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Section 18

First, then, it is just for me to defend myself against the first false accusations made against me, and my first accusers; and after that, against the later ones. For many have accused me before you for many years now, and not a word they said was true. I fear these men more than Anytus and his companions, though they too are formidable. But the earlier ones are more formidable, men of Athens. They took hold of the majority of you from childhood and persuaded you of their accusations against me, none of which are true: that there is a certain Socrates, a wise man, a thinker on things aloft, who has investigated all things under the earth, and who makes the weaker argument the stronger. These men, men of Athens, who have spread this rumor, are my formidable accusers. For those who hear them believe that men who investigate such things do not even believe in the gods. Moreover, these accusers are many, and they have been accusing me for a long time. Furthermore, they spoke to you at an age when you were most likely to believe them, when some of you were children and youths, simply winning a case by default, as there was no one to make a defense. And the most unreasonable thing of all is that it is not even possible to know and name them, except perhaps for a certain comic poet. All those who, through envy and slander, persuaded you—and those who, having been persuaded themselves, persuaded others—all these are completely out of reach. For it is not possible to call any of them here to the stand or to cross-examine them; I must literally fight with shadows in making my defense and cross-examine when no one answers. Therefore, you must also assume, as I say, that my accusers are of two kinds: those who have accused me recently, and those of old whom I am talking about now. And you must agree that I should defend myself against the earlier ones first, for you heard them accusing me much earlier, and much more often, than the later ones. Very well. A defense must be made, men of Athens, and I must attempt, in this short time, to remove from you the prejudice that you have held for a long time. I wish this might happen, if it is better for both you and me, and that I might achieve something by my defense. But I think it is difficult, and I am not at all unaware of its nature. Nevertheless, let the outcome proceed as the god pleases; I must obey the law and make my defense.