Delphi Complete Works of Dio Chrysostom

by Dio Chrysostom

  [5] σχεδὸν δὲ τοῦτο καὶ ἐπ᾽ ἄλλων ἰδεῖν ἔστι γιγνόμενον: οἷον ἐπειδάν τινες ὑπονοήσωσιν ἔχειν τινὰ τοῦτο αὐτό, ὃ τυγχάνουσι ζητοῦντες,προσίασι καὶ ἀνερευνῶσιν: ἐὰν οὖν περιστέλλῃ καὶ μὴ ἐθέλῃ δεικνύειν, ἔτι μᾶλλον ὑπονοοῦσιν: ἐὰν δὲ παραχρῆμα ἀποκαλύψῃ καὶ γένηται φανερὸς οὐκ ἔχων οὐδέν, ἀπίασι, διημαρτηκέναι νομίσαντες. πολὺ δὴ κρεῖττον τοῖς οὐ δεομένοις δόξης ἀποκαλύπτεσθαι πρὸς τοὺς πολλοὺς καὶ φανερὸν τῷ λόγῳ ποιεῖναὑτὸν τοῖς δυναμένοις ξυνεῖναι τὸν ἄνθρωπον ὁποῖός ἐστιν. οἶμαι [p. 333] γὰρ αὐτοὺς καταφρονήσειν σαφῶς ὡς ἔγωγε νῦν πέπονθα καὶ οὐ ξυνήσειν ἀλλήλων ἡμᾶς, οὔτε ἐμὲ τῶν ἀκουόντων οὔτε ἐκείνους τοῦ λέγοντος. τούτου δὲ αἴτιον ἔγωγε θείην ἂν ἐμαυτὸν μᾶλλον ἢ ὑμᾶς. μία μὲν οὖν αὕτη πρόφασις τοῦ προελθεῖν.

  [5] This is virtually what you may see occurring with other men also. For example, when certain people suspect a man of having the very thing for which they happen to be searching, they go up to him and put him through a close questioning. If, then, he draws his cloak about him and declines to answer, they are all the more suspicious, but if he immediately unwraps and it becomes evident that he is concealing nothing, they go away convinced that they have been in error. You see, it is far better for those who are not seeking notoriety to disclose themselves to the people, and for a person by speaking to reveal himself for the benefit of those who can understand what sort of man he is. For I fancy that they will clearly show contempt for me, to judge by the treatment I have been receiving, and that we shall not understand one another, neither I my audience nor they their speaker. And the blame for this misunderstanding I would set down to my account rather than to yours.

  [6] ἑτέρα δὲ τὸ φοβεῖσθαι μὴ διαφθαρῶ αὐτὸς διὰ τὴν ὑμετέραν ὑποψίαν καὶ τῷ ὄντι νομίσω προσεῖναι σπουδαῖόν τι ἐμαυτῷ. μεγάλης γὰρ διανοίας καὶ δυνάμεως ἔοικε δεῖν, ὅταν θαυμάσωσιν ἕνα πολλοὶ καὶ διαφέρειν ἡγῶνται τῶν ἄλλων, εἰ μέλλει σωφρονεῖν οὗτος ὁ ἀνὴρ καὶ μηδὲν ἀνόητον πάσχειν μηδὲ ἐπαίρεσθαι τοῖς τῶν πολλῶν λόγοις, ὥσπερ πτεροῖς: καθάπερ τὸν Ἀχιλλέα πεποίηκεν Ὅμηρος διὰ τὴν ἀλαζονείαν ὑπὸ τῶν ὅπλων ἐπαιρόμενον καὶ φερόμενον:

  [6] This, then, is one reason for my coming forward. But there is another reason — my fear that I myself may become spoiled through your suspicions of me and come to believe that there is actually something of importance in my make-up. For when many people display admiration for one man and consider him superior to the rest, great wisdom and strength of character are seemingly needed if he is to preserve his common sense and not be made a fool or be uplifted, as by wings, by the words of the crowd — as Homer has portrayed Achilles, through vainglory because of his new armour, being uplifted and in full career:

  To him they were as wings and raised aloft

  The shepherd of the host.

  [7] τῷ δ᾽ αὖτε πτερὰ γίνετ᾽, ἄειρε δὲ ποιμένα λαῶν. ἡλίκη δέ ἐστιν ἡ τῶν πολλῶν δύναμις τοῦ πείθειν ὅ, τι ἂν αὐτοὶ θέλωσιν, οὐχ ἥκιστα ἀπὸ τῶν παίδων μάθοι τις ἄν, ὅταν ἀνθρώπῳ σωφρονοῦντι παιδάρια ἀκολουθῇ, φάσκοντα μαίνεσθαι. τὸ μὲν γὰρ πρῶτον ἄπεισιν ἀγανακτῶν καθ᾽ αὑτόν, ἔπειτα προσκρούων ἀεὶ καὶ λοιδορούμενος ἑκάστῳ καὶ διώκων αὐτὸ τοῦτο ἔπαθεν, ἐξέστη τελευτῶν, καὶ τὴν φήμην ὑπέλαβε θεὸν εἶναι, οὐ μόνον τὴν τῶν ἀνδρῶν,

  [7] And how great the power of the populace is to make men believe anything they please may perhaps best be learned from children: when a sane man is followed by urchins who keep calling him crazy. For at first the man goes away inwardly annoyed, and then, from constantly falling foul of them and reviling and chasing them one by one, he gets into that very state and ends by going mad, and the spoken word he took to be a manifestation of deity, not merely the utterance of men, but even that of boys.

  [8] ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν τῶν παίδων. δοκεῖ δέ μοι καὶ τὸ τῶν σοφιστῶν γένος ἐντεῦθεν αὔξεσθαί ποθεν. ἐπειδὰν πολλοὶ νεανίσκοι σχολὴν ἄγοντες ἕνα θαυμάζωσι πηδῶντες, καθάπερ αἱ Βάκχαι περὶ τὸν Διόνυσον, πᾶσα ἀνάγκη τοῦτον τὸν ἄνθρωπον οὐ πολλῷ τινι χρόνῳ πολλοῖς τῶν ἄλλων δόξαι τι λέγειν. σχεδὸν γὰρ ὥσπερ οἱ γονεῖς διαλέγεσθαι τὰ παιδία διδάσκουσιν, ἐπὶ παντὶ χαίροντες ὅ, τι ἂν εἴπωσιν: οὐκοῦν ἐκ τούτων θαρρεῖ καὶ μᾶλλο πρόεισι καὶ σαφέστερον ἀεὶ διαλέγεται καὶ τέλος ἐξέμαθε τὴν φωνὴν τῶν ξυνόντων, ἐάν τε Ἕλληνες ὦσιν ἐάν τε βάρβαροι: καὶ τοὺς σοφιστὰς ἀνάγκη τὴν διάνοιαν τῶν ἀκροατῶν ἀναλαβεῖν, τοιαῦτα καὶ λέγοντας καὶ διανοουμένους ὁποῖοί ποτ᾽ ἂν οὗτοι τυγχάνωσιν

  [8] And, methinks, the tribe of sophists also owes its development to some such cause as this. When a lot of young men with nothing to do go leaping about a man with cries of admiration, as the Bacchants leap about Dionysus, inevitably that man after no great lapse of time will gain a reputation with many others for talking sensibly. Why, that is very much the way in which parents teach their children how to talk, expressing keen delight over anything the children may utter. Accordingly, in consequence of that applause, the children take courage and make further progress and keep speaking more and more distinctly, until finally they have mastered the language of their associates, be they Greeks or barbarians. The sophists also can’t help adopting the thought of their listeners, saying and thinking such things as fit the nature of those listeners, whatever it happens to be; but the majority of these are pretty much simpletons, victims of an unkind fate.

  [9] ὄντες. εἰσὶ δὲ οἱ πλείους ἐπιεικῶς ἠλίθιοι καὶ δυστυχεῖς. οὗτος μὲν οὖν ἴσως οὐ μέγας κίνδυνος, εἴ τις αὑτῷ καὶ ἑτέροις δοκεῖ [p. 334] δεινὸς εἶναι καὶ περιάξει πλῆθος ἀνθρώπων ἀνοήτων: ὥσπερ τὸν Ὀρφέα φασὶ τὰς δρῦς καὶ τὰς πέτρας καὶ τοὺς λίθους: τὸ δ᾽ αὐτὸν ἀνόητον ὄντα καὶ δειλὸν καὶ ἀκόλαστον καὶ μηδὲν διαφέροντα τῶν βοσκημάτων ἀρετῆς τι νομίσαι προσήκειν αὑτῷ καὶ καλοκἀγαθίας, τοῦτο δὴ παντελῶς δεινὸν καὶ τῆς χαλεπωτάτης πασῶνἀνοίας καὶ μανίας. ἀλλ᾽ ὅταν φήμη καταλαμβάνῃ τινὰ καὶ τοιοῦτος ἄρξηται λόγος ὑποτύφεσθαι, δεῖ περιρρηξάμενον ἐκπηδᾶν γυμνὸν εἰς τὰς ὁδούς, ἐπιδεικνύντα πᾶσιν ὅτι μηδενός ἐστι βελτίων.

  [9] Wel
l then, conceivably there is no great risk involved if a man appears to himself and others to be clever, and draws in his train a crowd of fools — just as it is said of Orpheus, that he drew to himself trees and rocks and stones — but that, while himself a fool, a coward, intemperate, in no wise superior to dumb cattle, a man should believe that he has any claim to virtue and gentility — that indeed is utterly preposterous and a mark of the most grievous folly and madness. Nay, whenever fame lays hold upon a man and that sort of talk starts to smoulder, he should tear off his garments and leap forth naked upon the public highways, proving to all the world that he is no better than any other man.

  [10] ἐὰν δὲ ἐπακολουθῇ τις φάσκων εἶναι μαθητής, ἀπελαύνειν παίοντα καὶ βάλλοντα ταῖς βώλοις καὶ τοῖς λίθοις, ὡς ἀνόητονἢ πονηρόν. λέγω δὲ οὐ πρὸς ἅπαντας — εἰσὶ γὰρ οἱ καλῶς καὶ συμφερόντως τὸ πρᾶγμα πράττοντες, οἷς ἔδει σπένδειν καὶ θυμιᾶν — ἀλλ᾽ οὓς σοφοὺς ὑμῖν ἀποδεικνύουσι τρεῖς ἢ τέτταρες κομῆται, καθάπερ τοὺς ἱερέας τῶν παρ᾽ ὑμῖν: τοὺς μακαρίους λέγω, τοὺς ἁπάντων ἄρχοντας τῶν ἱερέων, τοὺς ἐπωνύμους τῶν δύοἠπείρων τῆς ἑτέρας ὅλης. ταῦτα γάρ ἐστι τὰ ποιοῦντα καὶ τούτους εὐδαίμονας, στέφανος καὶ πορφύρα καὶ παιδάρια κομῶντα λιβανωτὸν φέροντα. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ὅπως ποτὲ ἔχει, λελέχθω.

  [10] And if someone follows at his heels claiming to be his pupil, he must try to drive him away, striking him with his fists and pelting him with clods of earth and stones, knowing that the fellow is either fool or knave.

  However, my remarks are not levelled at all sophists, for there are some who follow that calling honourably and for the good of others, men to whom we should pour libation and offer incense; nay, I mean rather those whom they appoint to serve you as experts in wisdom, three or four long-haired persons like the high-priests of your local rites. I refer to the ‘blessed ones,’ who exercise authority over all your priests, whose title represents one of the two continents in its entirety. For these men too owe their ‘blessedness’ to crowns and purple and a throng of long-haired lads bearing frankincense.

  [11] τὸ δὲ κομᾶν οὐ χρὴ πάντως ὑπολαμβάνειν ὡς ἀρετῆς σημεῖον. πολλοὶ γὰρ δὴ διὰ θεόν τινα κομῶσιν ἄνθρωποι: καὶ γεωργοὶκομῆται, μηδὲ τοὔνομα ἀκούσαντές ποτε τὸ φιλοσοφίας, καὶ νὴ Δία οἱ πλείους τῶν βαρβάρων, οἱ μὲν σκέπης ἕνεκεν, οἱ δὲ καὶ πρέπειν αὑτοῖς νομίζοντες. τούτων δ᾽ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐπίφθονος οὐδεὶς οὐδὲ καταγέλαστος.

  [11] Well then, whatever be the truth in these matters, let this suffice. However, I still maintain that long hair must not by any means be taken as a mark of virtue. For many human beings wear it long because of some deity; and farmers wear long hair, without ever having even heard the word philosophy; and, by Zeus, most barbarians also wear long hair, some for a covering and some because they believe it to be becoming. In none of these cases is a man subjected to odium or ridicule.

  [12] ἴσως γὰρ ὀρθῶς αὐτὸ πράττουσιν: ἐπεὶ καὶ τοὺς λαγὼς ὁρᾶτε τοὺς πάνυ ἀσθενεῖς ὑπὸ τῆς δασύτητοσσῳζομένους, καὶ τῶν ὀρνέων τοῖς ἀσθενεστάτοις ἐξαρκεῖ τὰ πτερὰ εἴργειν τὸν ἄνεμον καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ, διότι ἐξ αὐτῶν πέφυκεν. ἡμεῖς δὲ τὴν μὴν κόμην ἀφαιροῦμεν, ὥσπερ οἱ νομεῖς τῶν ἵππων, ἃς ἂν ἐθέλωσι παραβαλεῖν τοῖς ὄνοις, καὶ τὰ γένεια ἀποκείρομεν, [p. 335] τὰς δὲ κεφαλὰς σκέπομεν. τοὺς δὲ ἀλεκτρυόνας ὁρῶμεν οὐδενὸς τοιούτου προσδεομένους, ὧν ἄνθρωποι σισύρας καὶ πίλους καὶ τοιαῦθ᾽ ἕτερα ξυρράπτοντες. καί ποῖος ἂν γένοιτο πῖλος Ἀρκαδικὸς ἢ Λακωνικὸς μᾶλλον ἁρμόττων τῆς αὑτοῦ κόμης ἑκάστῳ; καὶ τί δεῖ, φησί, τοσούτων ὄντων σκεπασμάτων; οὐδὲν τοῖς γε πλουσίοις: ἐκείνοις μὲν οὐδὲ χειρῶν οὐδὲ ποδῶν.

  [12] The reason may well be because their practice is correct. For instance, you observe that rabbits, weak creatures that they are, are protected by their shaggy coats, and that among the birds even the weakest find their feathers a sufficient protection against wind and rain. But as for us human beings, while we shear off our locks (just as horse-breeders shear the manes of mares that they plan to mate with asses) and also shave our beards, we make coverings for our heads. Yet we observes that cocks require nothing extra as human beings do, goat-skin coats and caps of felt and other similar coverings which we stitch together. And yet what cap of Arcadian or Laconian make could be more suitable than a man’s own hair? “Besides,” someone will ask, “what need is there for so many coverings for the body?” No need, at least for men of wealth; indeed they do not need hands or feet either.

  [13] ἐγὼ δὲ ὁρῶ καὶ ταύτην τὴν πόλιν οὐδεμιᾶς ἐνδεεστέραν τῶν πρώτων, καὶ ξυνήδομαι καὶ ἀγαπῶ. τῆς γὰρ ἠπείρου τὸ καρτερώτατον νέμεσθε καὶ πιότατον, πεδίων δὲ καὶ ὀρῶν μεταξὺ καλλίστων ἵδρυσθε, καὶ πηγὰς ἀφθονωτάτας ἔχετε καὶ χώραν εὐκαρποτάτην ξύμπαντα μυρία φέρουσαν,

  πυρούς τε ζειάς τ᾽ ἠδ᾽ εὐρυφυὲς κρῖ λευκόν,

  καὶ πολλὰς μὲν ἀγέλας, πολλὰς δὲ ποίμνας ποιμαίνετε καὶ βουκολεῖτε. τῶν τε ποταμῶν οἱ μέγιστοι καὶ πολυωφελέστατοι τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐνθένδε ἔχουσιν, ὅ τε Μαρσύας οὗτος, διὰ μέσης τῆς πόλεως ὑμῶν ῥέων, ὅ τε Ὀργᾶς, ὅ τε Μαίανδρος, πολὺ πάντων τῶν ποταμῶν θειότατος καὶ σοφώτατος, ὃς ἑλίττων μυρίας καμπὰς σχεδόν τι τὴν ἀρίστην τῆς Ἀσίας ἔπεισιν.

  [13] But [speaking of protection], I perceive that this city of yours is inferior to none of the first rank, and I rejoice with you and am content that it is so. For example, you occupy the strongest site and the richest on the continent; you are settled in the midst of plains and mountains of rare beauty; you have most abundant springs and a soil of greatest fertility, bearing, all told, unnumbered products,

  Both wheat and spelt and broad-eared barley white;

  and many are the droves of cattle and many the flocks of sheep you tend and pasture. And as for rivers, the largest and most serviceable have their source here — the Marsyas yonder, bearing its waters through the midst of your city, and the Orgas, and the Maeander, by far the most godlike and the wisest of all rivers, a river which with its countless windings visits, one may almost say, all that is best in Asia.

  [14] τῆς τε Φρυγίας προκάθησθε καὶ Λυδίας, ἔτι δὲ Καρίας, ἄλλα τε ἔθνη περιοικεῖ πολυανδρότατα, Καππάδοκές τε καὶ Πάμφυλοι καὶ Πισίδαι, καὶ τούτοις ἅπασιν ἀγορὰν ὑμεῖς καὶ ξύνοδον παρέχεσθε τὴν αὑτῶν πόλιν. καὶ τοῦτο μὲν πολλὰς τῶν ἀνωνύμων πόλεων, τοῦτο δὲ πολλὰς ε�
�δαίμονας κώμας ὑπηκόους ἔχετε. σημεῖον δὲ μέγιστον τῆς δυνάμεως ὑμῶν τὸ πλῆθος τῶν φόρων. ὡς γὰρ οἶμαι τῶν ὑποζυγίων κράτιστα δοκεῖ τὰ πλεῖστον ἕλκοντα, οὕτω καὶ τῶν πόλεων εἰκὸς ἀρίστας εἶναι τὰς πλεῖστον ἀργύριον ὑποτελούσας.

  [14] Furthermore, you stand as a bulwark in front of Phrygia and Lydia and Caria besides; and there are other tribes around you whose members are most numerous, Cappadocians and Pamphylians and Pisidians, and for them all your city constitutes a market and a place of meeting. And also many cities unknown to fame and many prosperous villages are subject to your sway. And a very great index of your power is found in the magnitude of the contributions with which you are assessed. For, in my opinion, just as those beasts of burden are judged to be most powerful which carry the greatest loads, so also it is reasonable to suppose that those cities are the most considerable which pay the largest assessments.

  [15] πρὸς δὲ τούτοις αἱ δίκαι παρ᾽ ἔτος ἄγονται παρ᾽ ὑμῖν καὶ ξυνάγεται πλῆθος ἀνθρώπων ἄπειρον δικαζομένων, δικαζόντων, ῥητόρων, ἡγεμόνων, [p. 336] ὑπηρετῶν, οἰκετῶν, μαστροπῶν, ὀρεοκόμων, καπήλων, ἑταιρῶν τε καὶ βαναύσων: ὥστε τά τε ὤνια τοὺς ἔχοντας πλείστης ἀποδίδοσθαι τιμῆς καὶ μηδὲν ἀργὸν εἶναι τῆς πόλεως, μήτε τὰ ζεύγη μήτε τὰς οἰκίας μήτε τὰς γυναῖκας. τοῦτο δὲ οὐ σμικρόν ἐστι πρὸς εὐδαιμονίαν.