In fifth-century B. C. Athenian courts, prosecutors scolded juries far more often for lenience than for harshness. We may conclude that Athenians considered themselves overly inclined to allow people to escape the punishment they deserved in the name of misguided mercy. The reasoning in the argument above is flawed because it fails to consider the possibility that ['the opinions of the Athenian prosecutors did not represent popular opinion', 'the Athenian prosecutors considered themselves too harsh', 'although Athenians considered themselves too lenient, they might not actually have been too lenient', 'the mercy the Athenians showed was not always misguided']