Delphi Complete Works of Dio Chrysostom

by Dio Chrysostom

  But perhaps the majority of my hearers have failed to notice the several topics of my address, although, in my opinion, it has been quite as suitable for the multitude as for the philosophers to hear. It has dealt with the dedication of statues, how it should best be done, and with the poets, as to whether their conceptions of the gods are better or inferior, and also with the first conception of God, what it was and how it came into existence among men. And much too, I believe, was said about the power of Zeus and about his titles. If this was accompanied by a eulogy of the statue and of those who dedicated it, so much the better.

  [85] τῷ γὰρ ὄντι τοιοῦτος ἡμῖν προσορᾶν ἔοικε, πάνυ εὔνους [p. 179] καὶ κηδόμενος, ὥστ᾽ ἔμοιγε μικροῦ φθέγγεσθαι δοκεῖ ῾τάδε μὲν οὕτως, ὦ σύμπασα Ἑλλάς, καλῶς καὶ προσηκόντως ἐπιτελεῖς, θυσίας τε θύουσα ἐκ τῶν παρόντων μεγαλοπρεπεῖς καὶ δὴ καὶ τὸν εὐκλεέστατον ἀγῶνα τιθεῖσα ὡς ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς εὐεξίας καὶ ῥώμης καὶ τάχους, ὅσα τε ἑορτῶν καὶ μυστηρίων ἔθη λαβοῦσα διαφυλάττεις. ἀλλὰ ἐκεῖνο φροντίζων σκοπῶ, ὅτι αὐτήν σ᾽ οὐκ ἀγαθὴ κομιδὴ ἔχει, ἀλλ᾽ ἅμα γῆρας λυγρὸν ἔχεις αὐχμεῖς τε κακῶς καὶ ἀεικέα ἕσσαι.᾿

  [85] For in reality the god now seems to us to have such an expression, altogether benevolent and solicitous, that I at least can almost fancy that he is speaking like this:

  “All this rite, you Eleans and all Hellas, you are carrying out, as one may see, very beautifully and fittingly, by offering sacrifices of a magnificence in keeping with your means, and, above all, by holding as from the beginning this most renowned contest of physical condition, strength, and speed, and lastly, because you are preserving in regard to festive occasions and secret rites all the customs which you have inherited. But with deep concern I observe that

  Yourself untended seem, and wretched age

  With mean attire and squalor is your lot.”

  THE THIRTEENTH DISCOURSE: IN ATHENS, ABOUT HIS BANISHMENT

  ἐν ΑΘΗΝΑΙΣ περὶ ΦΥΓΗΣ.

  THE THIRTEENTH DISCOURSE: IN ATHENS, ABOUT HIS BANISHMENT

  In the year A.D. 82, probably, Dio was banished by the Emperor Domitian, not only from Rome and Italy but also from his native Bithynia, on the charge of being in some way implicated in the conspiracy of one of the Emperor’s relatives, Junius Rusticus, as some including Mommsen maintain, Flavius Sabinus as von Arnim with better reason believes. Each of these men was related to the Emperor, Flavius Sabinus being the husband of Julia, the daughter of Domitian’s elder brother Titus, who had been Emperor before him; and each of them was executed on the charge of having conspired against him. If it is Flavius Sabinus to whom Dio refers, then since this man was executed in the year A.D. 82, we may infer that Dio’s banishment began in this year, and it was intended to last his lifetime. However, with the accession of Nerva in A.D. 96 he was permitted to return.

  In the Thirteenth Discourse Dio gives us an interesting glimpse into his thoughts and feelings at that time. Adopting the attitude of a Stoic, he resolved to endure his banishment manfully and found that it was quite endurable. Then he tells how at the urgent request of others he began to deliver moral addresses to groups of people gathered to hear him. In these addresses Dio did not attempt to give his own ideas, but repeated as carefully as possible those of a certain Socrates.

  The resumé of a part of Socrates’ teaching given in sections 14-28 Johann Wegehaupt (De Dione Xenophontis Sectatore, ff.) tries to show is taken from the Cleitophon, falsely ascribed to Plato, Ferdinand Dümmler (Academica, -17) that the Archelaus of Antisthenes is the common source of both, and Von Arnim (Leben und Werke des Dio von Prusa) claims that one of the four hortatory addresses (προτρεπτικοὶ) of Antisthenes is the common source.

  The Thirteenth Discourse in the form in which we have it breaks off suddenly, giving the impression that the end of it has been lost.

  [1] ὅτε φεύγειν συνέβη με φιλίας ἕνεκεν λεγομένης ἀνδρὸς οὐ πονηροῦ, τῶν δὲ τότε εὐδαιμόνων τε καὶ ἀρχόντων ἐγγύτατα ὄντος, διὰ ταῦτα δὲ καὶ ἀποθανόντος, δί᾽ ἃ πολλοῖς καὶ σχεδὸν πᾶσιν ἐδόκει μακάριος, διὰ τὴν ἐκείνων οἰκειότητα καὶ ξυγγένειαν, ταύτης ἐνεχθείσης ἐπ᾽ ἐμὲ τῆς αἰτίας, ὡς δὴ τἀνδρὶ φίλον ὄντα καὶ σύμβουλον: ἔθος γάρ τι τοῦτό ἐστι τῶν τυράννων, ὥσπερ ἐν Σκύθαις τοῖς βασιλεῦσι συνθάπτειν οἰνοχόους καὶ μαγείρους καὶ παλλακάς, οὕτως τοῖς ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν ἀποθνήσκουσιν ἑτέρους προστιθέναι πλείους ἀπ᾽ οὐδεμιᾶς αἰτίας:

  The Thirteenth Discourse: In Athens, about his Banishment

  When it fell to my lot to be exiled on account of my reputed friendship with a man of good character and very closely connected with those who at that time were Fortune’s favourites and indeed high officials, a man who lost his life on account of the very things which made him seem fortunate to many men, and indeed to practically everyone, I mean his connection by marriage and blood with these officials; the charge brought against me being that I was that man’s friend and adviser — for just as among the Scythians it is the practice to bury cupbearers and cooks and concubines with their kings, so it is the custom of despots to throw in several others for no reason whatever with those who are being executed by them —

  [2] τότε δ᾽ οὖν, ἐπεί με φεύγειν ἔδοξεν, ἐσκόπουν πότερον ὄντως χαλεπόν τι καὶ δυστυχὲς εἴη τὸ τῆς φυγῆς κατὰ τὴν τῶν πολλῶν δόξαν, ἢ πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα ἕτερον πέπονθεν, ὁποῖον λεγόμενόν ἐστι περὶ τὴν μαντείαν τὴν τῶν γυναικῶν ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς. ἐκεῖναι γὰρ βῶλόν τινα ἢ λίθον αἴρουσαι σκοποῦσιν ἐν τούτῳ περὶ τοῦ πράγματος οὗ πυνθάνονται. καὶ δὴ ταῖς μὲν αὐτῶν φασι γίγνεσθαι κοῦφον, ταῖς δὲ βαρύν, ὡς μηδὲ κινῆσαι [p. 180]

  [2] so I began to consider whether this matter of banishment was really a grievous thing and a misfortune, as it is in the view of the majority, or whether such experiences merely furnish another instance of what we are told happens in connection with the divinations of the women in the sacred places. For they pick up a chance clod of earth or a stone, and try to see in it the answer to their enquiry. And, so the story goes, some find their clod light, while others find theirs so heavy that they are not able even to move it easily.

  [3] δύνασθαι ῥᾳδίως. μὴ ἄρα καὶ τὸ φεύγειν καὶ τὸ πένεσθαι καὶ γῆρας δὴ καὶ νόσος καὶ πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα τοῖς μὲν βαρέα φαίνεται καὶ χαλεπά, τοῖς δ᾽ ἐλαφρά τε καὶ εὔκολα: ἐκεῖ μὲν ἴσως κατὰ τὴν τοῦ πράγματος διαφορὰν ἐλαφρύνοντος τοῦ δαιμονίου τὸ βάρος, ἐνταῦθα δὲ οἶμαι πρὸς τὴν τοῦ χρωμένου δύναμιν καὶ γνώμην.

  [3] “May not exile after all,” I thought, “and poverty, yes, and old age too and sickness, and all such things, appear heavy to some and grievous, but to others light and easy? For in the first case perhaps God lightens the weight according to the importance of the matter in question, and in the second case, I imagine, to suit the strength and will-power of the afflicted one.”

 
[4] καὶ δὴ ἀνεμιμνησκόμην Ὀδυσσέως τε παρ᾽ Ὁμήρῳ κατοδυρομένου πολλάκις αὑτόν, ἀνδρὸς ἥρωος οὐδαμῶς τε ἀδυνάτου καρτερεῖν, πολλὰ ὅμως ἀνάξια λέγοντος καὶ θρηνοῦντος ἑκάστοτε παρὰ τῇ θαλάττῃ διὰ πόθον τῆς πατρίδος: τέλος δέ, ὥς φησιν ὁ ποιητής, ἐπεθύμει καπνὸν ἰδεῖν ἀπὸ τῆς αὑτοῦ γῆς ἀνιόντα, εἰ καὶ δέοιπαραχρῆμα ἀποθνῄσκειν, καὶ οὔτε τὰ πρότερον ἔργα παρεμυθεῖτο αὐτὸν οὔτε θεὸς μάλα καλὴ καὶ ἀγαθὴ περὶ πολλοῦ ποιουμένη, ὥστε ὑποσχέσθαι ποιήσειν αὐτὸν ἀθάνατον, ἀλλὰ πάντων τούτων κατίσχυεν ὁ τῆς πατρίδος πόθος τε καὶ ἔρως:

  [4] And then I recalled Homer’s Odysseus, who is always bewailing his lot, although he was a hero and quite able to endure. Yet he for all that says many unworthy things, and forever sits lamenting on the shore of the sea because he yearns for his native land; and finally, so the poet says, the longing came upon him to see smoke ascending from his own country, even if he should have to die straightway, and neither his former exploits could solace him nor a goddess very beautiful and good who cherished him, going so far as to promise to make him immortal; but all these things were outweighed by his yearning and love for his native land.

  [5] πάλιν δ᾽ αὖ παρ᾽ ἑτέρῳ ποιητῇ τῶν ὕστερον τὴν Ἠλέκτραν πυνθανομένην ὑπὲρ τοῦἀδελφοῦ λυπηρῶς καὶ ἐλεοῦσαν αὐτὸν τῆς φυγῆς, οὕτω πως ἐρωτῶσαν: ποῦ γῆς ὁ τλήμων τλήμονας φυγὰς ἔχει; καὶ τὸν οὐχ ἧττον ἐλεεινῶς ἀποκρινόμενον, οὐχ ἕνα νομίζων φθείρεται πόλεως τόπον:τὴν δὲ αὖθις ἐρωτῶσαν, ἦπου σπανίζει τοῦ καθ᾽ ἡμέραν βίου; κἀκεῖνον οὕτως λέγοντα: ἔχει μέν, ἀσθενῆ δέ, ἅτε φεύγων ἀνήρ,

  [5] And then again I recalled how in one of the later poets Electra, when enquiring about her brother in mournful fashion and pitying him for his exile, asks in somewhat the following fashion,

  Where does the wretched man his wretched exile spend?

  And he replies no less piteously,

  In no one settled region doth he so waste away.

  Then she again asks,

  Does he perchance live scant of daily bread?

  And he replies thus,

  Nay, bread he hath, but strengthless, exile’s fare.

  [6] πρὸς δὲ τούτοις μυρία δὴ τολμηθέντα τολμήματα καὶ πολέμουσπολεμηθέντας ὑπὸ φυγάδων, ὅπως οἴκαδε κατέλθοιεν, πρός τε τοὺς δήμους καὶ τοὺς τυράννους τοὺς ἐξελάσαντας παρὰ δύναμιν, μέγα νομιζόντων, εἰ καὶ δέοι τελευτᾶν μαχομένους ἐν τῇ αὑτῶν γῇ: σύμπαντα ταῦτά με ἐξέπληττε καὶ ἠνάγκαζε δεινὸν ἡγεῖσθαι καὶ βαρὺ τὸ συμβεβηκός. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐνεθυμήθην ὅτι Κροίσῳ τῷ Λυδῶν[p. 181] βασιλεῖ συνεβούλευσεν ὁ Ἀπόλλων συμβάντος τινὸς φεύγειν ἑκόντα καταλιπόντα τὴν ἀρχήν, καὶ μηδὲν αἰσχύνεσθαι τούτου ἕνεκεν, εἰ δόξει κακὸς εἶναι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, οὕτω πως θεσπίσας:

  [6] And in addition to all this I recalled countless deeds of valour performed and wars waged by exiles seeking thus to be restored to their homes, wars waged beyond their strength against the popular governments and despotisms by which they had been driven out, for they counted it a great achievement to fight on their own soil even if it meant their death.

  All these recollections frightened me and forced me to consider what had happened to me a terrible and onerous thing. But again, I reflected that Croesus, the king of the Lydians, was advised by Apollo, when a certain mischance fell, to leave his kingdom and go voluntarily into exile, and not to feel himself disgraced if he should be looked upon by men as a coward, the oracle running somewhat as follows:

  [7]

  ἀλλ᾽ ὅταν ἡμίονος βασιλεὺς Μήδοισι γένηται,

  καὶ τότε, Λυδὲ ποδαβρέ, πολυψήφιδα παρ᾽ Ἕρμον

  φεύγειν μηδὲ μένειν μηδ᾽ αἰδεῖσθαι κακὸς εἶναι,

  δῆλον ὅτι τὴν αἰδῶ νῦν ἀντὶ τῆς αἰσχύνης ὀνομάζων, ὥσπερ ἔθος ἐστὶ τοῖς ποιηταῖς, καὶ τὸ κακὸν εἶναι ἀντὶ τῆς δόξης τῆς παρὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς:

  [7] Wait till the time shall come when a mule is monarch of Media:

  Then, thou delicate Lydian, away to the pebbles of Hermus;

  Haste thee and no longer stay, nor have awe of being a coward.

  It is evident that the poet uses ‘awe’ instead of ‘shame’ as is the custom the poets have, and ‘being a coward’ in place of ‘being thought so by the many.’

  [8] ἐκ δὲ τούτου ἐνεθυμούμην ὅτι οὐ πάντως ἡ φυγὴ βλαβερὸν οὐδὲ ἀσύμφορον οὐδὲ τὸ μένειν ἀγαθὸν καὶ πολλοῦ ἄξιον ῾οὐ γὰρ ἂν τὸ μὲν αὐτῶν παρῄνει καὶ συνεβούλευεν ὁ Ἀπόλλων, τὸ φεύγειν, τὸ δὲ μένειν ἄντικρυς ἀπηγόρευε, καὶ ταῦτα ἀνδρὶ θεσπίζων, ὅς ἦν ἐπιμελέστατος περὶ τὸ θεῖον καὶ θυσίας τε πλείστας ἔθυε καὶ μέγιστα ἀναθήματα πεπόμφει τῶν πώποτε ἀναθέντων εἰς Δελφοὺσ᾽

  [8] Then next the thought came to me that exile is not altogether injurious or unprofitable, nor staying at home a good and praiseworthy thing. For Apollo would not have urged and advised the one course, to wit, going into exile, and have expressly forbidden the other course, staying, especially when prophesying to a man who had been most careful about divine observances and had offered the most sacrifices and sent to Delphi the largest votive offerings ever set up there.

  [9] ταῦτα ἐνθυμουμένῳ μοι ἔδοξε καὶ αὐτὸν εἰς θεοῦ βαδίσαντα χρήσασθαι συμβούλῳ ἱκανῶς κατὰ τὸ παλαιὸν ἔθος τῶν Ἑλλήνων. οὐ γὰρ περὶ νόσου μὲν καὶ ἀπαιδίας, εἴ τῳ μὴ γίγνοιντο παῖδες, καὶ περὶ καρπῶν ἱκανῶς συμβουλεύειν αὐτόν, περὶ δὲ τοιούτου πράγματος ἧττον δυνήσεσθαι. καὶ δὴ χρωμένῳ μοι ἀνεῖλεν ἄτοπόν τινα χρησμὸν καὶ οὐ ῥᾴδιον συμβαλεῖν. ἐκέλευε γάρ με αὐτὸ τοῦτο πράττειν ἐν ᾧ εἰμι πάσῃ προθυμίᾳ, ὡς καλήν τινα καὶ συμφέρουσαν πρᾶξιν, ἕως ἄν, ἔφη, ἐπὶ τὸ ἔσχατον ἀπέλθῃς τῆς γῆς. καίτοι χαλεπὸν καὶ κατ᾽ ἄνθρωπον ψεύδεσθαι, μὴ ὅτι κατὰ θεόν.

  [9] Bearing in mind all these things I decided to go to the god’s temple myself and consult him, as a competent adviser, according to the ancient custom of the Greeks. For surely, thought I, if he gives competent advice about sickness and, if children are not born to a man, about childlessness, and about harvests, he will not show any less ability about such a case as mine. And then when I consulted him, he gave me a strange sort of reply and one not easy to interpret. For he bade me to keep on doing with all zeal the very thing wherein I am engaged, as being a most honourable and
useful activity, “until thou comest,” said he, “to the uttermost parts of the earth.” And yet lying is a harsh thing to impute and not consistent with even a man’s standards, to say nothing of a god’s.

  [10] ἐλογισάμην οὖν ὅτι ὁ μὲν Ὀδυσσεὺς μετὰ τοσούτους πλάνους οὐκ ὤκνησεν ἀλᾶσθαι πάλιν κώπην φέρων, Τειρεσίου συμβουλεύσαντος, ἀνδρὸς τεθνηκότος, μέχρι ἂν ἀνθρώποις συμβάλῃ μηδὲ ἀκοῇ γιγνώσκουσι θάλατταν: ἐμοὶ δὲ οὐ ποιητέον τοῦτο τοῦ θεοῦ κελεύοντος; οὕτω δὴ παρακελευσάμενος ἐμαυτῷ μήτε δεδιέναι μήτε αἰσχύνεσθαι τὸ πρᾶγμα, στολήν τε ταπεινὴν ἀναλαβὼν καὶ τἄλλα κολάσας ἐμαυτὸν ἠλώμην πανταχοῦ.

  [10] Accordingly I reflected that Odysseus after all his wanderings did not hesitate to roam once more, when he carried an oar as Teiresias, a man dead and gone, had advised him, until he should fall in with people who knew not the sea, even by hearsay; and should not I follow his example if God so bade?

  So after exhorting myself in this way neither to fear or be ashamed of my action, and putting on humble attire and otherwise chastening myself, I proceeded to roam everywhere.

  [11] οἱ δὲ ἐντυγχάνοντες ἄνθρωποι [p. 182] ὁρῶντες οἱ μὲν ἀλήτην, οἱ δὲ πτωχὸν ἐκάλουν, οἱ δέ τινες καὶ φιλόσοφον. ἐντεῦθεν ἐμοὶ συνέβη κατ᾽ ὀλίγον τε καὶ οὐ βουλευσάμενον αὐτὸν οὐδὲ ἐφ᾽ ἑαυτῷ μέγα φρονήσαντα τούτου τοῦ ὀνόματος τυχεῖν. οἱ μὲν γὰρ πολλοὶ τῶν καλουμένων φιλοσόφων αὑτοὺς ἀνακηρύττουσιν, ὥσπερ οἱ Ὀλυμπίασι κήρυκες: ἐγὼ δὲ τῶν