Know Thyself and Bodhi enter the old justice building in the Grove of the Greeks and proceed to the front of a courtroom where a magistrate stands next to an empty chair. A jury of swans is seated on wooden benches surrounded by a crowd of spectators. Know Thyself says to Bodhi:

please sit in the back

i will stay in this place

knowing myself the charge

my accusers i shall face

Bodhi walks to the back of the courtroom and watches as Know Thyself sits in the chair. The magistrate addresses him:

dear moral philosopher

we gather here today

to decide your fate

with three charges to weigh

introducing new gods

corrupting youth

seeking beneath the earth

and in the skies for truth

yesterday we heard

from those who accuse

now is your chance

what are your views

Know Thyself responds:

oh swans of athens

to these accused crimes of shame

that i question and not honor

i must take the blame

yes i am wise

for nothing i know

only asking questions

have nothing to bestow

without understanding

i cannot hold a creed

nor corrupt the young

so not guilty, i plead

The magistrate turns toward the jurors and asks:

do you believe know thyself

and what he did connote

or accusations as charged

how do you vote

Each swan juror registers his judgment by placing a small disk into an urn marked guilty or not guilty. After the voting, the magistrate counts the disks and then turns to Know Thyself:

by sixty swans

guilty say your peers

before being sentenced

any last words for our ears

Know Thyself responds:

friends plead with me

to apologize for what i dared

questioning given truths

so my life can be spared

but this i cannot do

my life has been spent

speaking with fellow citizens

about what they consent

i do not chase the heavens

to claim what gods expect

a good life is the goal

through virtue and respect

without morality

we cannot connect

not born of the divine

but life’s own effect

Know Thyself pauses and then looks and addresses the jury:

cannot hold my tongue

even if death is my giving

for the unexamined life

is not worth living

only through knowing thyself

by reason, not revelation

can we gain clarity of mind

and live in true relation

we must not return evil

nor cause another harm

must not strike back

even to disarm

i therefore

do not fear death

i have lived a good life

ready for my last breath

Know Thyself turns to the magistrate and concludes: 

the hour has come

to decide my fate 

life or death 

love or hate

The courtroom grows silent. The jury leaves the room for several minutes and then one of them returns and whispers to the magistrate, who addresses Know Thyself:

with no amends to the gods

and no repentance

i hereby find you guilty

death is your sentence

The crowd gasps as the magistrate hands Know Thyself a cup of hemlock. Know Thyself sings a beautiful song, drinks the potion, and collapses. Bodhi runs out of the courtroom, horrified.