Page:The Apology of Socrates (Nevill, 1901).djvu/10

6 god, he says, had appointed him to live as a philosopher, and to question and exhort the Athenian people; and no consideration, neither fear of death nor anything else, should turn him from 'the god’s service.' This sacred mission is the real basis and the main plea of Socrates' defence. First he relates how the enthusiast Chærephon went to Delphi and asked the oracle if anyone were wiser than Socrates. The priestess replied that no one was wiser. Then Socrates somewhat curiously concluded that he must vindicate the truth of the oracle. Accordingly, he went to various classes of men in turn, such as statesmen, poets, and questioning those who were reputed to be wise, and he found that he was at least wiser than they in this—that he was aware of his own ignorance. So he supposed that by 'wisdom' the god meant 'consciousness of ignorance'; and perhaps, Socrates adds, that is, after all, the only wisdom that man can attain. Now, this strange story is Socrates' account of the origin of his missionary labours; and, whether we accept it as a true account or not, it is perfectly consistent with the general tenor of the defence. For the answer of the oracle was not the only divine communication that Socrates received. He assures his judges that he had also been appointed through oracles and dreams and every other medium of divine revelation (82 ). To neglect his work would, he declares, be disobedience to the god (29 He was