Euthydemus (302)

Soc.

he asked, Hereupon, since I knew that some brilliant result was sure to bob up from the mere turn of the questions, and as I also wanted to hear it as quickly as possible, I said: It is precisely as you say; only such things are mine. he went on: Yes, I said. I admit that. Then—after a very ironical pause, as though he were pondering some great matter—he proceeded: Here I suspected the discussion was approaching the point at which it eventually ended, and so I tried what desperate wriggle I could to escape from the net in which I now felt myself entangled. My answer was: I have not, Dionysodorus. he said, Enough, Dionysodorus; speak fair words, and don’t browbeat your pupil! For I have altars and shrines, domestic and ancestral, and everything else of the sort that other Athenians have. he asked, None of the Ionians, I replied, give him this title, neither we nor those who have left this city to settle abroad: they have an ancestral Apollo, because of Ion’s parentage.[*] Among us the name ancestral is not given to Zeus, but that of houseward and tribal, and we have a tribal Athena. said Dionysodorus; Certainly, I said. he said. My ancestors, I said, and lords. he said: I have admitted it, I replied: what else could I do? he asked: They have, I replied. Yes, animals, I said. he went on, I have admitted it, I replied; there is no escape for me, Euthydemus.