Page:Xenophon by Alexander Grant.djvu/107

Rh —that he had introduced new gods—he denied that his belief in the divine signal was anything different in kind from the belief that other men had in omens and auguries. He asserted emphatically as a fact the divine communications which he had received, and said that his friends had often benefited by the predictions which he had been able to make to them. And this statement created an unfavourable impression on the jury, for some disbelieved him, and others were offended at his claim to a special inspiration.

Turning now to the third count, that he had corrupted young men, he gave a history of his mode of life, the turning-point of which had been that the oracle of Apollo at Delphi had pronounced him the wisest of men. This avowal caused a fresh expression of disapprobation from the jury; but, according to the account of Plato, Socrates softened the seeming arrogance of the boast, by adding that he himself had wondered why the god should have pronounced him wise, when he was conscious of knowing nothing. He had resolved to test the truth of the oracle by comparing himself with others. Hence he began to question those who had a high reputation, but their answers did not satisfy him. He tried men of all sorts, but invariably found that they had the show of knowledge without the reality. Thus he came to the conclusion that the god called him wisest, because, though knowing no more than other men, he alone was conscious to himself of his own ignorance. Henceforth he considered it his mission to lead other men to know themselves; and as to the youth whom he had gratuitously