[13,10] ἐλογισάμην οὖν ὅτι ὁ μὲν Ὀδυσσεὺς μετὰ τοσούτους πλάνους οὐκ ὤκνησεν ἀλᾶσθαι πάλιν κώπην φέρων, Τειρεσίου συμβουλεύσαντος, ἀνδρὸς τεθνηκότος, μέχρι ἂν ἀνθρώποις συμβάλῃ μηδὲ ἀκοῇ γιγνώσκουσι θάλατταν· ἐμοὶ δὲ οὐ ποιητέον τοῦτο τοῦ θεοῦ κελεύοντος; οὕτω δὴ παρακελευσάμενος ἐμαυτῷ μήτε δεδιέναι μήτε αἰσχύνεσθαι τὸ πρᾶγμα, στολήν τε ταπεινὴν ἀναλαβὼν καὶ τἄλλα (11) κολάσας ἐμαυτὸν ἠλώμην πανταχοῦ. οἱ δὲ ἐντυγχάνοντες ἄνθρωποι ὁρῶντες οἱ μὲν ἀλήτην, οἱ δὲ πτωχὸν ἐκάλουν, οἱ δέ τινες καὶ φιλόσοφον. ἐντεῦθεν ἐμοὶ συνέβη κατ´ ὀλίγον τε καὶ οὐ βουλευσάμενον αὐτὸν οὐδὲ ἐφ´ ἑαυτῷ μέγα φρονήσαντα τούτου τοῦ ὀνόματος τυχεῖν. οἱ μὲν γὰρ πολλοὶ τῶν καλουμένων φιλοσόφων αὑτοὺς ἀνακηρύττουσιν, ὥσπερ οἱ Ὀλυμπίασι κήρυκες· ἐγὼ δὲ τῶν (12) ἄλλων λεγόντων οὐκ ἐδυνάμην ἀεὶ καὶ πᾶσι διαμάχεσθαι. τυχὸν δέ τι καὶ ἀπολαῦσαι τῆς φήμης συνέβη μοι. πολλοὶ γὰρ ἠρώτων προσιόντες ὅ, τι μοι φαίνοιτο ἀγαθὸν ἢ κακόν· ὥστε ἠναγκαζόμην φροντίζειν ὑπὲρ τούτων, ἵνα ἔχοιμι ἀποκρίνεσθαι τοῖς ἐρωτῶσιν. πάλιν δὲ ἐκέλευον λέγειν καταστάντα εἰς τὸ κοινόν. οὐκοῦν καὶ τοῦτο ἀναγκαῖον ἐγίγνετο λέγειν περὶ τῶν προσηκόντων τοῖς ἀνθρώποις (13) καὶ ἀφ´ ὧν ἔμελλον ὀνίνασθαι τὰ ἐμοὶ φαινόμενα. ἐδόκουν δέ μοι πάντες ἄφρονες, ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν, καὶ οὐδεὶς οὐδὲν ὧν ἔδει πράττειν οὐδὲ σκοπεῖν ὅπως ἀπαλλαγεὶς τῶν παρόντων κακῶν καὶ τῆς πολλῆς ἀμαθίας καὶ ταραχῆς ἐπιεικέστερον καὶ ἄμεινον βιώσεται, κυκώμενοι δὲ καὶ φερόμενοι πάντες ἐν ταὐτῷ καὶ περὶ τὰ αὐτὰ σχεδόν, περί τε χρήματα καὶ δόξας καὶ σωμάτων τινὰς ἡδονάς, οὐδεὶς ἀπαλλαγῆναι τούτων δυνάμενος οὐδὲ ἐλευθερῶσαι τὴν αὑτοῦ ψυχήν· καθάπερ οἶμαι τὰ ἐμπεσόντα εἰς τὰς δίνας εἱλούμενα καὶ (14) περιστρεφόμενα καὶ οὐχ οἷά τε ἀπαλλαγῆναι τῆς δινήσεως. ταῦτα καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα τούς τε ἄλλους ἅπαντας καὶ μάλιστα καὶ πρῶτον ἐμαυτὸν καταμεμφόμενος ἐνίοτε ὑπὸ ἀπορίας ἀνῆγον ἐπί τινα λόγον ἀρχαῖον, λεγόμενον ὑπό τινος Σωκράτους, ὃν οὐδέποτε ἐκεῖνος ἐπαύσατο λέγων, πανταχοῦ τε καὶ πρὸς ἅπαντας βοῶν καὶ διατεινόμενος ἐν ταῖς παλαίστραις καὶ ἐν τῷ Λυκείῳ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἐργαστηρίων καὶ κατ´ ἀγοράν, ὥσπερ ἀπὸ μηχανῆς θεός, ὡς ἔφη τις.

[13,10] Accordingly I reflected that Odysseus after all his wanderings did not hesitate to roam once more, when he carried an oar as Teiresias, a man dead and gone, had advised him; until he should fall in with people who knew not the sea, even by hearsay ; and should not I follow his example if God so bade ? So after exhorting myself in this way neither to fear or be ashamed of my action, and putting on humble attire and otherwise chastening myself, I proceeded to roam everywhere. And the men whom I met, on catching sight of me, would sometimes call me a tramp and sometimes a beggar, though some did cail me a philosopher. From this it came about gradually and without any planning or any self-conceit on my part that I acquired this name. Now the great majority of those styled philosophers proclaim themselves such, just as the Olympian heralds proclaim the victors; but in my case, when the other folk applied this name to me, I was not able always and in all instances to have the matter out with them. And very likely, as it turned out, I did profit somewhat by the general report about me. For many would approach me and ask what was my opinion about good and evil. As a result I was forced to think about these matters that I might be able to answer my questioners. Furthermore, they would invite me to corne before the public and speak. Consequently it became necessary for me to speak also about the duties of man and about the things that were likely, in my opinion, to profit him. And the opinion I had was that pretty well all men are fools, and that no one does any of the things he should do, or considers how to rid himself of the evils that beset him and of his great ignorance and confusion of mind, so as to live a more virtuous and a better life ; but that they all are being thrown into confusion and are swept round and round in the same place and about practically the same objects, to wit, money and reputation and certain pleasures of the body, while no one is able to rid himself of these and set his own soul free ; just as, I fancy, things that get into a whirlpool are tossed and rolled without being able to free themselves from the whirling. While I was uttering these and similar upbraidings of all others, but first and foremost of myself, at times, when at a loss, I would have recourse to an ancient appeal made by a certain Socrates, one that he never ceased making, everywhere and to everyone, crying out and declaiming earnestly, in the wrestling schools and in the Lyceum and at the workshops and up and down the market-place, like a god swung into view by the machine, as someone has said.