[59] For mind and intelligence in and of themselves no statuary or painter will ever be able to represent; for all men are utterly incapable of observing such attributes with their eyes or of learning of them by inquiry. But as for that in which this intelligence manifests itself, men, having no mere inkling thereof but actual knowledge, fly to it for refuge, attributing to God a human body as a vessel to contain intelligence and rationality, in their lack of a better illustration, and in their perplexity seeking to indicate that which is invisible and unportrayable by means of something portrayable and visible, using the function of a symbol and doing so better than certain barbarians, who are said to represent the divine by animals — using as his starting-point symbols which are trivial and absurd. But that man who has stood out most above others in respect of beauty and majesty and splendour, he, we may say, has been by far the greatest creator of the images of the divine beings.
[60] οὐδὲ γὰρ ὡς βέλτιον ὑπῆρχε μηδὲν ἵδρυμα μηδὲ εἰκόνα θεῶν ἀποδεδεῖχθαιπαρ᾽ ἀνθρώποις φαίη τις ἄν, ὡς πρὸς μόνα ὁρᾶν δέον τὰ οὐράνια. ταῦτα μὲν γὰρ ξύμπαντα ὅ γε νοῦν ἔχων σέβει, θεοὺς ἡγούμενος μακαρίους μακρόθεν ὁρῶν: διὰ δὲ τὴν πρὸς τὸ δαιμόνιον ὁρμὴν ἰσχυρὸς ἔρως πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ἐγγύθεν τιμᾶν καὶ θεραπεύειν τὸ θεῖον, προσιόντας καὶ ἁπτομένους μετὰ πειθοῦς, θύοντας καὶ στεφανοῦντας.
[60] For certainly no one would maintain that it had been better that no statue or picture of gods should have been exhibited among men, on the ground that we should look only at the heavens. For although the intelligent man does indeed reverence all those objects, believing them to be blessed gods that he sees from a great distance, yet on account of our belief in the divine all men have a strong yearning to honour and worship the deity from close at hand, approaching and laying hold of him with persuasion by offering sacrifice and crowning him with garlands.
[61] ἀτεχνῶς γὰρ ὥσπερ νήπιοι παῖδες πατρὸς ἢ μητρὸς ἀπεσπασμένοι δεινὸν ἵμερον ἔχοντες καὶ πόθον ὀρέγουσι χεῖρας οὐ παροῦσι πολλάκις ὀνειρώττοντες, οὕτω καὶ θεοῖς ἄνθρωποι ἀγαπῶντες δικαίως διά τε εὐεργεσίαν καὶ συγγένειαν, προθυμούμενοι πάντα τρόπον συνεῖναί τε καὶ ὁμιλεῖν: ὥστε καὶ πολλοὶ τῶνβαρβάρων πενίᾳ τε καὶ ἀπορίᾳ τέχνης ὄρη θεοὺς ἐπονομάζουσι καὶ δένδρα ἀργὰ καὶ ἀσήμους λίθους, οὐδαμῇ οὐδαμῶς οἰκειότερα τῆς μορφῆς.
[61] For precisely as infant children when torn away from father or mother are filled with terrible longing and desire, and stretch out their hands to their absent parents often in their dreams, so also do men to the gods, rightly loving them for their beneficence and kinship, and being eager in every possible way to be with them and to hold converse with them. Consequently many of the barbarians, because they lack artistic means and find difficulty in employing them, name mountains gods, and unhewn trees, too, and unshapen stones, things which are by no means whatever more appropriate in shape than is the human form.
[62] εἰ δ᾽ ὑμῖν ἐπαίτιός εἰμι τοῦ σχήματος, οὐκ ἂν φθάνοιτε Ὁμήρῳ πρότερον χαλεπῶς ἔχοντες: ἐκεῖνος γὰρ οὐ μόνον μορφὴνἐγγύτατα τῆς δημιουργίας ἐμιμήσατο, χαίτας τε ὀνομάζων τοῦ θεοῦ, ἔτι δὲ ἀνθερεῶνα εὐθὺς ἐν ἀρχῇ τῆς ποιήσεως, ὅτε φησὶν ἱκετεύειν τὴν Θέτιν ὑπὲρ τιμῆς τοῦ παιδός: πρὸς δὲ τούτοις ὁμιλίας τε καὶ βουλεύσεις καὶ δημηγορίας τοῖς θεοῖς, ἔτι δὲ ἐξ Ἴδης ἀφίξεις πρὸς οὐρανὸν καὶ Ὄλυμπον, ὕπνους τε καὶ συμπόσια καὶ[p. 173] μίξεις, μάλα μὲν ὑψηλῶς σύμπαντα κοσμῶν τοῖς ἔπεσιν, ὅμως δὲ ἐχόμενα θνητῆς ὁμοιότητος. καὶ δή γε καὶ ὁπότε ἐτόλμησεν Ἀγαμέμνονα προσεικάσαι τοῦ θεοῦ τοῖς κυριωτάτοις μέρεσιν εἰπών,
ὄμματα καὶ κεφαλὴν ἴκελος Διὶ τερπικεραύνῳ.
[62] “But if you find fault with me for the human figure, you should make haste to be angry with Homer first; for he not only represented a form most nearly like this statue of mine by mentioning the flowing locks of the god and the chin too at the very beginning of the poem, when he says that Thetis made supplication for the bestowal of honour upon her son; but in addition to these things he ascribes to the gods meetings and counsellings and harangues, then also journeyings from Ida to the heavens and Olympus, and sleep-scenes and drinking-bouts and love-embraces, clothing everything in very lofty poetical language and yet keeping close to mortal likeness. And the most striking instance of this is when he ventured to liken Agamemnon to the god in respect to the most distinctive features by saying,
His eye and lofty brow the counterpart
Of Zeus, the Lord of thunder.
[63] τὸ δέ γε τῆς ἐμῆς ἐργασίας οὐκ ἄν τις οὐδὲ μανείς τινι ἀφομοιώσειεν οὐδὲ θνητῷ, πρὸς κάλλος ἢ μέγεθος θεοῦ συνεξεταζόμενον. ἀφ᾽ οὗ γε εἰ μὴ Ὁμήρου πολὺ φανῶ κρείττων καὶ σωφρονέστερος ποιητής, τοῦ δόξαντος ὑμῖν ἰσοθέου τὴν σοφίαν, ἣν βούλεσθε ζημίαν ἕτοιμος ὑπέχειν ἐγώ. λέγω δὲ πρὸς τὸ δυνατὸν τῆς ἐμαυτοῦ τέχνης:
[63] But as to the product of my workmanship nobody, not even an insane person, would liken it to any mortal man soever, if it be carefully examined from the point of view of a god’s beauty or stature; since, if I shall not be found to be a better and more temperate artificer than Homer, whom you thought godlike in his skill, I am willing to pay any fines you wish! But I am speaking with an eye to what is possible in my art.
[64] δαψιλὲς γὰρ χρῆμα ποίησις καὶ πάντα τρόπον εὔπορον καὶ αὐτόνομον, καὶ χορηγίᾳ γλώττης καὶ πλήθει ῥημάτων ἱκανὸν ἐξ αὑτοῦ πάντα δηλῶσαι τὰ τῆς ψυχῆς βουλήματα, κἂν ὁποιονοῦν διανοηθῇ σχῆμα ἢ ἔργον ἢ πάθος ἢ μέγεθος, οὐκ ἂν ἀπορήσειεν ἀγγέλου φωνῆς πάνυ ἐναργῶς σημαινούσης ἕκαστα.
στρεπτὴ γὰρ γλῶσσ᾽ ἐστὶ βροτῶν, πολέες δ᾽ ἔνι μῦθοι,
φησὶν Ὅμηρος αὐτός,
παντοῖοι, ἐπέων δὲ πολὺς νομὸς ἔνθα καὶ ἔνθα.
[64] For an extravagant thing is poetry and in every respect resourceful and a law unto itself, and by the assistance of the tongue and a multitude of words is able all by itself to express all the devisings of the heart, and whatever conception it may arrive at concerning any shape or action or emotion or magnitude, it can never be at a loss, since the voice of a Messenger can disclose with perfect clearness each and all these things. For, as Homer himself says,
For glib runs the tongue, and can at will
Give utterance to discourse in ev’ry vein;
Wide is the range of language; and such words
As one may speak, another may return.
[65] κινδυνεύει γὰρ οὖν τὸ ἀνθρώπινον γένος ἁπάντων ἐνδεὲς γενέσθαι μᾶλλον �
�� φωνῆς καὶ λέξεως: τούτου δὲ μόνου κέκτηται θαυμαστόν τινα πλοῦτον. οὐδὲν γοῦν παραλέλοιπεν ἄφθεγκτον οὐδὲ ἄσημον τῶν πρὸς αἴσθησιν ἀφικνουμένων, ἀλλ᾽ εὐθὺς ἐπιβάλλει τῷ νοηθέντι σαφῆ σφραγῖδα ὀνόματος, πολλάκις δὲ καὶ πλείους φωνὰς ἑνὸς πράγματος, ὧν ὁπόταν φθέγξηταί τινα, παρέσχε δόξαν οὐ πολὺ ἀσθενεστέραν τἀληθοῦς. πλείστη μὲν οὖν ἐξουσία καὶ δύναμις ἀνθρώπῳ περὶ λόγον ἐνδείξασθαι τὸ παραστάν.
[65] Indeed, the race of man is more likely to run short of everything else than of voice and speech; of this one thing it possesses a most astounding wealth. At any rate it has left unuttered and undesignated no single thing that reaches our sense perceptions, but straightway puts upon everything the mind perceives the unmistakable seal of a name, and often even several vocal signs for one thing, so that when man gives utterance to any one of them, they convey an impression not much less distinct than does the actual thing itself. Very great indeed is the ability and power of man to express in words any idea that comes into his mind.
[66] ἡ δὲ τῶν ποιητῶν τέχνη μάλα αὐθάδης καὶ ἀνεπίληπτος, ἄλλως τε Ὁμήρου, τοῦ πλείστην ἄγοντος παρρησίαν, ὃς οὐχ ἕνα εἵλετο χαρακτῆρα λέξεως, ἀλλὰ πᾶσαν τὴν Ἑλληνικὴν γλῶτταν διῃρημένην τέως ἀνέμιξε, Δωριέων τε καὶ Ἰώνων, ἔτι δὲ τὴν Ἀθηναίων, εἰς ταὐτὸ κεράσας [p. 174] πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἢ τὰ χρώματα οἱ βαφεῖς, οὐ μόνον τῶν καθ᾽ αὑτόν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν πρότερον, εἴ πού τι ῥῆμα ἐκλελοιπός, καὶ τοῦτο ἀναλαβὼν ὥσπερ νόμισμα ἀρχαῖον ἐκ θησαυροῦ ποθεν ἀδεσπότου διὰ φιλορρηματίαν, πολλὰ δὲ καὶ βαρβάρων ὀνόματα,
[66] But the poets’ art is exceedingly bold and not to be censured therefor; this was especially true of Homer, who practiced the greatest frankness and freedom of language; and he did not choose just one variety of diction, but mingled together every Hellenic dialect which before his time were separate — that of the Dorians and Ionians, and also that of the Athenians — mixing them together much more thoroughly than dyers do their colours — and not only the languages of his own day but also those of former generations; if perchance there survived any expression of theirs taking up this ancient coinage, as it were, out of some ownerless treasure-store,
[67] φειδόμενος οὐδενὸς ὅ,τι μόνον ἡδονὴν ἢ σφοδρότητα ἔδοξεν αὐτῷῥῆμα ἔχειν: πρὸς δὲ τούτοις μεταφέρων οὐ τὰ γειτνιῶντα μόνον οὐδὲ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐγγύθεν, ἀλλὰ τὰ πλεῖστον ἀπέχοντα, ὅπως κηλήσῃ τὸν ἀκροατὴν μετ᾽ ἐκπλήξεως καταγοητεύσας, καὶ οὐδὲ ταῦτα κατὰ χώραν ἐῶν, ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν μηκύνων, τὰ δὲ συναιρῶν, τὰ δὲ ἄλλως παρατρέπων: τελευτῶν δὲ αὑτὸν ἀπέφαινεν οὐ μόνον μέτρων ποιητήν,
[67] because of his love of language; and he also used many barbarian words as well, sparing none that he believed to have in it anything of charm or of vividness. Furthermore, he drew not only from things which lie next door or near at hand, but also from those quite remote, in order that he might charm the hearer by bewitching and amazing him; and even these metaphors he did not leave as he first used them, but sometimes expanded and sometimes condensed them, or changing them in some other way.
[68] ἀλλὰ καὶ ῥημάτων, παρ᾽ αὑτοῦ φθεγγόμενος, τὰ μὲν ἁπλῶς τιθέμενος ὀνόματα τοῖς πράγμασι, τὰ δ᾽ ἐπὶ τοῖς κυρίοις ἐπονομάζων, οἷον σφραγῖδα σφραγῖδι ἐπιβάλλων ἐναργῆ μᾶλλον καὶ εὔδηλον, οὐδενὸς φθόγγου ἀπεχόμενος, ἀλλὰ ἔμβραχυ ποταμῶν τε μιμούμενος φωνὰς καὶ ὕλης καὶ ἀνέμων καὶ πυρὸς καὶ θαλάττης,ἔτι δὲ χαλκοῦ καὶ λίθου καὶ ξυμπάντων ἁπλῶς ζῴων καὶ ὀργάνων, τοῦτο μὲν θηρίων, τοῦτο δὲ ὀρνίθων, τοῦτο δὲ αὐλῶν τε καὶ συρίγγων: καναχάς τε καὶ βόμβους καὶ κτύπον καὶ δοῦπον καὶ ἄραβον πρῶτος ἐξευρὼν καὶ ὀνομάσας ποταμούς τε μορμύροντας καὶ βέλη κλάζοντα καὶ βοῶντα κύματα καὶ χαλεπαίνοντας ἀνέμουσκαὶ ἄλλα τοιαῦτα δεινὰ καὶ ἄτοπα τῷ ὄντι θαύματα, πολλὴν ἐμβάλλοντα τῇ γνώμῃ ταραχήν καὶ θόρυβον:
[68] “And, last of all, he showed himself not only a maker of verses but also of words, giving utterance to those of his own invention, in some cases by simply giving his own names to the things and in others adding his new ones to those current, putting, as it were, a bright and more expressive seal upon a seal. He avoided no sound, but in short imitated the voices of rivers and forests, of winds and fire and sea, and also of bronze and of stone, and, in short, of all animals and instruments without exception, whether of wild beasts or of birds or of pipes and reeds. He invented the terms ‘clang’ (kanache), ‘boom’ (bombos), ‘crash’ (ktupos), ‘thud’ (doupos), ‘rattle’ (arabos), and spoke of ‘roaring rivers,’ ‘whizzing missiles,’, ‘thundering waves,’ ‘raging winds,’ and other such terrifying and truly astonishing phenomena, thus filling the mind with great confusion and uproar.
[69] ὥστε οὐκ ἦν αὐτῷ ἀπορία φοβερῶν ὀνομάτων καὶ ἡδέων, ἔτι δὲ λείων καὶ τραχέων καὶ μυρίας ἄλλας ἐχόντων διαφορὰς ἔν τε τοῖς ἤχοις καὶ τοῖς διανοήμασιν. ὑφ᾽ ἧς ἐποποιίας δυνατὸς ἦν ὁποῖον ἐβούλετο ἐμποιῆσαιτῇ ψυχῇ πάθος. τὸ δὲ ἡμέτερον αὖ γένος, τὸ χειρωνακτικὸν καὶ δημιουργικόν, οὐδαμῇ ἐφικνεῖται τῆς τοιαύτης ἐλευθερίας, ἀλλὰ πρῶτον μὲν ὕλης προσδεόμεθα, ἀσφαλοῦς μὲν ὥστε διαμεῖναι, πολὺν δὲ ἐχούσης κάματον πορισθῆναί τε οὐ ῥᾳδίας,
[69] Consequently he had no lack of fear-inspiring names for things and of pleasant ones, and also of smooth and rough ones, as well as of those which have countless other differences in both their sounds and their meanings. As a result of this epic art of his he was able to implant in the soul any emotion he wished.
“But our art, on the other hand, that which is dependent on the workman’s hand and the artist’s creative touch, by no means attains to such freedom; but first we need a material substance, a material so tough that it will last, yet can be worked without much difficulty and consequently not easy to procure; we need, too, no small number of assistants.
[70] ἔτι δὲ οὐκ ὀλίγων συνεργῶν. πρὸς δὲ αὖ τούτοις ἓν σχῆμα ἑκάστης[p. 175] εἰκόνος ἀνάγκη ἐργάσασθαι, καὶ τοῦτο ἀκίνητον καὶ μένον, ὥστε τὴν πᾶσαν ἐν αὑτῷ τοῦ θεοῦ ξυλλαβεῖν φύσιν καὶ δύναμιν. τοῖς δὲ ποιηταῖς πολλάς τινας μορφὰς καὶ παντοδαπὰ εἴδη περιλαβεῖν τῇ ποιήσει ῥᾴδιον, κινήσεις τε καὶ ἡσυχίας προστιθέντας αὐτοῖς, ὅπως ἂν ἑκάστοτε πρέ
πειν ἡγῶνται, καὶ ἔργα καὶ λόγους, καὶ προσέτι οἶμαι τὸ τῆς ἀπάτης καὶ τὸ τοῦ χρόνου. μιᾷ γὰρ ἐπινοίᾳ καὶ ὁρμῇ τῆς ψυχῆς ἐνεχθεὶς ὁ ποιητὴς πολύ τι πλῆθος ἐπῶν ἤρυσεν, ὥσπερ ἐκ πηγῆς ὕδατος ὑπερβλύσαντος, πρὶν ἐπιλιπεῖν αὐτὸν καὶ διαρρυῆναι τὸ φάντασμα καὶ τὴν ἐπίνοιαν ἣν ἔλαβε. τὸ δέ γε ἡμέτερον τῆς τέχνης ἐπίπονον καὶ βραδύ, μόλις καὶ κατ᾽ ὀλίγον προβαῖνον, ἅτε οἶμαι πετρώδει καὶ στερεᾷ κάμνον ὕλῃ.
[70] And then, in addition, the sculptor must have worked out for himself a design that shows each subject in one single posture, and that too a posture that admits of no movement and is unalterable, so perfected that it will comprise within itself the whole of the god’s nature and power. But for the poets it is perfectly easy to include very many shapes and all sorts of attitudes in their poetry, adding movements and periods of rest to them according to what they consider fitting at any given time, and actions and spoken words, and they have, I imagine, an additional advantage in the matter of difficulty and that of time. For the poet when moved by one single conception and one single impulse of his soul draws forth an immense volume of verses, as if from a gushing spring of water, before the vision and the conception he had grasped can leave him and flow away. But of our art the execution is laborious and slow, advancing with difficulty a step at a time, the reason being, no doubt, that it must work with a rock-like and hard material.
Delphi Complete Works of Dio Chrysostom Page 229
