Xenophon's Memorabilia and The Apology of Socrates

231 Pages·2016·1.337 MB·English

by  Hélène Pignot (editor), Sarah Fielding (transl.)

Xenophon’s Memorabilia and
The Apology of Socrates
translated by Sarah Fielding
Gorgias Studies in Classical and Late Antiquity
21
Gorgias Studies in Classical and Late Antiquity contains monographs
and edited volumes on the Greco-Roman world and its transition
into Late Antiquity, encompassing political and social structures,
knowledge and educational ideals, art, architecture and literature.
Xenophon’s Memorabilia and
The Apology of Socrates
translated by Sarah Fielding
Edited with Notes and Introduction by
Hélène Pignot
gp
2016
Gorgias Press LLC, 954 River Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA
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prior written permission of Gorgias Press LLC.
2016 ܛ 1
ISBN 978-1-4632-0614-7
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Xenophon, author. | Fielding, Sarah, 1710-1768,
translator. | Pignot,
Hâeláene, editor. | Fielding, Sarah, 1710-1768.
Memoirs of Socrates.
Title: Xenophon’s Memorabilia and the Apology of
Socrates / translated by
Sarah Fielding ; edited, with notes and

introduction, by H l ne Pignot
é è
Other titles: Memorabilia. English
Description: Piscataway, NJ : Gorgias Press, 2016. |
Series: Gorgias studies
in classical and late antiquity ; 21 | Includes
bibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016026119 | ISBN 9781463206147
Subjects: LCSH: Socrates--Early works to 1800. |
Socrates--Trials,
litigation, etc.--Early works to 1800. |
Philosophers,
Ancient--Biography--Early works to 1800. |
Philosophers--Greece--Biography--Early works to
1800.
Classification: LCC B316.X2 F5 2016 | DDC 183/.2--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016026119
Printed in the United States of America
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents ..................................................................................... v
Acknowledgements ................................................................................ vii
Introduction .............................................................................................. 1
References ....................................................................................... 34
Annex 1 ........................................................................................... 41
Annex 2 ........................................................................................... 44
Annex 3 ........................................................................................... 47
Annex 4 ........................................................................................... 49
A Note On The Text ............................................................................. 51
Xenophon’s Memoirs Of Socrates With The Defence Of
Socrates Before His Judges Translated From The Original
Greek By Sarah Fielding .............................................................. 53
Preface ...................................................................................................... 55
Xenophon’s Memoirs of Socrates ....................................................... 57
Book I ........................................................................................ 57
Book II ...................................................................................... 93
Book III .................................................................................. 129
Book IV .................................................................................. 170
The Defence of Socrates, Before his JUDGES By
XENOPHON..............................................................................2 13
v

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I owe a special debt of gratitude to Professor Laurent Jaffro for
lending me the essays he wrote on Shaftesbury’s Design of a Socratick
History, a fascinating editorial project Shaftesbury devised, but nev-
er completed.
I would also like to thank all the librarians of Room W at the
French National Library whose kindness and patience in delivering
all the books I consulted made this edition possible, and this work
a labour of love.

vii

INTRODUCTION
It befits “the humble Socrates”,1 the enigmatic philosopher of
Antiquity, who claimed to possess one and only knowledge, that of
his own ignorance, not to have bequeathed any writings of his own
to posterity.
He somehow contributed to the creation of his own myth and
to what was later called the Socratic question, which fuelled ani-
mated debates among philosophers and historians: Who was the
real Socrates? Which of his disciples provided the most faithful
account of his life, his thought and teachings? Was it Plato or Xen-
ophon? Was there a grain of truth in the portraits of his critics like
Aristophanes, or even his accusers, who claimed that he corrupted
Athenian youth and did not worship the gods?
In the 18th century, Lord Shaftesbury, another controversial
philosopher in his day, found solace and inspiration in the thought
of ancient writers like Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Xenophon and
Plato.
From 1703 to 1707, as Laurent Jaffro showed in two elegantly
written essays,2 Shaftesbury had planned to compose a work on
Socrates in which he would compare the writings of Plato to those
of Xenophon; his personal preference went to Xenophon, whom

1 Sarah Fielding, Memoirs of Socrates, ed. by Hélène Pignot, Book I,
Chapter VI, note 20.
2 “Le Socrate de Shaftesbury: Comment raconter l’histoire de Soc-
rate aux modernes”, in Ettore Lojacono ed. La fortuna di Socrate in occidente
(Florence: Le Monnier Università, 2004) 66–90; “Which Platonism for
which modernity? A Note on Shaftesbury’s Sea-Cards” in D. Hedley and
S. Hutton eds, Platonism at the Origin of Modernity: Studies on Platonism and
early Modern Philosophy (Springer, 2007), 255–67.
1
2 XENOPHON’S MEMORABILIA BY SARAH FIELDING
he found historically more accurate, but Plato’s evocation of Socra-
tes, in what he deemed to be an exceptionally poetic style, charmed
and inspired him.
The notes he took to prepare this publication have been tran-
scribed and recently published in the Complete Edition of Shaftes-
bury as Chartae Socraticae: A Design of a Socratick History.3
“Shaftesbury wanted to put the Memorabilia of Xenophon into
an English version of the language of Madame de la Fayette”, says
L. Jaffro.4 Alas, his subtle and ambitious project made up of a
translation and commentaries,5 never saw the light of day. But
other authors, including Shaftesbury’s own brother, Maurice Ashley
Cooper, would translate and disseminate Xenophon’s works and
contribute to a deeper knowledge of his life and thoughts, “not
with the eclat of popular applause, but with the approbation of
the studious few”.6

3 Anthony Ashley Cooper, Third Earl of Shaftesbury, Chartae Socrati-
cae Design of a Socratick History, Standard Edition of the Works of Shaftes-
bury, eds. Wolfram Benda et al., (Stuttgart: F. Frommann-G. Holzboog,
2008).
4 L. Jaffro, “A Note on Shaftesbury’s Sea-Cards”, 259.
5 To be more precise, let us quote Laurent Jaffro’s essay: “The first
part was supposed to contain a preface and a Life of Socrates, followed by
translations of Xenophon’s Memorabilia and Xenophon’s Apology, with
notes and commentaries. The second part was expected to be a series of
translations from Xenophon (Economics and Convivium), Aristophanes,
Plato’s Convivium, Apology, Crito and Phædo, with introductions, com-
mentaries and notes. Xenophon was regarded as the true historian of
Socrates, while Plato was responsible for the fabrication of a legend”, “A
Note on Shaftesbury’s Socratic Sea-Cards”, 257.
6 James Harris, Sarah’s friend, pays a warm tribute to his uncle in
vol. 4 of his Miscellanies, Philological Enquiries (London, 1787?). This beauti-
ful passage is worth quoting in full; after arguing that each philosophical
school had “a Language of its own”, Harris enthusiastically extols the
merits of Maurice Ashley’s translation: “Yet one translation I can by no
means forget, I mean that of Xenophon’s Cyropædia, or the Institution of
Cyrus, by the Honourable Maurice Ashley Cowper, son to the second
Earl of Shaftesbury, and brother to the third, who was Author of the Char-