Delphi Complete Works of Dio Chrysostom

by Dio Chrysostom

  [22] ἀγούσης ἐπὶ τὸν θάνατον. ἔλεγε δὲ καὶ κατ̓ ἄνδρα ἕτερα εἶναι δεσμά, τοῖς μὲν ἐλάττω, τοῖς δὲ μείζω περικείμενα ὥσπερ πέδας: καλεῖσθαι δὲ ὑφ̓ ἡμῶν αὐτὰς ἐλπίδας. ὥσπερ οὖν τὰς πέδας κατωτάτω τοῦ σώματος εἶναι καὶ περὶ τοῖς ἐσχάτοις μέρεσιν, οὕτω καὶ τὰς ἐλπίδας κατωτάτω εἶναι καὶ περὶ τὸ τελευταῖον μέρος τοῦ βίου, καὶ μάλιστα δὴ κρατεῖν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους καὶ ἀναγκάζειν πάντα πάσχοντας ὑπομένειν. τοῖς μὲν οὖν ἀνοήτοις τε καὶ ἠλιθίοις ὑπερόγκους τε εἶναι τὰς πέδας ταύτας καὶ σφόδρα παχείας, τοῖς δὲ κομψοτέροις κεχαλάσθαι τε καὶ λεπτὰς περικεῖσθαι.

  [22] “He said, further, that for each man there are other bonds, in some cases lighter, in other cases heavier, which lie upon him just like fetters: they are called hopes by us. Now just as the fetters are at the lower part of the body and around our extremities, so the hopes too are at the very bottom and surround the final part of our life. They most of all hold men in their thrall and compel them to endure even though they suffer all tortures. In the case of the senseless and the foolish, these fetters are massive and exceedingly thick, but for the more intelligent, the shackles that surround them are loose and light.

  [23] καὶ γάρ τοι προσείκαζε καὶ ῥίνῃ τι, πάνυ ἀνδρικῶς ἑπόμενος τῇ εἰκόνι: τοῦτο δὲ ἔφη μόνους εὑρίσκειν τοὺς κομψούς τε καὶ δριμεῖς. ἀποκεκλεῖσθαι γὰρ αὐτὸ πάνυ ἀκριβῶς, ὥσπερ εἴ τις ἐν δεσμωτηρίῳ ῥίνην ἀποκρύψειεν, ὅπως μηδεὶς τῶν δεσμωτῶν λαβὼν ἔπειτα λύσειεν ἑαυτόν. τοὺς οὖν φιλοτίμους καὶ φιλοπόνους μόλις μέν, ὅμως δὲ ἀνευρίσκειν. καλεῖσθαι δὲ ὑπ̓ αὐτῶν αὐτὸ λόγον. ἐπειδὰν οὖν τάχιστα εὕρωσι, χρῆσθαί τε καὶ ῥινᾶν τὰ δεσμὰ καὶ ποιεῖν τῆς ἁλύσεως τὸ καθ̓ αὑτοὺς ὡς οἷόν τε ἰσχνότατον καὶ ἀσθενέστατον, μέχρις ἂν ᾗ δυνατὸν κατεργάσωνται τάς

  [23] “And, mark you, he also compared something to a file, very manfully sticking to his parable. This, he said, is found only by the intelligent and shrewd; for it is locked away very carefully, just as a person might hide a file in a prison in order that none of the prisoners might get hold of it and then free himself. Now the ambitious and industrious have trouble in finding it, but still they do find it. And the name they give to it is ‘Reason.’ Then, as soon as they find it, they use it to file the fetters and make the part of the chain that binds themselves as thin and weak as possible, until they overcome the pleasures and pains so far as one may.

  [24] τε ἡδονὰς καὶ τὰς λύπας. βραδὺ δὲ τοῦτο γίγνεται. μόλις γὰρ αὐτῶν ὁ λόγος, ἅτε στερεῶν ὄντων καὶ ἀδαμαντίνων, καθικνεῖται καὶ κατὰ μικρὸν ἀπεσθίει, παντελῶς δὲ οὐκ ἂν δύναιτο δαπανῆσαι καὶ διελεῖν. ὅτῳ δ̓ ἂν ἐγγένηται τοῦτο τὸ φάρμακον καὶ φιλοπόνως αὐτῷ χρήσηται δἰ ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτὸς ἐφ̓ ὅσον οἷόν τ̓ ἐστίν, εὐχερῶς ἤδη τὴν φρουρὰν φέρει καὶ περιέρχεται παρὰ τοὺς ἄλλους ὥσπερ λελυμένος, καὶ τοῦ χρεὼν ἐπιστάντος ῥᾳδίως ἄπεισιν, ὡς ἂν οὐκέτι βίᾳ κρατούμενος οὐδὲ σφιγγόμενος. ἐκ τούτων ἐνίοτε οἱ θεοί τινας καὶ παρέδρους ἑαυτοῖς ποιοῦνται δἰ ἀρετὴν καὶ σοφίαν, καθόλου τῆς τιμωρίας ἀπαλλάξαντες.

  [24] But this is slow work. Only with difficulty does their ‘reason’ affect the chains because they are of adamantine hardness, and it wears them away only gradually, but is not able to wear them entirely through and tear them asunder. And when a man does get hold of this remedy, and uses it industriously by day and night to the best of his ability, he now endures his confinement cheerfully, walks around past the others as if he were a free man, and when his fated time comes, he goes his way without hindrance, as though no longer restrained by force or clamped to the chain. Of such men the gods at times make some their coadjutors on account of their virtue and wisdom, after completely freeing them from their punishment.

  [25] ταῦτα μέν τις εἶπεν ἀνὴρ δυσάρεστος, ὡς ἐγὼ δοκῶ, καὶ πολλὰ λελυπημένος κατὰ τὸν βίον, ὀψὲ παιδείας ἀληθοῦς ᾐσθημένος, οὐ [p. 301] μὴν ἀληθῆ γε οὐδὲ πρέποντα θεοῖς. ἕτερος δὲ βελτίων ἐστὶ τοῦδε λόγος, ὃν πολὺ ἂν εἴποιμι προθυμότερον. ἤκουσα δὲ αὐτὸν ἀνθρώπου γεωργοῦ ἐν ἀγροίκῳ τινὶ ῥυθμῷ καὶ μέλει: πλὴν τοῦτο μὲν ἴσως οὐδὲν ἡμᾶς δεῖ μιμεῖσθαι, τὴν δὲ διάνοιαν αὐτὴν ἀπομνησθῆναι

  [25] “Now this explanation was given, in my opinion, by a certain morose man who had suffered a great deal in his life and only late had gained true education; but it is not the right explanation, nor one that befits the gods. There is another one better than that, which I am much more eager to give. I heard it from a peasant who spoke with a very rustic drawl and accent. However, perhaps there is no need for us to imitate this, and we shall attempt merely to record his thought.

  [26] πειρασόμεθα. ἔλεγε δὲ ὑμνῶν τόν τε Δία καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους θεοὺς ὡς ἀγαθοί τε εἶεν καὶ φιλοῖεν ἡμᾶς, ἅτε δὴ ξυγγενεῖς ὄντας αὐτῶν. ἀπὸ γὰρ τῶν θεῶν ἔφη τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων εἶναι γένος, οὐκ ἀπὸ Τιτάνων οὐδ̓ ἀπὸ Γιγάντων. ὅτε γὰρ τὰ σύμπαντα ἔσχον, ὥσπερ ἀποικίαν τινὰ αὑτῶν ἐν τῇ γῇ ἐρήμῃ οὔσῃ κατοικίσαι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἐφ̓ ἥττοσι τιμαῖς καὶ ὄλβῳ, δικαίοις δὲ καὶ νόμοις τοῖς αὐτοῖς: ὥσπερ αἱ μεγάλαι πόλεις καὶ εὐδαίμονες τὰς μικρὰς κατοικίζουσι: καί μοι ἐδόκει λέγειν οὐ προστιθεὶς αὐτὸς τὰ ὀνόματα, οἷον Ἀθηναῖοι Κυθνίους ἢ Σεριφίους ἢ Λακεδαιμόνιοι Κυθηρίους τὸ παλαιὸν ἐπὶ νόμοις τοῖς αὐτοῖς ᾤκισαν: καὶ μιμήματά γε παῤ ἑκάστοις τούτοις ἰδεῖν ἔστι τῶν ἐθῶν καὶ τῆς πολιτείας, ἣν οἱ κτίσαντες ἔχουσιν, ἀσθενῆ δὲ πάντα καὶ χείρονα. τὴν

  [26] “He said, in reciting the praises of Zeus and the other gods, that they are good and love us as being of kin to them. For it is from the gods, he declared, that the race of men is sprung and not from Titans or from Giants. For when they got the universe into their power, they established mankind upon the earth, which was hitherto uninhabited, as a sort of colony made up of their own people, on the basis of inferior honours and felicity, but with the same righteous laws as their own; precisely after the fashion in which great and prosperous cities found the small communities. And I thought that he meant, without expressly adding the proper names, just as Athens colonized Cythnos and Seriphos, or Sparta founded Cythera in ancient times, giving them the same laws as they themse
lves had. And in these various colonies you may behold copies of the customs and the form of government which their founders enjoy, but all are weak and inferior.

  [27] μέντοι διαφορότητα οὐκ ἴσην εἶναι. τοὺς μὲν γὰρ ἅτε ἀνθρώπους ἀνθρώπων διαφέρειν, τὴν δὲ τῶν θεῶν ὑπεροχὴν πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἄπειρόν τινα εἶναι. μέχρι μὲν οὖν ἔτυχε νεοκατάστατος ὤν ὁ βίος, τοὺς θεοὺς αὐτούς τε παραγίγνεσθαι καὶ πέμπειν ὥσπερ ἁρμοστὰς παῤ αὑτῶν ἄρχοντας τοὺς ἐπιμελησομένους, οἷον Ἡρακλέα τε καὶ Διόνυσον καὶ Περσέα καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους, οὓς ἀκούομεν θεῶν παῖδας, τοὺς δὲ ἐκγόνους, γενέσθαι παῤ ἡμῖν: ἔπειτα ὕστερον ἐᾶσαι δἰ αὑτῶν οἰκεῖν ὅπως ἂν δυνώμεθα. καὶ τότε δὴ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα

  [27] However, the superiority of the colonizers over their colonies not as great; for in the one case it is the superiority of men over men, whereas the greater excellence of the gods as compared with ourselves is an infinite one. Now, as long as life was but newly established, the gods both visited us in person and sent harmosts, as it were, from their own number at first to look after us, such as Heracles, for example, Dionysus, Perseus, and the others, who, we are told, were the children of the gods, and that the descendants of these were born among us. Afterwards they permitted us to manage for ourselves as best we could. And then it was that sin and injustice began.

  [28] καὶ τὰς ἀδικίας ξυμβαίνειν. ᾖδε δὲ καὶ ἑτέραν ᾠδήν, ὡς ὁ μὲν κόσμος οἶκός ἐστι πάνυ καλός τε καὶ θεῖος ὑπὸ θεῶν τε κατεσκευασμένος: ὥσπερ ὑπὸ τῶν εὐδαιμόνων τε καὶ πλουσίων καλουμένων ἀνδρῶν οὕστινας ὁρῶμεν κατεσκευασμένους σταθμοῖς καὶ κίοσι, καὶ χρυσῷ καὶ γραφαῖς τήν τε ὀροφὴν καὶ τοίχους καὶ θύρας [p. 302] εἰργασμένους: ὁμοίως γεγονέναι τὸν κόσμον εἰς ὑποδοχήν τε καὶ εὐφροσύνην ἀνθρώπων, εὐειδῆ καὶ ποικίλον ἄστροις τε καὶ ἡλίῳ καὶ σελήνῃ καὶ γῇ καὶ θαλάττῃ καὶ φυτοῖς, ἃ δὴ τοῦ θεῶν πλούτου

  [28] “The peasant also chanted a second monody, telling how the universe is a house very beautiful and divine, constructed by the gods; that just as we see houses built by men who are called prosperous and wealthy, with portals and columns, and the roof, walls, and doors adorned with gold and with paintings, in the same way the universe has been made to give entertainment and good cheer to mankind, beauteous and bespangled with stars, sun, moon, land, sea, and plants, all these being, indeed, portions of the wealth of the gods and specimens of their handiwork.

  [29] καὶ τέχνης τῆς ἐκείνων ἐστίν. παραγίγνεσθαι δὲ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους εἰς αὐτὸν ἑορτάσοντας, ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως τῶν θεῶν κεκλημένους ἐπ̓ εὐωχίαν τινὰ καὶ θοίνην λαμπράν, ἁπάντων ἀπολαύσοντας τῶν ἀγαθῶν. κατακεῖσθαι δὲ ἄλλους ἀλλαχῇ, καθάπερ ἐν δείπνῳ, τοὺς μὲν ἀμείνονος χώρας, τοὺς δὲ φαυλοτέρας τυχόντας. εἶναι δὲ πάντα ὅμοια τοῖς παῤ ἡμῖν γιγνομένοις ἐν ταῖς ὑποδοχαῖς, πλὴν ὡς μικροῖς καὶ ἀγεννέσι θεῖα καὶ μεγάλα εἰκάσαι. φῶς τε γὰρ παῤ ἡμῖν παρέχειν τοὺς θεοὺς διττὸν διὰ λαμπτήρων τινῶν, τοτὲ μὲν πλεῖον, τοτὲ δὲ ἔλαττον, τὸ μὲν νυκτός, τὸ

  [29] “Into this universe comes mankind to hold high festival, having been invited by the king of the gods to a most splendid feast and banquet that they may enjoy all blessings. They recline in different places, just as at a dinner, some getting better and others inferior positions, and everything resembles what takes place among us at our entertainments, except that we are comparing the divine and great with the small and mean. For the gods furnish us with light of two kinds by means of lamps as it were, at one time a brighter and at another a dimmer light, the one at night and the other by day;

  [30] δὲ ἡμέρας: καὶ παρακεῖσθαι δὴ τραπέζας πάντων μεστάς, σίτου τε καὶ ὀπώρας, τῆς μὲν αὐτομάτου, τῆς δὲ εἰργασμένης, ἔτι δὲ καὶ κρεῶν, τῶν μὲν ἡμέρων, τῶν δὲ ἀγρίων, οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἐκ θαλάττης. εἶναι δὲ τὰς τραπέζας ἔφη, πάνυ ἀγροίκως λέγων, τούς τε λειμῶνας καὶ πεδία καὶ νάπας καὶ ἀκτάς, ἐν οἷς τὰ μὲν φύεσθαι, τὰ δὲ νέμεσθαι, τὰ δὲ θηρᾶσθαι. ἄλλα δὲ ἄλλοις πλείονα παρεῖναι, πρὸς αἷς ἂν ἕκαστοι τραπέζαις κατακλιθῶσιν. τοὺς μὲν γὰρ πρὸς θαλάττῃ τυχεῖν, τοὺς δὲ πρὸς πεδίοις, τοὺς δὲ πρὸς

  [30] and tables are set beside us, loaded with everything, with bread and fruit, some of it wild and some cultivated, and with meats too, some from domestic animals, some from wild, and fish also from the sea. And these tables, the peasant said, speaking like a true rustic, are the meadows, plains, vales, and coast-land, on which some things grow, others pasture, and yet others are hunted. And different persons have different things in greater abundance according to the tables at which they have severally reclined. For some happen to have settled by the sea, others on the plains, and yet others in the mountains.

  [31] ὄρεσι. διακονεῖσθαι δὲ τὰς Ὥρας, οἷα δὴ νεωτάτας οὔσας τῶν θεῶν, εὖ μὲν ἀμπεχομένας, καλὰς δὲ ἰδεῖν, οὔτι που χρυσῷ κεκοσμημένας, ἀλλὰ παντοίων ἀνθῶν στεφάνοις. διανέμειν δὲ καὶ τῶν ἀνθῶν αὐτῶν, καὶ τἄλλα ἐπιμελεῖσθαι τῆς ἑστιάσεως, τὰ μὲν παρατιθείσας, τὰ δὲ αἰρούσας κατὰ καιρόν. γίγνεσθαι δὲ καὶ χοροὺς

  [31] And the waiters are the Seasons, as being the youngest of the gods, beautifully dressed and fair to behold, and they are adorned, not, methinks, with gold, but with garlands of all manner of flowers. And some of the flowers themselves they distribute and also attend to the viands of the banquet in general, serving some and removing others at the right time. And there is dancing and every other sort of merrymaking.

  [32] καὶ τὴν ἄλλην εὐπάθειαν ἅπασαν. τὸν μέντοι πόνον τοῦτον, ὃν ἔχειν δοκοῦμεν ἐν γεωργίαις τε καὶ θήραις καὶ φυτείαις, εἶναι τοσοῦτον ὅσον τοῖς κατακειμένοις τὸ ἐπορέξασθαί τινος καὶ τῇ χειρὶ λαβεῖν. ὃ δὲ ἔφην, ἄλλον ἀλλαχῇ κατακεῖσθαι, τούτου καὶ [p. 303] ἡ κρᾶσις τῶν ἀέρων αἰτία. τοὺς γὰρ πρώτους καὶ τοὺς ὑστάτους μᾶλλον τῶν ἄλλων εἶναι τοὺς μὲν ἐν ψύχει, τοὺς δὲ ἐν ἀλέᾳ, τοὺς

  [32] Furthermore, that labour which we think we undergo in farming and hunting and the care of the vines, is no more than it is for those at a table to reach out for a thing and take it in their hand. To return now to my statement that different persons reclined in different places, the reason for that is the differences in the climate. For those at the head of the tables and those at the foot, more than of the others, are either
in the cold or in the heat, because they are either near the light or far from it.

  [33] μὲν ἐγγὺς τοὺ φωτὸς ὄντας, τοὺς δὲ πόρρω. τῇ οὖν εὐφροσύνῃ καὶ τῇ εὐωχίᾳ χρῆσθαι οὐχ ἅπαντας ὁμοίως, ἀλλ̓ ἕκαστον κατὰ τὴν αὑτοῦ φύσιν. τοὺς μὲν γὰρ ἀσώτους καὶ ἀκρατεῖς οὔτε ὁρᾶν οὐδὲν οὔτε ἀκούειν οὐδενός, ἀλλὰ ἐγκεκυφότας ἐσθίειν, ὥσπερ ἐν συφεῷ ὗς, ἔπειτα νυστάζειν. τινὰς δὲ αὐτῶν μὴ ἀρκεῖσθαι τοῖς παροῦσιν, ἀλλὰ ἐπὶ τὰ πορρωτέρω διατείνειν τὰς χεῖρας, οἷον μεσογείους

  [33] “Now all, so the man continued, do not enjoy the merrymaking and banqueting in the same way, but each according to his own nature. The dissolute and intemperate neither see nor hear anything, but bend over and eat, like pigs in a sty, and then nod in sleep. Again, some of them are not satisfied with what is near, but reach out their hands for the things that are farther away, as, for example, people living inland want fish and take trouble to get it;

  [34] ὄντας ἰχθύων ὀρέγεσθαι καὶ πράγματα ἔχειν: ἄλλους δὲ ἀπλήστους τε καὶ ἀθλίους ὄντας, φοβουμένους μήποτε αὐτοῖς ἐλλίπῃ, πρὸς αὑτοὺς συνάγειν καὶ σωρεύειν ὅς᾿ ἂν δύνωνται. καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα, ὅταν αὐτοὺς ἀπιέναι δέῃ, πορεύεσθαι μηδενὸς μετασχόντας, ἀλλὰ πάνυ ἐνδεεῖς, καταλείπειν οἱ δὲ ταῦτα ἑτέροις: οὐ γὰρ εἶναι φέρεσθαι μεθ̓ ἑαυτῶν. τούτους μὲν οὖν καταγελᾶσθαί τε καὶ