathy, he is +entirely successful, but he is not equal to Thucydides. The Menexenus, +though not without real Hellenic interest, falls very far short of the +rugged grandeur and political insight of the great historian. The fiction +of the speech having been invented by Aspasia is well sustained, and is in +the manner of Plato, notwithstanding the anachronism which puts into her +mouth an allusion to the peace of Antalcidas, an event occurring forty +years after the date of the supposed oration. But Plato, like Shakespeare, +is careless of such anachronisms, which are not supposed to strike the mind +of the reader. The effect produced by these grandiloquent orations on +Socrates, who does not recover after having heard one of them for three +days and more, is truly Platonic. + +Such discourses, if we may form a judgment from the three which are extant +(for the so-called Funeral Oration of Demosthenes is a bad and spurious +imitation of Thucydides and Lysias), conformed to a regular type. They +began with Gods and ancestors, and the legendary history of Athens, to +which succeeded an almost equally fictitious account of later times. The +Persian war usually formed the centre of the narrative; in the age of +Isocrates and Demosthenes the Athenians were still living on the glories of +Marathon and Salamis. The Menexenus veils in panegyric the weak places of +Athenian history. The war of Athens and Boeotia is a war of liberation; +the Athenians gave back the Spartans taken at Sphacteria out of kindness-- +indeed, the only fault of the city was too great kindness to their enemies, +who were more honoured than the friends of others (compare Thucyd., which +seems to contain the germ of the idea); we democrats are the aristocracy of +virtue, and the like. These are the platitudes and falsehoods in which +history is disguised. The taking of Athens is hardly mentioned. + +The author of the Menexenus, whether Plato or not, is evidently intending +to ridicule the practice, and at the same time to show that he can beat the +rhetoricians in their own line, as in the Phaedrus he may be supposed to +offer an example of what Lysias might have said, and of how much better he +might have written in his own style. The orators had recourse to their +favourite loci communes, one of which, as we find in Lysias, was the +shortness of the time allowed them for preparation. But Socrates points +out that they had them always ready for delivery, and that there was no +difficulty in improvising any number of such orations. To praise the +Athenians among the Athenians was easy,--to praise them among the +Lacedaemonians would have been a much more difficult task. Socrates +himself has turned rhetorician, having learned of a woman, Aspasia, the +mistress of Pericles; and any one whose teachers had been far inferior to +his own--say, one who had learned from Antiphon the Rhamnusian--would be +quite equal to the task of praising men to themselves. When we remember +that Antiphon is described by Thucydides as the best pleader of his day, +the satire on him and on the whole tribe of rhetoricians is transparent. + +The ironical assumption of Socrates, that he must be a good orator because +he had learnt of Aspasia, is not coarse, as Schleiermacher supposes, but is +rather to be regarded as fanciful. Nor can we say that the offer of +Socrates to dance naked out of love for Menexenus, is any more un-Platonic +than the threat of physical force which Phaedrus uses towards Socrates. +Nor is there any real vulgarity in the fear which Socrates expresses that +he will get a beating from his mistress, Aspasia: this is the natural +exaggeration of what might be expected from an imperious woman. Socrates +is not to be taken seriously in all that he says, and Plato, both in the +Symposium and elsewhere, is not slow to admit a sort of Aristophanic +humour. How a great original genius like Plato might or might not have +written, what was his conception of humour, or what limits he would have +prescribed to himself, if any, in drawing the picture of the Silenus +Socrates, are problems which no critical instinct can determine. + +On the other hand, the dialogue has several Platonic traits, whether +original or imitated may be uncertain. Socrates, when he departs from his +character of a 'know nothing' and delivers a speech, generally pretends +that what he is speaking is not his own composition. Thus in the Cratylus +he is run away with; in the Phaedrus he has heard somebody say something-- +is inspired by the genius loci; in the Symposium he derives his wisdom from +Diotima of Mantinea, and the like. But he does not impose on Menexenus by +his dissimulation. Without violating the character of Socrates, Plato, who +knows so well how to give a hint, or some one writing in his name, +intimates clearly enough that the speech in the Menexenus like that in the +Phaedrus is to be attributed to Socrates. The address of the dead to the +living at the end of the oration may also be compared to the numerous +addresses of the same kind which occur in Plato, in whom the dramatic +element is always tending to prevail over the rhetorical. The remark has +been often made, that in the Funeral Oration of Thucydides there is no +allusion to the existence of the dead. But in the Menexenus a future state +is clearly, although not strongly, asserted. + +Whether the Menexenus is a genuine writing of Plato, or an imitation only, +remains uncertain. In either case, the thoughts are partly borrowed from +the Funeral Oration of Thucydides; and the fact that they are so, is not in +favour of the genuineness of the work. Internal evidence seems to leave +the question of authorship in doubt. There are merits and there are +defects which might lead to either conclusion. The form of the greater +part of the work makes the enquiry difficult; the introduction and the +finale certainly wear the look either of Plato or of an extremely skilful +imitator. The excellence of the forgery may be fairly adduced as an +argument that it is not a forgery at all. In this uncertainty the express +testimony of Aristotle, who quotes, in the Rhetoric, the well-known words, +'It is easy to praise the Athenians among the Athenians,' from the Funeral +Oration, may perhaps turn the balance in its favour. It must be remembered +also that the work was famous in antiquity, and is included in the +Alexandrian catalogues of Platonic writings. + + +MENEXENUS + +by + +Plato (see Appendix I above) + +Translated by Benjamin Jowett + + +PERSONS OF THE DIALOGUE: Socrates and Menexenus. + + +SOCRATES: Whence come you, Menexenus? Are you from the Agora? + +MENEXENUS: Yes, Socrates; I have been at the Council. + +SOCRATES: And what might you be doing at the Council? And yet I need +hardly ask, for I see that you, believing yourself to have arrived at the +end of education and of philosophy, and to have had enough of them, are +mounting upwards to things higher still, and, though rather young for the +post, are intending to govern us elder men, like the rest of your family, +which has always provided some one who kindly took care of us. + +MENEXENUS: Yes, Socrates, I shall be ready to hold office, if you allow +and advise that I should, but not if you think otherwise. I went to the +council chamber because I heard that the Council was about to choose some +one who was to speak over the dead. For you know that there is to be a +public funeral? + +SOCRATES: Yes, I know. And whom did they choose? + +MENEXENUS: No one; they delayed the election until tomorrow, but I believe +that either Archinus or Dion will be chosen. + +SOCRATES: O Menexenus! Death in battle is certainly in many respects a +noble thing. The dead man gets a fine and costly funeral, although he may +have been poor, and an elaborate speech is made over him by a wise man who +has long ago prepared what he has to say, although he who is praised may +not have been good for much. The speakers praise him for what he has done +and for what he has not done--that is the beauty of them--and they steal +away our souls with their embellished words; in every conceivable form they +praise the city; and they praise those who died in war, and all our +ancestors who went before us; and they praise ourselves also who are still +alive, until I feel quite elevated by their laudations, and I stand +listening to their words, Menexenus, and become enchanted by them, and all +in a moment I imagine myself to have become a greater and nobler and finer +man than I was before. And if, as often happens, there are any foreigners +who accompany me to the speech, I become suddenly conscious of having a +sort of triumph over them, and they seem to experience a corresponding +feeling of admiration at me, and at the greatness of the city, which +appears to them, when they are under the influence of the speaker, more +wonderful than ever. This consciousness of dignity lasts me more than +three days, and not until the fourth or fifth day do I come to my senses +and know where I am; in the meantime I have been living in the Islands of +the Blest. Such is the art of our rhetoricians, and in such manner does +the sound of their words keep ringing in my ears. + +MENEXENUS: You are always making fun of the rhetoricians, Socrates; this +time, however, I am inclined to think that the speaker who is chosen will +not have much to say, for he has been called upon to speak at a moment's +notice, and he will be compelled almost to improvise. + +SOCRATES: But why, my friend, should he not have plenty to say? Every +rhetorician has speeches ready made; nor is there any difficulty in +improvising that sort of stuff. Had the orator to praise Athenians among +Peloponnesians, or Peloponnesians among Athenians, he must be a good +rhetorician who could succeed and gain credit. But there is no difficulty +in a man's winning applause when he is contending for fame among the +persons whom he is praising. + +MENEXENUS: Do you think not, Socrates? + +SOCRATES: Certainly 'not.' + +MENEXENUS: Do you think that you could speak yourself if there should be a +necessity, and if the Council were to choose you? + +SOCRATES: That I should be able to speak is no great wonder, Menexenus, +considering that I have an excellent mistress in the art of rhetoric,--she +who has made so many good speakers, and one who was the best among all the +Hellenes--Pericles, the son of Xanthippus. + +MENEXENUS: And who is she? I suppose that you mean Aspasia. + +SOCRATES: Yes, I do; and besides her I had Connus, the son of Metrobius, +as a master, and he was my master in music, as she was in rhetoric. No +wonder that a man who has received such an education should be a finished +speaker; even the pupil of very inferior masters, say, for example, one who +had learned music of Lamprus, and rhetoric of Antiphon the Rhamnusian, +might make a figure if he were to praise the Athenians among the Athenians. + +MENEXENUS: And what would you be able to say if you had to speak? + +SOCRATES: Of my own wit, most likely nothing; but yesterday I heard +Aspasia composing a funeral oration about these very dead. For she had +been told, as you were saying, that the Athenians were going to choose a +speaker, and she repeated to me the sort of speech which he should deliver, +partly improvising and partly from previous thought, putting together +fragments of the funeral oration which Pericles spoke, but which, as I +believe, she composed. + +MENEXENUS: And can you remember what Aspasia said? + +SOCRATES: I ought to be able, for she taught me, and she was ready to +strike me because I was always forgetting. + +MENEXENUS: Then why will you not rehearse what she said? + +SOCRATES: Because I am afraid that my mistress may be angry with me if I +publish her speech. + +MENEXENUS: Nay, Socrates, let us have the speech, whether Aspasia's or any +one else's, no matter. I hope that you will oblige me. + +SOCRATES: But I am afraid that you will laugh at me if I continue the +games of youth in old age. + +MENEXENUS: Far otherwise, Socrates; let us by all means have the speech. + +SOCRATES: Truly I have such a disposition to oblige you, that if you bid +me dance naked I should not like to refuse, since we are alone. Listen +then: If I remember rightly, she began as follows, with the mention of the +dead:-- (Thucyd.) + +There is a tribute of deeds and of words. The departed have already had +the first, when going forth on their destined journey they were attended on +their way by the state and by their friends; the tribute of words remains +to be given to them, as is meet and by law ordained. For noble words are a +memorial and a crown of noble actions, which are given to the doers of them +by the hearers. A word is needed which will duly praise the dead and +gently admonish the living, exhorting the brethren and descendants of the +departed to imitate their virtue, and consoling their fathers and mothers +and the survivors, if any, who may chance to be alive of the previous +generation. What sort of a word will this be, and how shall we rightly +begin the praises of these brave men? In their life they rejoiced their +own friends with their valour, and their death they gave in exchange for +the salvation of the living. And I think that we should praise them in the +order in which nature made them good, for they were good because they were +sprung from good fathers. Wherefore let us first of all praise the +goodness of their birth; secondly, their nurture and education; and then +let us set forth how noble their actions were, and how worthy of the +education which they had received. + +And first as to their birth. Their ancestors were not strangers, nor are +these their descendants sojourners only, whose fathers have come from +another country; but they are the children of the soil, dwelling and living +in their own land. And the country which brought them up is not like other +countries, a stepmother to her children, but their own true mother; she +bore them and nourished them and received them, and in her bosom they now +repose. It is meet and right, therefore, that we should begin by praising +the land which is their mother, and that will be a way of praising their +noble birth. + +The country is worthy to be praised, not only by us, but by all mankind; +first, and above all, as being dear to the Gods. This is proved by the +strife and contention of the Gods respecting her. And ought not the +country which the Gods praise to be praised by all mankind? The second +praise which may be fairly claimed by her, is that at the time when the +whole earth was sending forth and creating diverse animals, tame and wild, +she our mother was free and pure from savage monsters, and out of all +animals selected and brought forth man, who is superior to the rest in +understanding, and alone has justice and religion. And a great proof that +she brought forth the common ancestors of us and of the departed, is that +she provided the means of support for her offspring. For as a woman proves +her motherhood by giving milk to her young ones (and she who has no +fountain of milk is not a mother), so did this our land prove that she was +the mother of men, for in those days she alone and first of all brought +forth wheat and barley for human food, which is the best and noblest +sustenance for man, whom she regarded as her true offspring. And these are +truer proofs of motherhood in a country than in a woman, for the woman in +her conception and generation is but the imitation of the earth, and not +the earth of the woman. And of the fruit of the earth she gave a plenteous +supply, not only to her own, but to others also; and afterwards she made +the olive to spring up to be a boon to her children, and to help them in +their toils. And when she had herself nursed them and brought them up to +manhood, she gave them Gods to be their rulers and teachers, whose names +are well known, and need not now be repeated. They are the Gods who first +ordered our lives, and instructed us in the arts for the supply of our +daily needs, and taught us the acquisition and use of arms for the defence +of the country. + +Thus born into the world and thus educated, the ancestors of the departed +lived and made themselves a government, which I ought briefly to +commemorate. For government is the nurture of man, and the government of +good men is good, and of bad men bad. And I must show that our ancestors +were trained under a good government, and for this reason they were good, +and our contemporaries are also good, among whom our departed friends are +to be reckoned. Then as now, and indeed always, from that time to this, +speaking generally, our government was an aristocracy--a form of government +which receives various names, according to the fancies of men, and is +sometimes called democracy, but is really an aristocracy or government of +the best which has the approval of the many. For kings we have always had, +first hereditary and then elected, and authority is mostly in the hands of +the people, who dispense offices and power to those who appear to be most +deserving of them. Neither is a man rejected from weakness or poverty or +obscurity of origin, nor honoured by reason of the opposite, as in other +states, but there is one principle--he who appears to be wise and good is a +governor and ruler. The basis of this our government is equality of birth; +for other states are made up of all sorts and unequal conditions of men, +and therefore their governments are unequal; there are tyrannies and there +are oligarchies, in which the one party are slaves and the others masters. +But we and our citizens are brethren, the children all of one mother, and +we do not think it right to be one another's masters or servants; but the +natural equality of birth compels us to seek for legal equality, and to +recognize no superiority except in the reputation of virtue and wisdom. + +And so their and our fathers, and these, too, our brethren, being nobly +born and having been brought up in all freedom, did both in their public +and private capacity many noble deeds famous over the whole world. They +were the deeds of men who thought that they ought to fight both against +Hellenes for the sake of Hellenes on behalf of freedom, and against +barbarians in the common interest of Hellas. Time would fail me to tell of +their defence of their country against the invasion of Eumolpus and the +Amazons, or of their defence of the Argives against the Cadmeians, or of +the Heracleids against the Argives; besides, the poets have already +declared in song to all mankind their glory, and therefore any +commemoration of their deeds in prose which we might attempt would hold a +second place. They already have their reward, and I say no more of them; +but there are other worthy deeds of which no poet has worthily sung, and +which are still wooing the poet's muse. Of these I am bound to make +honourable mention, and shall invoke others to sing of them also in lyric +and other strains, in a manner becoming the actors. And first I will tell +how the Persians, lords of Asia, were enslaving Europe, and how the +children of this land, who were our fathers, held them back. Of these I +will speak first, and praise their valour, as is meet and fitting. He who +would rightly estimate them should place himself in thought at that time, +when the whole of Asia was subject to the third king of Persia. The first +king, Cyrus, by his valour freed the Persians, who were his countrymen, and +subjected the Medes, who were their lords, and he ruled over the rest of +Asia, as far as Egypt; and after him came his son, who ruled all the +accessible part of Egypt and Libya; the third king was Darius, who extended +the land boundaries of the empire to Scythia, and with his fleet held the +sea and the islands. None presumed to be his equal; the minds of all men +were enthralled by him--so many and mighty and warlike nations had the +power of Persia subdued. Now Darius had a quarrel against us and the +Eretrians, because, as he said, we had conspired against Sardis, and he +sent 500,000 men in transports and vessels of war, and 300 ships, and Datis +as commander, telling him to bring the Eretrians and Athenians to the king, +if he wished to keep his head on his shoulders. He sailed against the +Eretrians, who were reputed to be amongst the noblest and most warlike of +the Hellenes of that day, and they were numerous, but he conquered them all +in three days; and when he had conquered them, in order that no one might +escape, he searched the whole country after this manner: his soldiers, +coming to the borders of Eretria and spreading from sea to sea, joined +hands and passed through the whole country, in order that they might be +able to tell the king that no one had escaped them. And from Eretria they +went to Marathon with a like intention, expecting to bind the Athenians in +the same yoke of necessity in which they had bound the Eretrians. Having +effected one-half of their purpose, they were in the act of attempting the +other, and none of the Hellenes dared to assist either the Eretrians or the +Athenians, except the Lacedaemonians, and they arrived a day too late for +the battle; but the rest were panic-stricken and kept quiet, too happy in +having escaped for a time. He who has present to his mind that conflict +will know what manner of men they were who received the onset of the +barbarians at Marathon, and chastened the pride of the whole of Asia, and +by the victory which they gained over the barbarians first taught other men +that the power of the Persians was not invincible, but that hosts of men +and the multitude of riches alike yield to valour. And I assert that those +men are the fathers not only of ourselves, but of our liberties and of the +liberties of all who are on the continent, for that was the action to which +the Hellenes looked back when they ventured to fight for their own safety +in the battles which ensued: they became disciples of the men of Marathon. +To them, therefore, I assign in my speech the first place, and the second +to those who fought and conquered in the sea fights at Salamis and +Artemisium; for of them, too, one might have many things to say--of the +assaults which they endured by sea and land, and how they repelled them. I +will mention only that act of theirs which appears to me to be the noblest, +and which followed that of Marathon and came nearest to it; for the men of +Marathon only showed the Hellenes that it was possible to ward off the +barbarians by land, the many by the few; but there was no proof that they +could be defeated by ships, and at sea the Persians retained the reputation +of being invincible in numbers and wealth and skill and strength. This is +the glory of the men who fought at sea, that they dispelled the second +terror which had hitherto possessed the Hellenes, and so made the fear of +numbers, whether of ships or men, to cease among them. And so the soldiers +of Marathon and the sailors of Salamis became the schoolmasters of Hellas; +the one teaching and habituating the Hellenes not to fear the barbarians at +sea, and the others not to fear them by land. Third in order, for the +number and valour of the combatants, and third in the salvation of Hellas, +I place the battle of Plataea. And now the Lacedaemonians as well as the +Athenians took part in the struggle; they were all united in this greatest +and most terrible conflict of all; wherefore their virtues will be +celebrated in times to come, as they are now celebrated by us. But at a +later period many Hellenic tribes were still on the side of the barbarians, +and there was a report that the great king was going to make a new attempt +upon the Hellenes, and therefore justice requires that we should also make +mention of those who crowned the previous work of our salvation, and drove +and purged away all barbarians from the sea. These were the men who fought +by sea at the river Eurymedon, and who went on the expedition to Cyprus, +and who sailed to Egypt and divers other places; and they should be +gratefully remembered by us, because they compelled the king in fear for +himself to look to his own safety instead of plotting the destruction of +Hellas. + +And so the war against the barbarians was fought out to the end by the +whole city on their own behalf, and on behalf of their countrymen. There +was peace, and our city was held in honour; and then, as prosperity makes +men jealous, there succeeded a jealousy of her, and jealousy begat envy, +and so she became engaged against her will in a war with the Hellenes. On +the breaking out of war, our citizens met the Lacedaemonians at Tanagra, +and fought for the freedom of the Boeotians; the issue was doubtful, and +was decided by the engagement which followed. For when the Lacedaemonians +had gone on their way, leaving the Boeotians, whom they were aiding, on the +third day after the battle of Tanagra, our countrymen conquered at +Oenophyta, and righteously restored those who had been unrighteously +exiled. And they were the first after the Persian war who fought on behalf +of liberty in aid of Hellenes against Hellenes; they were brave men, and +freed those whom they aided, and were the first too who were honourably +interred in this sepulchre by the state. Afterwards there was a mighty +war, in which all the Hellenes joined, and devastated our country, which +was very ungrateful of them; and our countrymen, after defeating them in a +naval engagement and taking their leaders, the Spartans, at Sphagia, when +they might have destroyed them, spared their lives, and gave them back, and +made peace, considering that they should war with the fellow-countrymen +only until they gained a victory over them, and not because of the private +anger of the state destroy the common interest of Hellas; but that with +barbarians they should war to the death. Worthy of praise are they also +who waged this war, and are here interred; for they proved, if any one +doubted the superior prowess of the Athenians in the former war with the +barbarians, that their doubts had no foundation--showing by their victory +in the civil war with Hellas, in which they subdued the other chief state +of the Hellenes, that they could conquer single-handed those with whom they +had been allied in the war against the barbarians. After the peace there +followed a third war, which was of a terrible and desperate nature, and in +this many brave men who are here interred lost their lives--many of them +had won victories in Sicily, whither they had gone over the seas to fight +for the liberties of the Leontines, to whom they were bound by oaths; but, +owing to the distance, the city was unable to help them, and they lost +heart and came to misfortune, their very enemies and opponents winning more +renown for valour and temperance than the friends of others. Many also +fell in naval engagements at the Hellespont, after having in one day taken +all the ships of the enemy, and defeated them in other naval engagements. +And what I call the terrible and desperate nature of the war, is that the +other Hellenes, in their extreme animosity towards the city, should have +entered into negotiations with their bitterest enemy, the king of Persia, +whom they, together with us, had expelled;--him, without us, they again +brought back, barbarian against Hellenes, and all the hosts, both of +Hellenes and barbarians, were united against Athens. And then shone forth +the power and valour of our city. Her enemies had supposed that she was +exhausted by the war, and our ships were blockaded at Mitylene. But the +citizens themselves embarked, and came to the rescue with sixty other +ships, and their valour was confessed of all men, for they conquered their +enemies and delivered their friends. And yet by some evil fortune they +were left to perish at sea, and therefore are not interred here. Ever to +be remembered and honoured are they, for by their valour not only that sea- +fight was won for us, but the entire war was decided by them, and through +them the city gained the reputation of being invincible, even though +attacked by all mankind. And that reputation was a true one, for the +defeat which came upon us was our own doing. We were never conquered by +others, and to this day we are still unconquered by them; but we were our +own conquerors, and received defeat at our own hands. Afterwards there was +quiet and peace abroad, but there sprang up war at home; and, if men are +destined to have civil war, no one could have desired that his city should +take the disorder in a milder form. How joyful and natural was the +reconciliation of those who came from the Piraeus and those who came from +the city; with what moderation did they order the war against the tyrants +in Eleusis, and in a manner how unlike what the other Hellenes expected! +And the reason of this gentleness was the veritable tie of blood, which +created among them a friendship as of kinsmen, faithful not in word only, +but in deed. And we ought also to remember those who then fell by one +another's hands, and on such occasions as these to reconcile them with +sacrifices and prayers, praying to those who have power over them, that +they may be reconciled even as we are reconciled. For they did not attack +one another out of malice or enmity, but they were unfortunate. And that +such was the fact we ourselves are witnesses, who are of the same race with +them, and have mutually received and granted forgiveness of what we have +done and suffered. After this there was perfect peace, and the city had +rest; and her feeling was that she forgave the barbarians, who had severely +suffered at her hands and severely retaliated, but that she was indignant +at the ingratitude of the Hellenes, when she remembered how they had +received good from her and returned evil, having made common cause with the +barbarians, depriving her of the ships which had once been their salvation, +and dismantling our walls, which had preserved their own from falling. She +thought that she would no longer defend the Hellenes, when enslaved either +by one another or by the barbarians, and did accordingly. This was our +feeling, while the Lacedaemonians were thinking that we who were the +champions of liberty had fallen, and that their business was to subject the +remaining Hellenes. And why should I say more? for the events of which I +am speaking happened not long ago and we can all of us remember how the +chief peoples of Hellas, Argives and Boeotians and Corinthians, came to +feel the need of us, and, what is the greatest miracle of all, the Persian +king himself was driven to such extremity as to come round to the opinion, +that from this city, of which he was the destroyer, and from no other, his +salvation would proceed. + +And if a person desired to bring a deserved accusation against our city, he +would find only one charge which he could justly urge--that she was too +compassionate and too favourable to the weaker side. And in this instance +she was not able to hold out or keep her resolution of refusing aid to her +injurers when they were being enslaved, but she was softened, and did in +fact send out aid, and delivered the Hellenes from slavery, and they were +free until they afterwards enslaved themselves. Whereas, to the great king +she refused to give the assistance of the state, for she could not forget +the trophies of Marathon and Salamis and Plataea; but she allowed exiles +and volunteers to assist him, and they were his salvation. And she +herself, when she was compelled, entered into the war, and built walls and +ships, and fought with the Lacedaemonians on behalf of the Parians. Now +the king fearing this city and wanting to stand aloof, when he saw the +Lacedaemonians growing weary of the war at sea, asked of us, as the price +of his alliance with us and the other allies, to give up the Hellenes in +Asia, whom the Lacedaemonians had previously handed over to him, he +thinking that we should refuse, and that then he might have a pretence for +withdrawing from us. About the other allies he was mistaken, for the +Corinthians and Argives and Boeotians, and the other states, were quite +willing to let them go, and swore and covenanted, that, if he would pay +them money, they would make over to him the Hellenes of the continent, and +we alone refused to give them up and swear. Such was the natural nobility +of this city, so sound and healthy was the spirit of freedom among us, and +the instinctive dislike of the barbarian, because we are pure Hellenes, +having no admixture of barbarism in us. For we are not like many others, +descendants of Pelops or Cadmus or Egyptus or Danaus, who are by nature +barbarians, and yet pass for Hellenes, and dwell in the midst of us; but we +are pure Hellenes, uncontaminated by any foreign element, and therefore the +hatred of the foreigner has passed unadulterated into the life-blood of the +city. And so, notwithstanding our noble sentiments, we were again +isolated, because we were unwilling to be guilty of the base and unholy act +of giving up Hellenes to barbarians. And we were in the same case as when +we were subdued before; but, by the favour of Heaven, we managed better, +for we ended the war without the loss of our ships or walls or colonies; +the enemy was only too glad to be quit of us. Yet in this war we lost many +brave men, such as were those who fell owing to the ruggedness of the +ground at the battle of Corinth, or by treason at Lechaeum. Brave men, +too, were those who delivered the Persian king, and drove the +Lacedaemonians from the sea. I remind you of them, and you must celebrate +them together with me, and do honour to their memories. + +Such were the actions of the men who are here interred, and of others who +have died on behalf of their country; many and glorious things I have +spoken of them, and there are yet many more and more glorious things +remaining to be told--many days and nights would not suffice to tell of +them. Let them not be forgotten, and let every man remind their +descendants that they also are soldiers who must not desert the ranks of +their ancestors, or from cowardice fall behind. Even as I exhort you this +day, and in all future time, whenever I meet with any of you, shall +continue to remind and exhort you, O ye sons of heroes, that you strive to +be the bravest of men. And I think that I ought now to repeat what your +fathers desired to have said to you who are their survivors, when they went +out to battle, in case anything happened to them. I will tell you what I +heard them say, and what, if they had only speech, they would fain be +saying, judging from what they then said. And you must imagine that you +hear them saying what I now repeat to you:-- + +'Sons, the event proves that your fathers were brave men; for we might have +lived dishonourably, but have preferred to die honourably rather than bring +you and your children into disgrace, and rather than dishonour our own +fathers and forefathers; considering that life is not life to one who is a +dishonour to his race, and that to such a one neither men nor Gods are +friendly, either while he is on the earth or after death in the world +below. Remember our words, then, and whatever is your aim let virtue be +the condition of the attainment of your aim, and know that without this all +possessions and pursuits are dishonourable and evil. For neither does +wealth bring honour to the owner, if he be a coward; of such a one the +wealth belongs to another, and not to himself. Nor does beauty and +strength of body, when dwelling in a base and cowardly man, appear comely, +but the reverse of comely, making the possessor more conspicuous, and +manifesting forth his cowardice. And all knowledge, when separated from +justice and virtue, is seen to be cunning and not wisdom; wherefore make +this your first and last and constant and all-absorbing aim, to exceed, if +possible, not only us but all your ancestors in virtue; and know that to +excel you in virtue only brings us shame, but that to be excelled by you is +a source of happiness to us. And we shall most likely be defeated, and you +will most likely be victors in the contest, if you learn so to order your +lives as not to abuse or waste the reputation of your ancestors, knowing +that to a man who has any self-respect, nothing is more dishonourable than +to be honoured, not for his own sake, but on account of the reputation of +his ancestors. The honour of parents is a fair and noble treasure to their +posterity, but to have the use of a treasure of wealth and honour, and to +leave none to your successors, because you have neither money nor +reputation of your own, is alike base and dishonourable. And if you follow +our precepts you will be received by us as friends, when the hour of +destiny brings you hither; but if you neglect our words and are disgraced +in your lives, no one will welcome or receive you. This is the message +which is to be delivered to our children. + +'Some of us have fathers and mothers still living, and we would urge them, +if, as is likely, we shall die, to bear the calamity as lightly as +possible, and not to condole with one another; for they have sorrows +enough, and will not need any one to stir them up. While we gently heal +their wounds, let us remind them that the Gods have heard the chief part of +their prayers; for they prayed, not that their children might live for +ever, but that they might be brave and renowned. And this, which is the +greatest good, they have attained. A mortal man cannot expect to have +everything in his own life turning out according to his will; and they, if +they bear their misfortunes bravely, will be truly deemed brave fathers of +the brave. But if they give way to their sorrows, either they will be +suspected of not being our parents, or we of not being such as our +panegyrists declare. Let not either of the two alternatives happen, but +rather let them be our chief and true panegyrists, who show in their lives +that they are true men, and had men for their sons. Of old the saying, +"Nothing too much," appeared to be, and really was, well said. For he +whose happiness rests with himself, if possible, wholly, and if not, as far +as is possible,--who is not hanging in suspense on other men, or changing +with the vicissitude of their fortune,--has his life ordered for the best. +He is the temperate and valiant and wise; and when his riches come and go, +when his children are given and taken away, he will remember the proverb-- +"Neither rejoicing overmuch nor grieving overmuch," for he relies upon +himself. And such we would have our parents to be--that is our word and +wish, and as such we now offer ourselves, neither lamenting overmuch, nor +fearing overmuch, if we are to die at this time. And we entreat our +fathers and mothers to retain these feelings throughout their future life, +and to be assured that they will not please us by sorrowing and lamenting +over us. But, if the dead have any knowledge of the living, they will +displease us most by making themselves miserable and by taking their +misfortunes too much to heart, and they will please us best if they bear +their loss lightly and temperately. For our life will have the noblest end +which is vouchsafed to man, and should be glorified rather than lamented. +And if they will direct their minds to the care and nurture of our wives +and children, they will soonest forget their misfortunes, and live in a +better and nobler way, and be dearer to us. + +'This is all that we have to say to our families: and to the state we +would say--Take care of our parents and of our sons: let her worthily +cherish the old age of our parents, and bring up our sons in the right way. +But we know that she will of her own accord take care of them, and does not +need any exhortation of ours.' + +This, O ye children and parents of the dead, is the message which they bid +us deliver to you, and which I do deliver with the utmost seriousness. And +in their name I beseech you, the children, to imitate your fathers, and +you, parents, to be of good cheer about yourselves; for we will nourish +your age, and take care of you both publicly and privately in any place in +which one of us may meet one of you who are the parents of the dead. And +the care of you which the city shows, you know yourselves; for she has made +provision by law concerning the parents and children of those who die in +war; the highest authority is specially entrusted with the duty of watching +over them above all other citizens, and they will see that your fathers and +mothers have no wrong done to them. The city herself shares in the +education of the children, desiring as far as it is possible that their +orphanhood may not be felt by them; while they are children she is a parent +to them, and when they have arrived at man's estate she sends them to their +several duties, in full armour clad; and bringing freshly to their minds +the ways of their fathers, she places in their hands the instruments of +their fathers' virtues; for the sake of the omen, she would have them from +the first begin to rule over their own houses arrayed in the strength and +arms of their fathers. And as for the dead, she never ceases honouring +them, celebrating in common for all rites which become the property of +each; and in addition to this, holding gymnastic and equestrian contests, +and musical festivals of every sort. She is to the dead in the place of a +son and heir, and to their sons in the place of a father, and to their +parents and elder kindred in the place of a guardian--ever and always +caring for them. Considering this, you ought to bear your calamity the +more gently; for thus you will be most endeared to the dead and to the +living, and your sorrows will heal and be healed. And now do you and all, +having lamented the dead in common according to the law, go your ways. + +You have heard, Menexenus, the oration of Aspasia the Milesian. + +MENEXENUS: Truly, Socrates, I marvel that Aspasia, who is only a woman, +should be able to compose such a speech; she must be a rare one. + +SOCRATES: Well, if you are incredulous, you may come with me and hear her. + +MENEXENUS: I have often met Aspasia, Socrates, and know what she is like. + +SOCRATES: Well, and do you not admire her, and are you not grateful for +her speech? + +MENEXENUS: Yes, Socrates, I am very grateful to her or to him who told +you, and still more to you who have told me. + +SOCRATES: Very good. But you must take care not to tell of me, and then +at some future time I will repeat to you many other excellent political +speeches of hers. + +MENEXENUS: Fear not, only let me hear them, and I will keep the secret. + +SOCRATES: Then I will keep my promise. + + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of Menexus, by Plato + |