Delphi Complete Works of Dio Chrysostom

by Dio Chrysostom

  [10] Δαιδάλου ποιημάτων ἔτυχεν ὢν καὶ λαθὼν ἡμᾶς ἀπέδρα. ἀλλ̓ ἀφ̓ οὗ Δαίδαλος ἐτελεύτησεν, οὐδεὶς εἰς ταύτην τὴν ἡμέραν ἐξίκετο τῆς τέχνης μέχρι τοῦ καὶ δρασμὸν ἐμποιεῖν τῷ χαλκῷ: ἀλλὰ διαβεβηκότας μὲν εὖ καὶ καλῶς ποιοῦσι, τοὺς δὲ καὶ ἐφ̓ ἵππων ὀχουμένους: μένουσι μέντοι οὗτοι πάντες κατὰ σχῆμα καὶ χώραν, κἂν μή τις αὐτοὺς μετακινήσῃ, τό γε ἐπ̓ αὐτοῖς εἶναι χαλκὸς ἄδραστος,

  [10] However, not since the death of Daedalus down to the present day has any one made such progress in the art of sculpture as to impart to bronze the power of flight; nay, though they make statues of men with a fine and noble stride, and sometimes even riding on horseback, still these all maintain their pose and station and, unless some one moves them, so far as they are concerned bronze has no power to flee, not even if the statue has wings, like the Perseus of Pythagoras.

  [11] ἂν καὶ πτερὰ ἔχῃ, ὥσπερ καὶ ὁ τοῦ Πυθαγόρου Περσεύς. ἵνα δὲ καὶ τῆς ἀρχαίας τέχνης ᾖ τῆς Δαιδαλείου, τί παθὼν ἂν ὑμῶν ἀπηλλάγη τῆς πόλεως, ὑπὲρ ἧς τοὺς δύο θεούς φασιν ἐρίσαι, Ποσειδῶνα καὶ τὸν Ἥλιον, τὸν μὲν τοῦ πυρὸς κύριον, τὸν δὲ τοῦ ὕδατος; ἐρίσαντε δὲ καὶ τὴν δίαιταν ἐπιτρέψαντε τρίτῳ θεῷ πρεσβυτέρῳ, οὗ

  πλεῖσται μὲν κεφαλαί, πλεῖσται δέ τε χεῖρες,

  τούτῳ τὴν δίαιταν ἐπιτρέψαντες ἀμφότεροι τήνδε τὴν πόλιν καὶ τὴν χώραν ἔχουσιν: οὔτι που μικρὸν οὐδ̓ ἀμυδρὸν σημεῖον τῆς

  [11] But supposing my statue to be actually of the ancient craftsmanship of Daedalus, for what strange reason would it have taken leave of your city, the city for which they say the two gods, Poseidon and Helius, vied with one another, the one being lord of fire, the other lord of water? And after the twain had striven and had entrusted the decision to a third god who was their elder,

  Whose heads were many, many too his arms,

  having, as I say, left to him the decision, they both have held this city and district ever since, surely no slight or obscure sign of its superiority over all other cities.

  [12] πρὸς τὰς ἄλλας ὑπεροχῆς. αἱ μὲν γὰρ ἄλλαι λήξεις τε καὶ κτήσεις τῶν θεῶν κατὰ μόνας εἰσίν: Ἄργος μὲν Ἥρας, Ἀθηνᾶς δὲ Ἀθῆναι: καὶ αὐτῶν γε τούτων τῶν θεῶν Ῥόδος μὲν Ἠλίου, Ὀγχηστὸς δὲ Ποσειδῶνος, Κόρινθος δὲ ἑκατέρων. εἰκάσαις ἂν αἰνιττομένου τοῦ μύθου τὸ τῆς γῆς ἐν μέσῳ δύο πελαγῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου ἐξαίρετον βουλομένου τοῦ Ποσειδῶνος. τὸ μὲν οὖν τοῦ μύθου τε

  [12] For while the others are portion and property of the gods individually — Argos of Hera and Athens of Athena — and while, with reference to these very gods of whom I speak, Rhodes belongs to Helius and Onchestus to Poseidon, Corinth belongs to each of the two. You might imagine, since the myth suggests it, that the strip of land between two seas was an exceptional grant made by Helius because Poseidon wished it so.

  [13] καὶ τοῦ λόγου, τῇδέ πῃ συνᾴδοντα, τρίτην ἐπὶ δισσοῖς μάρτυσι [p. 20] τὴν θεσπιῳδὸν Σίβυλλαν παρακαλεῖ: τρανῆ δὲ ἐκ θεοῦ φωνὴν λαχοῦσα ᾄδει μάλα μέγα:

  εὐδαίμων πιτυώδεος ὄλβιος αὐχὴν

  Ὠκεανοῦ κούρης Ἐφύρης, ἔνθα Ποσειδῶν,

  μητρὸς ἐμῆς Λαμίας γενέτωρ, προύθηκεν ἀγῶνα

  πρῶτος ἅμ̓ Ἠελίῳ, τιμὰς δ̓ ἠνέγκατο μοῦνος.

  [13] Now then, both myth and history, while singing in fair harmony on this theme, invite the Sibyl of prophetic song as a third for their trio of praise; and she, having obtained as her prerogative the voice of a god, sings aloud:

  What place to thee so happy as the blest

  Isthmus of Ephyrê, Ocean’s child, whereon

  Poseidon, sire of Lamia, mother mine,

  Did first with Helius appoint the games,

  Though his alone the honours there received?

  [14] καὶ γάρ τοι καὶ ἀγῶνα πρῶτον ἐνταυθοῖ τεθῆναί φασιν ὑπὸ τῶν δύο θεῶν, καὶ νικῆσαι Κάστορα μὲν στάδιον, Κάλαϊν δὲ δίαυλον: καὶ γὰρ Κάλαΐν φασι δραμεῖν, ἀπεχόμενον τοῦ πέτεσθαι. δεῖ δὲ καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους, ἐπείπερ ἠρξάμεθα, ἀθλοφόρους τε λεχθῆναι καὶ νικηφόρους. Ὀρφεὺς κιθάρᾳ, Ἡρακλῆς πάμμαχον, πυγμὴν Πολυδεύκης, πάλην Πηλεύς, δίσκον Τελαμών, ἐνόπλιον Θησεύς. ἐτέθη δὲ καὶ ἵππων ἀγών, καὶ ἐνίκα κέλητι μὲν Φαέθων, τεθρίππῳ δὲ

  [14] For the fact is, you know, men say not only that the contest was first established there by the two gods, but also that Castor won the single course and Calaïs the double — for we are told that Calaïs ran, refraining from flying. But now that we have broached the subject, the others too who were prize-winners and victors should be named. Orpheus was victorious with the lyre, Heracles in the rough-and-tumble, in boxing Polydeuces, in wrestling Peleus, in the discus Telamon, in the contest in armour Theseus. And there had been instituted also a contest for horses, and Phaëthon won with a courser, and Neleus with a team of four.

  [15] Νηλεύς. ἐγένετο δὲ καὶ νεῶν ἅμιλλα, καὶ Ἀργὼ ἐνίκα, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα οὐκ ἔπλευσεν, ἀλλὰ αὐτὴν ἀνέθηκεν ὁ Ἰάσων ἐνταῦθα τῷ Ποσειδῶνι, καὶ τὸ ἐπίγραμμα ἐπέγραψεν, ὃ λέγουσιν Ὀρφέως εἶναι:

  Ἀργὼ τὸ σκάφος εἰμί, θεῷ δ̓ ἀνέθηκεν Ἰάσων,

  Ἴσθμια καὶ Νεμέοις στεψάμενον πίτυσιν.

  ὅπου δὲ θεοὶ ἀγωνοθετοῦσιν, ἡμίθεοι δὲ νικῶσι καὶ νικῶνται, ἀναπαύεται δὲ Ἀργώ, τίνα τούτου τόπον καλλίω ἐξευρεῖν ἐδύνατο αὐτὸς ὁ Δαίδαλος πτεροῖς πετόμενος, οὐχ ὅτι γε δὴ τὸ Δαιδάλου

  [15] And there was also a boatrace, in which Argo was the winner, and after that she sailed no more, but Jason dedicated her there to Poseidon, and he carved on her a couplet, which men say is the work of Orpheus:

  I am the good ship Argo, to God by Jason devoted,

  Victor in Isthmian Games, crownèd with Nemean pine.

  But a place where gods control the games, and heroes the victors and the vanquished, and Argo lies at rest — what lovelier place than this could Daedalus himself discover as he flew with wings — to say nothing, of course, of that statue made by Daedalus?

  [16] ποίημα; ἀλλ̓ οὔτε ἀπέδρα οὔτε ἐπεχείρησεν οὔθ̓ ὅλως ἐμέλλησε: καταλείπεται τοίνυν αὐτοὺς τοὺς Κορινθίους ἐκβαλεῖν αὐτὸν μήτε κρίσεως προτεθείσης μήθ̓ ὅλως αἰτίαν ἔχοντας ἐπενεγκεῖν. καὶ τοῦτο ἐπείσθη τις κατὰ Κορινθίων; ὧν οἱ πρόγονοι διὰ πάντων Ἑλλήνων μάλιστα δὴ δικαιοσύνη�
� ἐπήσκησαν. ἢ γὰρ οὐχ οὗτοί εἰσιν οἱ τὰς τυραννίδας ἐν ταῖς πόλεσι καταλύοντες καὶ τὰς δημοκρατίας καθιστάντες καὶ τὰς Ἀθήνας ἀπὸ τῶν τυράννων ἐλευθερώσαντες,

  [16] Nay, that statue of mine neither ran away nor tried to do so nor had any such intention at all; therefore we are left to conclude that the Corinthians themselves banished it, not only without holding any trial, but also without having any charge at all to bring against it. And would any one have believed this to the discredit of the Corinthians, whose forefathers were pre-eminent among the Greeks for cultivating justice? For, I ask you, was it not they who put an end to the tyrannies in the cities and established the democracies and freed Athens from her tyrants — first from Hippias and later from Cleomenes —

  [17] πρότερον μὲν ἀπὸ Ἱππίου, ὕστερον δὲ ἀπὸ Κλεομένους, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ὡς αὐτοὶ Ἀθηναῖοι πρᾶγμα ποιεῖν ἐπεχείρουν [p. 21] Ἱππίου καὶ Ἰσαγόρου καὶ τυραννίδα τῆς Ἑλλάδος καθίστασθαι, πρῶτοι μὲν αἰσθόμενοι, μάλιστα δὲ ἀλγήσαντες, ἡγεμόνες δὲ τοῖς ἄλλοις τῆς ἐλευθερίας καταστάντες, καὶ ταύτην τὴν διάνοιαν οὐ μόνον ἐπὶ τῶν Ἀθηναίων, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων διαφυλάξαντες; καὶ γὰρ Λακεδαιμονίοις ὑπὲρ τῶν κοινῶν δικαίων τῆς Ἑλλάδος μετὰ τῆς Θηβαίων καὶ Ἠλείων πόλεως ἀντέβησαν: ᾧ καὶ διέδειξαν οὐ φιλολάκωνες ὄντες, ἀλλ̓ ἁπλῶς φιλέλληνες καὶ φιλοδίκαιοι καὶ φιλελεύθεροι καὶ μισοπόνηροι καὶ μισοτύραννοι.

  [17] and who after that, when Athenians themselves undertook to play the rôle of Hippias and Isagoras and to set up a tyranny over Hellas, being the first to sense what was going on and being especially pained thereat, led the way to freedom for the others and maintained that purpose, not only in the case of the Athenians, but also in that of the Spartans? For example, in company with the states of Thebes and Elis they opposed the Spartans in defence of the common rights of Hellas; and by this act they also showed that they were not mere lovers of honour, but rather lovers of Hellas, of justice, of freedom, and haters of villainy and tyranny.

  [18] μισοβάρβαροι μὲν γὰρ οὕτως ἦσαν, ὥστε εἰς Θερμοπύλας τετρακοσίους σφῶν αὐτῶν ἀπέστειλαν, ὅτεπερ καὶ Λακεδαιμόνιοι τριακοσίους. ἐν Σαλαμῖνι δὲ ἠρίστευσαν καὶ τῆς νίκης αἴτιοι κατέστησαν. Ἡροδότῳ γὰρ οὐ προσέχω, ἀλλὰ τῷ τάφῳ καὶ τῷ Σιμωνίδῃ, ὃς ἐπέγραψεν ἐπὶ τοῖς νεκροῖς τῶν Κορινθίων τεθαμμένοις ἐν Σαλαμῖνι: ὦ ξεῖν̓, εὔυδρόν ποτ̓ ἐναίομεν ἄστυ Κορίνθου, νῦν δ̓ ἄμμ̓ Αἴαντος νᾶσος ἔχει Σαλαμίς. ῥεῖα δὲ Φοινίσσας νῆας καὶ Πέρσας ἑλόντες καὶ Μήδους ἱερὰν Ἑλλάδ̓ ἱδρυσάμεθα.

  [18] Yes, and they were such haters of barbarians that they dispatched to Thermopylae four hundred of their own troops on the same occasion on which the Spartans sent three hundred. And at Salamis they won the prize for valour and became responsible for the victory. For I pay no heed to Herodotus but rather to the funeral monument and to Simonides, who composed the following epitaph for the Corinthian dead who were buried in Salamis:

  O stranger, once we dwelt in Corinth blest

  With fountains; now the isle of Ajax holds

  Our bones. With ease we took Phoenician ships,

  Vanquished alike the Persians and the Medes,

  And saved our sacred Hellas from the foe.

  [19] ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἕτερον ἐπίγραμμα Σιμωνίδῃ εἰς αὐτὸν τὸν στρατηγὸν ἐξαίρετον: οὗτος Ἀδειμάντου κείνου τάφος, οὗ διὰ βουλὰς Ἑλλὰς ἐλευθερίας ἀμφέθετο στέφανον. ἠλευθέρωσαν δὲ καὶ τὴν Σικελίαν ἀπὸ τῶν βαρβάρων, καὶ τὰς Συρακούσας δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν τυράννων. ἦν δ̓ ἰδεῖν Διονύσιον ἐν Κορίνθῳ, θέαμα κάλλιστον, οὐδενὸς κύριον: ἀλλ̓ ὅμως οὐδὲ τοῦτον οὐδεὶς ἠδίκει οὐδὲ ἐξέβαλλεν οὐδ̓ ἐξήλαυνε τῶν ἐκ Σικελίας.

  [19] And Simonides also has another epitaph referring particularly to the commander himself:

  Here lies that Adeimantus by whose designs

  Greece bound about her brows fair freedom’s crown.

  And what is more, the Corinthians also freed Sicily from the foreigner and Syracuse too from her tyrants. And Dionysius was then to be seen in Corinth — a most glorious spectacle! — shorn of all his power; and yet no one wronged even him or tried to banish him or to deprive him of the wealth he brought with him from Sicily.

  [20] τὸ δ̓ ἀνάθημα τῆς πόλεως τίς ἀνέτρεψεν; οὐ μὲν οὖν στρόβιλος [p. 22] ἢ πρηστὴρ ἢ σκηπτὸς ἐμπεσών σείων καὶ κεραυνὸν ἰθύνων. εἰ δ̓ ἔστι τις κρίσις ἀνδριάντος, οἵαν φασὶν ἐν Συρακούσαις γενέσθαι — ὃν δὲ τρόπον οὐκ ὀκνήσω ἐπεμβαλόμενος διηγήσασθαι: Συρακοσίους τοὺς ἀποίκους τοὺς ὑμετέρους ἐν πολλοῖς πολέμοις πρὸς Καρχηδονίους καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους βαρβάρους τοὺς τὴν Σικελίαν καὶ τὴν Ἰταλίαν κατοικοῦντας ὁ χαλκὸς ἐπιλελοίπει καὶ τὸ νόμισμα:

  [20] But who overturned the statue dedicated by the city? Of course, if it was a whirlwind or a hurricane or a thunderbolt that struck it, causing it to totter and darting lightning at it! — But if it is a question of some trial of a statue, such as they say took place in Syracuse — but how it took place I shall not shrink from telling by way of parenthesis. The Syracusans, your colonists, in the course of their many wars against the Carthaginians and the other aliens who dwelt in Sicily and Italy, had run short of bronze and currency;

  [21] ἐψηφίσαντο οὖν τοὺς τῶν τυράννων ἀνδριάντας ῾οἱ δὲ πολλοὶ ἦσαν παῤ αὐτοῖς χαλκοῦ πεποιημένοἰ συγκόψαι κρίσιν γε ἐν αὐτοῖς ποιήσαντες, ὅστις ἄξιος αὐτῶν καταχωνευθῆναι καὶ ὅστις οὔ: καὶ περιγίγνεται τῇ δίκῃ, ἵνα καὶ τοῦτο ἀκούσητε, Γέλων ὁ Δεινομένους: οἱ δ̓ ἄλλοι πάντες κατεκόπησαν, πλὴν ἄρα Διονυσίου τοῦ

  [21] so they voted that the statues of their tyrants — most of the statues in their city were made of bronze — should be broken up, that is, after the people had held a trial to determine which of the statues deserved to be melted down and which did not; and — for you must hear this too — Gelon son of Deinomenes survived the trial. As for the others, they all were broken up, except of course the statue of Dionysius, the elder of the pair portrayed wearing the attributes of Dionysus.

  [22] πρεσβυτέρου τῶν τὸ σχῆμα τοῦ Διονύσου περικειμένων — εἰ δὲ γένοιτο καὶ παῤ ὑμῖν ψήφισμά τι τοιοῦτον, ἀνδριάντων εὐθύνας εἶναι — μᾶλλον δ̓ εἰ θέλετε καθάπερ ἐψηφισμένον γε τοῦτο καὶ ἀγῶνος ἐνεστηκότος, δότε μοι, δότε τοὺς λόγους ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ πρ�
��ς ὑμᾶς οἷον ἐν δικαστηρίῳ ποιήσασθαι. ἄνδρες δικασταί, ἅπαντά φασι δεῖν προσδοκᾶν ἐν τῷ μακρῷ χρόνῳ: οὗτος δ̓ ἐν τῷ βραχεῖ κινδυνεύει τεθῆναι μὲν ὡς ἄριστος

  [22] Then supposing some such decree were to be passed in Corinth too, prescribing that statues should be subjected to an accounting — or rather, if you please, supposing this to have been already decreed and a trial to have been instituted — permit me, pray permit me, to make my plea before you in my own behalf as if in court.

  Gentlemen of the jury, it is said that anything may be expected in the course of time; but he who stands before you is in jeopardy of first being set up as the noblest among the Greeks and then being cast out as the worst, all in a brief span of time.

  [23] Ἑλλήνων, ἐκπεσεῖν δ̓ ὡς πονηρότατος. ὅτι μὲν οὖν καλῶς καὶ δικαίως καὶ συμφερόντως τῇ πόλει τῇ ὑμετέρᾳ καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἐστάθη, πολλὰ ἔχων εἰπεῖν ἓν ὑμῖν βούλομαι διηγήσασθαι γενόμενον ἐν ταῖς αὐταῖς Συρακούσαις. καὶ γὰρ οἰκεῖον τὸ παράδειγμα: καὶ δίκαιον ἴσως ἐστίν, ὥσπερ ἐκεῖνοι τιμῶσι τὴν μητρόπολιν, οὕτω καὶ ὑμᾶς τὰ τῆς ἀποικίας τῆς ὑμετέρας ἔργα, ἃ ἂν

  [23] Now then, to prove that I was set up fairly and justly and to the good of your city and of all the Greeks, I could speak at length, but there is one thing I do want to tell you which took place in that same Syracuse. For indeed the illustration is germane, and there may be justice in it too — just as the people of Syracuse honour their mother-city, so also it is well that you should follow the example of your colony.