[27]
Yet for all men the end of life is death1; and with whatsoever wrongdoings a man may be
charged during his lifetime, it is right that for these his children should
forever be held accountable; but in matters concerning which no man ever made
accusation against him while he lived, is it not outrageous that anyone so
wishing should bring his children to trial? If, now, there had been no inquiry
into the question, let us grant that the matter has escaped notice; but if
inquiry was made and the demesmen reviewed their lists, and no one ever made any
accusation, ought I not justly to be regarded as an Athenian so far as my father
is concerned, seeing that he died before any dispute regarding his lineage
arose?To prove that these statements of mine
are true, I will call witnesses who depose to these facts also.“
Witnesses
”
1 The same phrase occurs in Dem. 18.97, with πέρας for τέλος.
Demosthenes. Demosthenes with an English translation by Norman W. DeWitt, Ph.D., and Norman J. DeWitt, Ph.D. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1949.
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