What laws? I never heard it was Zeus

Who made that announcement.

And it wasn't justice, either. The gods below

Didn't lay down this law for human use.

And I never thought your announcements

Could give you a mere human being

Power to trample the gods' unfailing,

Unwritten laws. These laws weren't made now

Or yesterday. They live for all time,

And no one knows when they came into the light.

No man could frighten me into taking on

The gods' penalty for breaking such a law.

I'll die in any case, of course I will,

Whether you announce my execution or not.

But if I die young, all the better:

People who live in misery like mine

Are better dead. So if that's the way

My life will end, the pain is nothing.