Andocides
[1]ΠΕΡΙ ΤΩΝ ΜΥΣΤΗΡΙΩΝ
Τὴν μὲν παρασκευήν, ὦ ἄνδρες, καὶ τὴν προθυμίαν τῶν ἐχθρῶν τῶν ἐμῶν, ὥστ᾿ ἐμὲ κακῶς ποιεῖν ἐκ παντὸς τρόπου, καὶ δικαίως καὶ ἀδίκως, ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐπειδὴ τάχιστα ἀφικόμην εἰς τὴν πόλιν ταυτηνί, σχεδόν τι πάντες ἐπίστασθε, καὶ οὐδὲν δεῖ περὶ τούτων πολλοὺς λόγους ποιεῖσθαι· ἐγὼ δέ, ὦ ἄνδρες, δεήσομαι ὑμῶν δίκαια καὶ ὑμῖν τε ῥᾴδια χαρίζεσθαι καὶ ἐμοὶ ἄξια πολλοῦ τυχεῖν παρ᾿ 2ὑμῶν. καὶ πρῶτον μὲν ἐνθυμηθῆναι ὅτι νῦν ἐγὼ ἥκω οὐδεμιᾶς μοι ἀνάγκης οὔσης παραμεῖναι, οὔτ᾿ ἐγγυητὰς καταστήσας οὔθ᾿ ὑπὸ δεσμῶν ἀναγκασθείς, πιστεύσας δὲ μάλιστα μὲν τῷ δικαίῳ, ἔπειτα δὲ καὶ ὑμῖν, γνώσεσθαι τὰ δίκαια καὶ μὴ περιόψεσθαί με ἀδίκως ὑπὸ τῶν ἐχθρῶν τῶν ἐμῶν διαφθαρέντα, ἀλλὰ πολὺ μᾶλλον σώσειν δικαίως κατά τε τοὺς νόμους τοὺς ὑμετέρους καὶ τοὺς ὅρκους οὓς ὑμεῖς ὀμόσαντες μέλλετε τὴν ψῆφον οἴσειν.
3Εἰκότως δ᾿ ἄν, ὦ ἄνδρες, τὴν αὐτὴν γνώμην
On the Mysteries
On the Mysteries
The systematic and untiring efforts of my enemies, gentlemen, to do me every possible injury, by fair means or by foul, from the very moment of my arrival in this city,a are known to almost all of you, and it is unnecessary for me to pursue the subject. Instead, I shall make a request of you, gentlemen, a fair request, which it is as easy for you to grant as it is valuable for me to gain.b First, I ask you to bear in mind that it is not because I have been forced to face my trial that I am here to-day—I have not been on bail, nor have I been kept in confinement.c I am here, first and foremost because I rely upon justice: and secondly because I rely upon you; I believe that you will decide my case impartially and, far sooner than allow my enemies to defy justice by taking my life, will uphold justice by protecting me, as your laws and your oaths as jurors require you to do.
With defendants who face a trial of their own free
- aFour years earlier, in 403.
- bMuch of §§ 1, 6, 7, and 9 consists of loci communes which recur in Lysias and Isocrates. Both they and Andocides were making use of the same handbook of proems.
- cThis was not customary in a case of ἔνδειξις. The accused, if a citizen, was usually given the choice of furnishing sureties (ἐγγυηταί) or suffering imprisonment until the case came into court. Possibly it was felt that the conditions in the present instance were exceptional and that Andocides should be allowed the opportunity of quitting Attica if he so desired.