Delphi Complete Works of Dio Chrysostom

by Dio Chrysostom

  [11] although you are aware of it as well as I, yet for that very reason must be mentioned; for even those who do not know of it also find it difficult to credit — I mean that, although he met so many antagonists and such good ones, he went down before none of them, but was himself always victorious. Yet you could find in all the past no general who was never defeated, no hero in war who did not actually some time or other flee from battle. For one could not say of our friend that he remained undefeated simply because he died early, since, after all, he went through far more contests than anyone else; and the chance of losing depends upon the attempts made and not upon the length of life. Furthermore, a person might have been amazed at this — that he won all his victories without being hit himself or hitting his opponent, so far superior was he in strength and in his power of endurance.

  [12] καὶ τῷ δύνασθαι πονεῖν. πολλάκις γὰρ δἰ ὅλης τῆς ἡμέρας ἠγωνίσατο ἐν τῇ σφοδροτάτῃ ὥρᾳ τοῦ ἔτους, καὶ δυνάμενος θᾶττον ἂν περιγενέσθαι παίων οὐκ ἐβούλετο, νομίζων τὸ μὲν πληγῇ νικῆσαι καὶ τοῦ φαυλοτάτου ἔσθ̓ ὅτε εἶναι τὸν βέλτιστον, εἰ τύχοι: τὴν δὲ ἀληθεστάτην νίκην, ὅταν ἄτρωτον ἀναγκάσῃ τὸν ἀντίπαλον ἀπειπεῖν. οὐ γὰρ τοῦ τραύματος, ἀλλ̓ ἑαυτοῦ ἡττῆσθαι. καὶ τὸ ὅλῳ τινὰ τῷ σώματι ἀπειπεῖν, ἀλλὰ μὴ τῷ πληγέντι μέρει, λαμπρόν. τὸν δὲ ἐπειγόμενον ὡς οἷόν τε τάχιστα νικῆσαι καὶ παίοντα καὶ συμπλεκόμενον αὐτὸν ἡττῆσθαι τοῦ καύματος καὶ τοῦ χρόνου.

  [12] For often he would fight throughout the whole day, in the hottest season of the year, and although he could have more quickly won the contest by striking a blow, he refused to do it, thinking that it was possible at times for the least competent boxer to overcome by a blow the very best man, if the chance for making it were offered; but he held that it was the truest victory when he forced his opponent, although uninjured, to give up; for then the man was overcome, not by his injury, but by himself; and that for an adversary to give up because of the condition of his whole body and not simply of the part of his body that was struck, meant brilliant work on the part of the victor; whereas the man who rushed in to win as quickly as possible by striking and clinching was himself overcome by the heat and by the prolonged effort.

  [13] εἰ δέ τις οὐ ταύτῃ ὑπολαμβάνει, ἐννοείτω ὅτι σύες καὶ ἔλαφοι, μέχρι μὲν αὐτοῖς ἡ ἰσχὺς πάρεστιν, οὔτε ἀνθρώποις οὔτε κυσὶν ὁμόσε χωροῦσιν: ὅταν δὲ ἡττηθῇ καὶ κάμῃ, τηνικάδε συμπλέκεται, καὶ μᾶλλον ἐθέλει τιτρώσκεσθαι καὶ ἀποθνῄσκειν ἢ πονεῖν ἔτι διωκόμενα. ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ ἄνδρες ἐν πολέμῳ, καίτοι εἰδότες ὅτι μᾶλλον ἂν παίοιντο φεύγοντες ἢ μένοντες, διὰ τὸ μὴ βούλεσθαι πλείω χρόνον κάμνειν ἀπίασι παραδόντες αὑτοὺς τοῖς ὄπισθεν παίειν. οὕτω τό γε τραυμάτων καταφρονεῖν οὐκ ἀνδρείας ἐστίν, ἀλλὰ τοὐναντίον.

  [13] But if anyone does not look at the matter in this light, let him reflect that boars and stags, as long as their strength holds out, do not come to close quarters with either men or dogs, and that it is only when they give out from exhaustion that they come in close and prefer wounds and death to enduring the fatigue of pursuit any longer. It is the same with men in war: although they know well that they are more likely to be struck when in flight than when they stand their ground, yet because they are unwilling to suffer distress through weariness any longer, they retire, in this way exposing themselves to the blows of their enemies in their rears. Therefore contempt for wounds is not a mark of courage but of the opposite.

  [14] οἶμαι δὴ ἐν ταὐτῷ πάντα εἰρῆσθαι καὶ περὶ ἀνδρείας καὶ περὶ εὐψυχίας καὶ περὶ ἐγκρατείας καὶ περὶ σωφροσύνης. εἰ μὴ γὰρ ἐγκρατής τε καὶ σώφρων ἦν, οὐκ ἂν οἶμαι τοσοῦτο τῇ ῥώμῃ ὑπερέσχεν οὐδὲ εἰ φύσει ἰσχυρότατος ὑπῆρχεν. καὶ ἔγωγε οὐκ ἂν ὀκνήσαιμι εἰπεῖν ὅτι καὶ τῶν παλαιῶν ἡρώων, οὓς ἅπαντες ὑμνοῦσιν, οὐδενὸς ἐλάττονα ἀρετὴν εἶχεν, οὔτε τῶν ἐν Τροίᾳ πολεμησάντων οὔτε τῶν ὕστερον ἐν τῇ Ἑλλάδι τοὺς βαρβάρους ἀμυναμένων.

  [14] So I think that under one and the same head everything has been said, not only about manliness and courage, but also about self-control and about temperance. For if Melancomas had not been self-controlled and temperate, I imagine that he would not have been so superior in strength, even if nature did make him the strongest man. And I for my part should not hesitate to say that even of all the ancient heroes whose praises everyone chants, he possessed valour inferior to none, inferior neither to those who warred at Troy nor to those who in later times repulsed the barbarians in Greece. Indeed, if he had lived in their day, his deeds would have matched theirs.

  [15] καὶ εἴ γε τότε ἐγένετο, ἅπερ ἐκεῖνοι ἔπραξεν ἄν. καὶ καθόλου δὲ ἔγωγε τοῦτο τῆς ἐν τοῖς πολέμοις ἀρετῆς προκρίνω, ὅτι πρῶτον μὲν οἱ ἐνθάδε ἄριστοι κἀκεῖ διαφέροιεν ἄν: ὁ γὰρ ἰσχυρότερος τῷ σώματι καὶ πλείω χρόνον πονεῖν δυνάμενος, οὗτος οἶμαι καὶ ἄνευ ὅπλων καὶ σὺν ὅπλοις κρείττων ἐστίν: ἔπειτα οὐχ ὅμοιον πρὸς ἰδιώτας ἀγωνίζεσθαι καὶ τῷ παντὶ φαυλοτέρους ἢ ἐξ ἁπάσης τῆς οἰκουμένης τοὺς κρατίστους ἔχειν ἀντιπάλους. κἀκεῖ μὲν ἅπαξ ὁ κρατήσας τὸν ἀνταγωνιστὴν ἀπέκτεινεν, ὥστε μὴ αὖθις [p. 290] ἔχειν τὸν αὐτὸν ἀντίπαλον: ἐνθάδε δὲ ἡ νίκη περὶ τῆς ἡμέρας ἐκείνης ἐστίν, ἔπειτα καὶ τοὺς ἡττωμένους ὁμοίως ὁ νικῶν ἀνταγωνιστὰς

  [15] And, speaking generally, I give athletics the preference over distinction in warfare on the following scores: first, that the best men in athletics would distinguish themselves in war also; for the man who is stronger in body and is able to endure hardship the longer time is, in my opinion, he who, whether unarmed or armed, is the better man; second, it is not the same thing to contend against untrained opponents and men who are inferior in every way, as it is to have for one’s antagonists the best men drawn from the whole inhabited earth. Besides, in war the man who once conquers slays his antagonist, so as not to have the same opponent the second time; whereas in athletics the victory is just for that one day, and afterwards the victor has for his opponents, not only the men he has beaten, but anyone else who cares to challenge.

  [16] ἔχει καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τὸν βουλόμενον. ἔτι δὲ ἐνθάδε μὲν ὁ κρείττων τοῦ ἥττονος περίεστιν: οὐδενὶ γὰρ ἄλλῳ ἢ τῇ εὐψυχίᾳ καὶ ἰσχύϊ δεῖ κρατεῖν: ἐν δὲ τοῖς πολέμοις ἡ τοῦ σιδήρου δύναμις, πολὺ κρείττων οὖσα τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως, οὐκ ἐᾷ τὴν τῶν σωμάτων ἀρετὴν ἐξετάζεσθαι, πολλάκις δὲ πρὸς τῶν χειρόνων γίγνεται. ὅσα δὲ αὖ περὶ ἀθλήσεως, �
�αὶ περὶ τοῦ ἀθλητοῦ εἴρηκα καὶ ἀποδειχθέντος γε ὅτι ἄριστός ἐστι τῶν ἐν τῷ ἔργῳ. ἴσως δὲ κἀμοὶ καὶ τοῖς παροῦσι προσήκων ὁ λόγος, ὥστε τοῦτο ἄριστον ἀποφαίνειν. ὅτῳ ἄρα ὑπῆρξε μὲν κάλλος σώματος, ὑπῆρξε δὲ ἀνδρεία καὶ εὐψυχία, ἔτι δὲ σωφροσύνη καὶ τὸ ἀήττητον γενέσθαι, τίνα ἂν

  [16] Further, in athletics the better man proves superior to the inferior man, since he must conquer with nothing else but his courage and physical strength; while in war the might of steel, which is much superior to mere human flesh, does not allow the excellency of men’s bodies to be tested and often takes the side of the inferior man. Moreover, everything that I have said about athletics I have also said about one who was an athlete, aye, and one who has been proved to be the best of the men in that profession; and perhaps both for me and for this audience my speech may appropriately show that this is for the best.

  Now since his was beauty of body, his was courage and a stout heart and, besides, self-control and the good fortune of never having been defeated, what man could be called happier than he?

  [17] τοῦδε τοῦ ἀνδρὸς εὐδαιμονέστερόν τις φήσειεν; καίτοι αὐτῷ τούτῳ παραγενέσθαι χαλεπωτάτω ἐστὸν ἀνδρεία καὶ σωφροσύνη: κάλλος γὰρ ἀνθρώπους μάλιστα δὴ χαυνοῖ καὶ ἀναπείθει τρυφᾶν, ὡς ἂν δόξης μὲν ἑτέρας οὐ δεομένους, ὅταν τις περιβόητος ᾖ τὸ εἶδος, ἡδίονος δ̓ οὔσης τῆς ῥᾳθυμίας. εὕροι δ̓ ἄν τις ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἀναλογιζόμενος τοὺς καλλίστους τῶν πρότερον τοὺς δὴ πολλοὺς αὐτῶν οὐδὲν ἀνδρείας οὐδὲ ἀρετῆς ἔργον ἀποδειξαμένους, ἀλλὰ Γανυμήδης μὲν διὰ τὸ παῖς μὲν ἀφανισθῆναι ἐξ ἀνθρώπων οὐδὲν δοκεῖ

  [17] And yet for a man like him these twin virtues, courage and self-control, are most difficult to achieve; since beauty is stronger than any other influence to make people conceited and to entice them to a life of luxury and ease, as though they had no need of any other glory when they are noted for their comeliness, and as though an idle life were more pleasant. And one might find in reckoning over the most beautiful men of former times from the beginning that the great majority of them did no deed which gave proof of manliness or of virtue in general. Nay, while in the case of Ganymede they thought it was because he disappeared from the sight of man when a boy that he did not perform any brilliant exploit;

  [18] πρᾶξαι λαμπρόν: περὶ δὲ Ἀδώνιδος ἢ Ἰασίωνος ἢ τῶν ὁμοίων, ὅσοι περιττῆς δόξης ἐπὶ τῷ εἴδει ἔτυχον, οὐδὲν ὅτι μὴ περὶ τοῦ κάλλους ἀκούομεν. μόνους δὲ ἂν εἴποι τις ἀνδρείους τῶν ἄγαν καλῶν Θησέα καὶ Ἀχιλλέα, καὶ τούτοις οὐ πάνυ ἡ σωφροσύνη ὑπῆρξεν. οὐ γὰρ ἂν αὐτῶν ὁ μὲν Ἑλένην πρὸς βίαν ἥρπασεν, ὁ δ̓ ἐστασίαζεν ἐπὶ Τροίας ὧν ἕνεκεν ἐστασίαζεν. Ἱππολύτῳ δὲ σωφροσύνη [p. 291] μὲν ὑπῆρξεν, ἀνδρεία δὲ ἄδηλον εἰ παρῆν: οὐ γὰρ ἀληθὲς τεκμήριον κυνηγεσία.

  [18] yet regarding Adonis, or Phaon, or similar men, all of whom gained extraordinary fame for their loveliness, we hear nothing except about their beauty. The only exceedingly beautiful men who were brave that we can mention were Theseus and Achilles, and these men did not have very much self-control; for otherwise the former would not have carried off Helen by force, and the other would not have quarrelled at Troy for reasons that he did. Hippolytus did have self-control, but it is not clear whether or not he had manly courage, since hunting is no real proof of it.

  [19] ἀλλ̓ ὃς δὴ πάντα τὰ ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἀγαθὰ ἐκτήσατο, ἄξιος ἂν εἴη καὶ τῆς τελευτῆς εὐδαιμονίζεσθαι. εἰ μὲν γὰρ ὁ πλεῖστος ἀνθρώποις χρόνος ἄριστος ἦν, ταύτῃ ἄν τις αὐτὸν ὠλοφύρατο: νῦν δέ, ὀλίγου τοῦ παντὸς ἀνθρώποις βίου δεδομένου, πλείστους ἂν εὕροι τις, οἷς πολὺ ἄμεινον εἶχεν, εἰ θᾶττον ἐτελεύτησαν: τοσαῦται

  [19] But the man who actually gained all the blessings found among mankind must be worthy to be accounted happy in his death also. For if the longest possible time were best for man, we might well have lamented over him in that regard; but as it is, seeing that all the life given to man is but short, you will find that with very many men it would have been much better if they had died sooner, so many are the misfortunes that overtake them.

  [20] συμφοραὶ καταλαμβάνουσιν. ἔτι δὲ τῶν παλαιῶν τοὺς ἐξοχωτάτους ἀκούομεν οὐδένα αὐτῶν ἐπὶ πολὺ ἐλθόντα τοῦ βίου, Πάτροκλόν τε καὶ Ἀντίλοχον, ἔτι δὲ Σαρπηδόνα καὶ Μέμνονα καὶ Ἀχιλλέα καὶ Ἱππόλυτον: τούς τε Βοιωτοὺς Ὦτον καὶ Ἐφιάλτην, οὓς μεγίστους καὶ καλλίστους γενέσθαι φησὶν Ὅμηρος μετὰ Ὠρίωνα, αὐτόν τε ἐκεῖνον. ἀλλ̓ οἵδε μὲν δἰ ἀφροσύνην ἀπώλοντο: τοὺς δὲ ἄλλους, οὓς εἷπον, θεῶν παῖδας καὶ ἀπογόνους εἶπον. οὐκ ἂν οὖν οἱ θεοὶ τοῖς ἑαυτῶν παισὶ καὶ οὓς μάλιστα ἐφίλουν ταχεῖαν ἐποίησαν τὴν τελευτήν, εἰ μὴ ἀγαθὸν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τοῦτο ἐτίθεντο.

  [20] Again, in the case of the most eminent men of ancient times, history tells us that none of them reached a great age, neither Patroclus nor Antilochus, and further, neither Sarpedon, nor Memnon, nor Achilles, nor Hippolytus; nor the Boeotians, Otus and Ephialtes, who, Homer says, were the tallest and handsomest men ever born next to Orion, nor Orion himself. But these men perished owing to their folly, while the others whom I have mentioned were called by men children and offspring of gods. Now the gods would not have given an early death to their own children and those whom they especially loved if they did not consider this a good thing for mankind.

  [21] ταῦτα οὖν, ὦ ἄνδρες, λογιζομένους ὑμᾶς ἐκεῖνόν τε ὡς μακάριον νομίζειν χρὴ καὶ αὐτοὺς μηδὲν ἧττον διὰ τοῦτο ἐφίεσθαι τῶν πόνων καὶ τῆς φιλοτιμίας ὡς, εἴ τινι συμπέσοι τελευτῆσαι ταχύτερον, ἀνόνητος ἐσόμενος τῶν ἀγαθῶν τινος: ὁ γὰρ εὐκλεοῦς δόξης τυχὼν μεστὸς ἄπεισι τῶν ἀγαθῶν: ἀλλὰ καὶ γυμνάζεσθε προθύμως καὶ πονεῖτε, οἱ μὲν νεώτεροι νομίζοντες αὑτοῖς ἀπολελεῖφθαι τὴν ἐκείνου χώραν, οἱ δὲ πρεσβύτεροι τῶν ἰδίων ἔργων ἀξίως. καὶ φρονεῖτε δὲ ἐπ̓ αὐτοῖς ὅσον χρὴ ἄνδρας πρὸς ἔπαινον καὶ δόξαν

  [21] Therefore, sirs, you should take these considerations into account and regard him as blessed, and should yourself therefore be none the less eager for toil and the distinction it brings, since you may be sure that, if it should be anyone’s lot to die too soon, he will be without part in any of these blessings; for the man who gains fair renown departs laden with blessings. Come then, train zealously and toil hard, the younger men in the belief that this man’s place has been left to t
hem, the older in a way that befits their own achievements; yes, and take all the pride in these things that men should who live for praise and glory and are devotees of virtue.

  [22] ἀγαθὴν βιοῦντας καὶ τῆς ἀρετῆς ὄντας ἀσκητάς. τὸν δὲ ἀποιχόμενον μνήμῃ τιμᾶτε, μὴ δάκρυσιν: οὐ γὰρ πρέποι ἂν ἥδε ἡ τιμὴ γενναίοις ὑπὸ γενναίων, οὐδ̓ ἂν Ὅμηρον ἐπαινέσαιμι, ὅτι φησὶ δεύεσθαι τάς τε ψαμάθους καὶ τὰ ὅπλα τοῖς δάκρυσι τῶν Ἀχαιῶν. ἀλλὰ ἐκεῖνος μὲν ποιητικῇ μᾶλλον ἠκολούθησεν ἡδονῇ, θρήνων ὑπερβολὰς ἐπιδειξάμενος, ὑμεῖς δὲ ἐγκρατῶς φέρετε. [p. 292]

  [22] And after the departed, honour him by remembrance, not by tears; for that tribute would not be a seemly one for noble men to give a noble man, nor should I commend Homer for saying that the sands and their armour were bedewed with the tears of the Achaeans. However, he aimed rather to give poetic pleasure when he pictured excessive lamenting, but do you bear your grief with self-control.

  THE THIRTIETH DISCOURSE: CHARIDEMUS

  ΧΑΡΙΔΗΜΟΣ.

  THE THIRTIETH DISCOURSE: CHARIDEMUS

  At the beginning Dio is speaking with a certain Timarchus and the younger of his two sons, also named Timarchus, about the death of the older son, Charidemus, who had had a great love and admiration for Dio. From the father Dio learns that Charidemus shortly before his death had dictated an address for the consolation of his father, brother, and friends. On learning this Dio at once urges the father to read the address to him and the father complies.