What an extraordinary statement! Why do you think so, Meletus? Do you
mean that I do not believe in the godhead of the sun or moon, like
other men?
I assure you, judges, that he does not: for he says that the sun is
stone, and the moon earth.
Friend Meletus, you think that you are accusing Anaxagoras: and you
have but a bad opinion of the judges, if you fancy them illiterate to
such a degree as not to know that these doctrines are found in the
books of Anaxagoras the Clazomenian, which are full of them. And so,
forsooth, the youth are said to be taught them by Socrates, when there
are not unfrequently exhibitions of them at the theatre (Probably in
allusion to Aristophanes who caricatured, and to Euripides who borrowed
the notions of Anaxagoras, as well as to other dramatic poets.) (price
of admission one drachma at the most); and they might pay their money,
and laugh at Socrates if he pretends to father these extraordinary
views. And so, Meletus, you really think that I do not believe in any
god?