Hermes, you seem to be “blaming a man who is
blameless,” to speak with the poet,[liad 13, 775. for you reproach
me with things for which I should have sentenced
myself to maintenance in the Prytaneum if justice
were being done.After Socrates has been found guilty, his accusers proposed that he be condemned to death. He made a counterproposition that he be allowed to dine at the Prytaneum for the rest of his life, on the ground that he deserved this privilege better and needed it more than did the Olympic chainpions to whom it was accorded. At any rate, if you have time, I
should be glad to stand trial on the charges, so that
I might prove that Zeus has passed an unjust sentence on me. As you are ready-tongued and litigious,
suppose you plead in his behalf that he was just in
his decision that I be crucified near the Caspian gates
here in the Caucasus, a most piteous spectacle for all
the Scythians.
Your appeal, Prometheus, will be tardy and of no
avail, but say your say just the same; for in any case
we must remain here until the eagle flies down to
attend to your liver. This interval of leisure may as
well be employed in listening to a sophistic speech,
as you are a very clever scoundrel at speech-making.