and found him
shouting."--W. Leaf.

The accuser informs us that Socrates interpreted these lines as though
the poet approved the giving of blows to commoners and poor folk. Now
no such remark was ever made by Socrates; which indeed would have been
tantamount to maintaining that he ought to be beaten himself. What he
did say was, that those who were useful neither in word nor deed, who
were incapable of rendering assistance in time of need to the army or
the state or the people itself, be they never so wealthy, ought to be
restrained, and especially if to incapacity they added effrontery.

As to Socrates, he was the very opposite of all this--he was plainly
a lover of the people, and indeed of all mankind. Though he had many
ardent admirers among citizens and strangers alike, he never demanded
any fee for his society from any one, (34) but bestowed abundantly upon
all alike of the riches of his sould--good things, indeed, of which
fragments accepted gratis at his hands were taken and sold at high
prices to the rest of the community by some, (35) who were not, as he
was, lovers of the people, since with those who had not money to give in
return they refused to discourse. But of Socrates be it said that in
the eyes of the whole world he reflected more honour on the state and a
richer lustre than ever Lichas, (36) whose fame is proverbial, shed
on Lacedaemon. Lichas feasted and entertained the foreign residents in
Lacedaemon at the Gymnopaediae most handsomely. Socrates gave a lifetime
to the outpouring of his substance in the shape of the greatest benefits
bestowed on all who cared to receive them. In other words, he made
those who lived in his society better men, and sent them on their way
rejoicing.

(34) See "Symp." iv. 43; Plat. "Hipp. maj." 300 D; "Apol." 19 E.

(35) See Diog. Laert. II. viii. 1.

(36) See "Hell." III. ii. 21; Thuc. v. 50; Plut. "Cim." 284 C. For the
Gymnopaediae, see Paus. III. xi. 9; Athen. xiv. p. 631.

To no other conclusion, therefore, can I come but that, being so good a
man, Socrates was worthier to have received honour from the state than
death. And this I take to be the strictly legal view of the case, for
what does the law require? (37) "If a man be proved to be a thief, a
filcher of clothes, a cut-purse, a housebreaker, a man-stealer, a robber
of temples, the penalty is death." Even so; and of all men Socrates
stood most aloof from such crimes.

(37) See "Symp." iv. 36;