Margalit
FINKELBERG PLATO APOLOGY 28d6-29a1 AND THE EPHEBIC
OATH
The
purpose of this paper is to show that Socrates' words in
Ap. 28d6-10 "wherever a
man's station is, whether he has chosen it himself in the
belief that it is for the best, or he has been placed in
it by a commander, there I believe he must remain and
face the danger, taking no account of death or of
anything else in comparison with disgrace" (tr. B. Jowett
-- H. Pelliccia, with slight changes) are a paraphrase of
what will later become firmly established as the ephebic
oath and that the essentials of the latter are also
deliberately evoked in a broader context of the passage.
I will argue that this previously unnoticed
correspondence would add a new dimension to our
understanding of Plato's rhetorical strategies in the
dialogue.
As
P. Siewert showed in an important article, while the
institution of ephebeia as
such is attested by inscriptions not earlier than 334/3
B.C., several fifth- and early fourth-century sources
testify to the fact that something similar to the ephebic
oath did exist in Athens even before that date. Plato's
Apology
has never been mentioned in this context. I will argue
that Socrates' words closely correspond to ll. 6-8 of the
epigraphic version of the oath ("I will not disgrace
these sacred arms, and I will not desert the comrade
beside me wherever I shall be stationed in a battle
line;" tr. J. Plescia -- P. Siewert), whereas
Socrates' claiming patriotic motives for his activity in
Ap.
29d-30a evokes ll. 9-11 ("and I will not hand over
[to the descendants] the fatherland smaller, but
greater and better, so far as I am able, by myself or
with the help of all").
It
seems significant in this connection that the section to
which the passage under consideration belongs is
generally recognized as the most important part of
Socrates' speech and that its purpose as set by Plato is
overtly apologetic. Yet, Ap. 28d6-29a1 is usually regarded as nothing more than
a particular application to the personal experience of
Socrates as a hoplite soldier of the general principle
that duty is more important than life. On this
interpretation, the mythological example of Achilles that
directly precedes it would be the main illustration of
the principle in question. If I am correct in suggesting
that Ap. 28d6-10 is a paraphrase of the
ephebic oath, this will lead to the conclusion that,
rather than simply making a reference to Socrates'
military experience at Amphipolis, Delion, and Potidaia,
Plato's associating Socrates' obedience to his god with
the behaviour of the hoplite soldier should be seen as a
sophisticated rhetorical move meant to reach the central
core of Athenian consensus.