Delphi Complete Works of Dio Chrysostom

by Dio Chrysostom

  THE SEVENTY-THIRD DISCOURSE: ON TRUST

  ΠΕΡΙ ΠΙΣΤΕΩΣ.

  THE SEVENTY-THIRD DISCOURSE: ON TRUST

  Although this Discourse begins with no formal address, it presents the appearance of a letter, for in the final paragraph the author applies his remarks to some one individual, whose name, unfortunately, is not given. Certainly, if we were to assume that we had before us an oral communication, we should expect to find now and then some appeal to the listener and an occasional response, however brief and perfunctory.

  Dio appears to be writing to some acquaintance, possibly a former pupil, who seems to be considering acceptance of some responsibility, the nature of which it is idle to conjecture. All but the final paragraph is devoted to an exposition of the discomforts and even dangers attendant upon such a decision. As horrible examples of the ingratitude of both state and private citizen Dio passes in review some of the most notable personages of myth and history, besides calling attention to the many nameless persons who were repaid for their services as guardians or trustees by reproach or even by prosecution in the courts. We infer that he would have his anonymous acquaintance remain true to philosophy.

  [1] Ἆρά γε τὸ πιστεύεσθαι τοῖς πιστευομένοις ἀγαθόν ἐστι καὶ τοιοῦτον οἷον τὸ πλουτεῖν καὶ τὸ ὑγιαίνειν καὶ τὸ τιμᾶσθαι τοῖς τιμωμένοις καὶ ὑγιαίνουσι καὶ πλουτοῦσιν, αὐτοῖς ἐκείνοις τινὰ φέρον ὠφέλειαν; λέγω δὲ οἷον εἴ τις δημοσίᾳ τύχοι πιστευόμενος ὑπὸ τῆς αὑτοῦ πόλεως ἢ ἑτέρας στρατιὰν ἢ χρήματα ἢ τείχη, καθάπερ ἤδη πολλοὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐπετράπησαν, οἱ δὲ καὶ αὐτὰς τὰς πόλεις μετὰ παίδων καὶ γυναικῶν εἰρήνης τε οὔσης καὶ πολέμου

  The Seventy-third Discourse: On Trust

  Do you really mean to say that being trusted is a good thing for those who are trusted and comparable to being wealthy or healthy or honoured for those who are honoured or healthy or wealthy, because it brings to those persons themselves some benefit? I mean, for instance, if a person should chance to be trusted in an official capacity, by his own state or by another, with an army or money or fortifications, just as in the past many have had such things entrusted to them, and in some instances even the cities themselves, women and children and all, not only in times of peace, but also sometimes when in the grip of war.

  [2] καταλαβόντος ἐνίοτε, καὶ νὴ Δία εἴ τις ὑπ̓ ἀνδρὸς βασιλέως ἢ τυράννου πιστεύοιτο χρυσίον ἢ ἀργύριον ἢ ναῦς ἢ ὅπλα ἢ ἀκρόπολιν ἢ ξύμπασαν τὴν ἀρχήν, ὥσπερ Λεπτίνης μὲν παρὰ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ πολλάκις Συρακούσας παρέλαβε, Φίλιστος δὲ παρὰ τοῦ νεωτέρου Διονυσίου, μάγοι δὲ παρὰ Καμβύσου τὰ Περσῶν βασίλεια, ὅτε εἰς Αἴγυπτον ἐστρατεύετο, παρὰ δὲ Δαρείου Μιθράνης τὴν Σάρδεων ἀκρόπολιν, Περσαῖος δὲ παρὰ Ἀντιγόνου τὸν Ἀκροκόρινθον, πολὺ δὲ τούτων πρότερον Ἀτρεὺς παῤ Εὐρυσθέως τὸ Ἄργος, ὅτε Εὐρυσθεὺς ἐπ̓ Ἀθήνας ἐστρατεύετο, οὐκ ἐκδιδόντων Ἀθηναίων τοὺς Ἡρακλέους παῖδας: ὁ δὲ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ ὁ Ἀγαμέμνων, ἡνίκα ἐπὶ Τροίαν ἔπλει, μουσικῷ ἀνδρὶ ἐπίστευσε τὴν γυναῖκα

  [2] And, by Heaven, if a person were to be trusted by a king or a tyrant with gold or silver or ships or arms or a citadel or the supreme command — for example, Leptines often received command of Syracuse from his brother, and Philistus received it from the younger Dionysius, and the Magi received from Cambyses charge of his palace in Persia at the time when he was campaigning against Egypt, and Mithranes received from Darius the citadel of Sardis, and Persaeus received Acrocorinth from Antigonus, and, much earlier than these, Atreus received Argos from Eurystheus, when Eurystheus was campaigning against Athens for refusing to surrender the children of Heracles, and, furthermore, the son of Atreus, Agamemnon, when setting sail for Troy, entrusted to a musician his wife and his house —

  [3] καὶ τὴν οἰκίαν — τούτους ἅπαντας φῶμεν τοὺς πιστευομένους [p. 190] ἀγαθόν τι ἀπολαύειν καὶ αὐτοὺς τῆς πίστεως; καὶ αὖ τοὺς ὑπὸ τῶν ἰδιωτῶν πιστευομένους ἢ γυναῖκας ἢ παῖδας ἢ τὴν οὐσίαν, καθάπερ οἶμαι πολλοὶ ἐπιτρόπους καὶ κηδεμόνας καταλείπουσιν, οἱ μὲν ἀποδημοῦντες, οἱ δὲ ἀποθνήσκοντες, οἱ δὲ παρακαταθήκας διδόασιν ἄνευ μαρτύρων, οὐ δεδιότες μὴ ἀφαιρεθῶσιν, ἔνιοι δὲ τῶν νόμων ἀπαγορευόντων μὴ καταλιπεῖν κληρονόμους οὓς αὐτοὶ βούλονται, ἑτέρους καταλείπουσιν, ἐντειλάμενοι τὰ χρήματα ἀποδοῦναι

  [3] shall we say that all those who were trusted themselves derived some good from the trust?

  Again, how about those who are entrusted by men in private station with either wives or children or estate? For instance, many, I fancy, leave behind them guardians and protectors, some when going on a journey and others when dying; and some place deposits in trust without the presence of witnesses, having no fear of being defrauded; and some, because the laws forbid their naming as heirs those whom they themselves prefer, name others, instructing them to turn over the property to the friends of the deceased —

  [4] τοῖς αὑτῶν ἐπιτηδείοις — τούτοις δὴ πᾶσι λυσιτελεῖν φῶμεν τὸ πρᾶγμα καὶ τὴν δόξαν, ἣν ἔχοντες περὶ αὐτῶν ἐπιτρέπουσιν αὐτοῖς οἱ τὰ σφέτερα ἐπιτρέποντες, μάλιστα δὲ τοῖς τελευταίοις τοῖς παρανόμως πιστεύεσθαι δοκοῦσιν: ἢ τοὐναντίον χαλεπὸν εἶναι τὸ τοιοῦτον καὶ πολλῆς ἀσχολίας καὶ φροντίδων αἴτιον, ἐνίοτέ γε μὴν καὶ κινδύνων τῶν μεγίστων; ἔξεστι δὲ σκοπεῖν εὐθὺς ἀπὸ τῶν δοκούντων εἶναι μεγίστων: οὗτοι γὰρ τῶν μὲν ἰδίων ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἀμελοῦσι καὶ χρημάτων καὶ τέκνων, προσέχουσι δὲ τοῖς κοινοῖς καὶ ἐπὶ τούτων εἰσί: καὶ πολλάκις μὲν ὑπὸ τῶν ἐπιβουλευόντων ταῖς πόλεσιν ἢ πολεμίων ἢ πολιτῶν τινων ἀπόλλυνται, πολλάκις δὲ ὑπ̓ αὐτῶν τῶν πόλεων ἀδίκως διαβληθέντες. οἱ μὲν γὰρ οὐσίας ἀφῃρέθησαν, τοὺς δὲ καὶ ὀνείδη συνέβη κτήσασθαι καταδικασθέντας κλοπῆς: οἱ δὲ ἐξέπεσον

  [4] are we to say that all such derive an advantage from the transaction and from the high opinion about them which leads those who do so to entrust them with their possessions, but particularly in the case of those last mentioned, who seem to be trusted in violation of the laws? Or, on the contrary, shall we say that such a responsibility is vexatious and the source of much trouble and many worries, sometimes indeed even of the greatest perils?

  But we may examine the question by beginning immediately with those who are thought to be of highest rank; for those of necessity neglect their private interests, both property and children, and devote their attention to the public interests and are absorbed in them; and often at the hands of those who plot against their cities, whether fo
reign foes or some of their fellow citizens, they meet with disaster, and often, too, at the hands of the cities themselves, because of unjust accusation. For some have been deprived of property, and some even have suffered disgrace of various kinds, having been convicted on a charge of embezzlement, others have been banished from their native land, and others have even been put to death.

  [5] ἐκ τῶν πατρίδων, οἱ δὲ καὶ ἀπέθανον: ὥσπερ οὖν λέγουσι Περικλέα μὲν ἁλῶναι κλοπῆς παρὰ Ἀθηναίοις τὸν κάλλιστα καὶ ἄριστα προστάντα τῆς πόλεως, Θεμιστοκλέα δὲ ἐκπεσεῖν ὡς προδιδόντα, ὃς παραλαβὼν αὐτοὺς οὐ δυναμένους τὸ ἔδαφος τῆς πατρίδος οἰκεῖν, ἀλλὰ παραχωροῦντας τοῖς πολεμίοις αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἄστεος καὶ τῶν ἱερῶν, οὐ μόνον ταῦτα πάντα ἀπέδωκεν, ἀλλ̓ ἔτι καὶ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἡγεμόνας ἐποίησεν, ἀφελόμενος Λακεδαιμονίους ἐξ ἀρχῆς

  [5] For example, they say that Pericles was convicted of embezzlement in an Athenian court, the noblest and best champion the city ever had; and that Themistocles was banished on a charge of treason, the one who, after having taken charge of the Athenians at a time when they were no longer able to occupy the soil of their native land but were yielding to the foe their city itself and their shrines, not only restored all these things, but even made the Athenians leaders of the Greeks, wresting the leadership from the Spartans, who had held this honour from the beginning.

  [6] ἔχοντας τὴν τιμὴν ταύτην. Μιλτιάδης δὲ ὁ πρῶτος νικήσας τοὺς βαρβάρους μετὰ μόνων τῶν πολιτῶν καὶ τὸ Περσῶν φρόνημα καθελών, ὃ πρότερον εἶχον ὡς ἁπάντων ἀνθρώπων κρείττους ὄντες, οὗτος μετ̓ οὐ πολὺν χρόνον εἰς τὸ δεσμωτήριον ὑπ̓ αὐτῶν ἐνέπεσε, καὶ προσέτι ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ Κίμων ἄτιμος ἦν ἂν τὸν ἅπαντα χρόνον, εἰ μὴ τὴν ἀδελφὴν Ἐλπινίκην ἐξέδωκεν ἀνδρὶ ταπεινῷ καὶ [p. 191] χρήματα ἔχοντι, ὃς ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ τὴν ζημίαν κατέβαλε τὰ πεντήκοντα τάλαντα. καίτοι Κίμων ὕστερον Ἀθηναίοις Κύπρον ἐκτήσατο καὶ πεζῇ ἅμα καὶ ναυσὶν ἐνίκησε τοὺς βαρβάρους περὶ Παμφυλίαν: ἀλλ̓ ὅμως τὸν τοιοῦτον αὐτὸν ὄντα καὶ τοιούτου πατρός,

  [6] Again, Miltiades, who had been the first to vanquish the barbarians, with only his fellow citizens to aid him, and to humble the pride of the Persians, a pride which they formerly held, believing themselves to be superior to all other men — this man, I say, not much later was cast into prison by the Athenians; and, besides, his son Cimon would have been deprived of civic rights for the rest of his life if he had not given his sister Elpinicê in marriage to a man of humble origin but great wealth, who in his behalf paid the fine of fifty talents. And yet later on Cimon gained Cyprus for the Athenians, and in a joint account by land and sea vanquished the barbarians in the neighbourhood of Pamphylia. Still, though so remarkable himself and the son of so remarkable a father, if he had not secured considerable money the Athenians would have suffered him to be without civic rights in his city.

  [7] εἰ μὴ χρημάτων εὐπόρησεν, ἄτιμον ἂν εἴων ἐν τῇ πόλει. Φωκίωνα δὲ ὕστερον τὸν ὑπὲρ ὀγδοήκοντα ἔτη βιώσαντα, τούτων δὲ τὰ πλείω στρατηγήσαντα καὶ τὴν πόλιν διαφυλάξαντα ἐν τοῖς χαλεπωτάτοις καιροῖς καὶ χρηστὸν ὑπ̓ αὐτῶν ἐκείνων ὀνομασθέντα, τοῦτον οὐκ ἤρκεσεν αὐτοῖς ἀποκτεῖναι μόνον, ἀλλ̓ οὐδὲ νεκρὸν εἴασαν ἐν τῇ Ἀττικῇ, ἀλλ̓ ὑπὲρ τοὺς ὅρους ἐξέβαλον. Νικίας δὲ ὁ Νικηράτου διὰ τὸ πιστεύεσθαι ὑπὸ τῶν πολιτῶν, ἐπιστάμενος τὴν ἐν Σικελίᾳ στρατείαν οἵα ἔσοιτο καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τῷ λογίζεσθαι, ὅμως ἠναγκάσθη στρατεύσασθαι νοσῶν διὰ τὴν πίστιν ταύτην. καὶ εἰ μὲν ἀποβαλὼν τὴν στρατιὰν ἢ μέρος αὐτῆς αὐτὸς γοῦν ἐσώθη, δῆλον ὅτι οἴκοι ἀφικόμενος ἀπολώλει ἂν. ἐπεὶ δὲ τοῦτο εἰδὼς προσελιπάρει πάντα τρόπον, ληφθεὶς ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων

  [7] And take the case of Phocion of a later period, who lived to be more than eighty years of age, and who for most of these years had served as general, had preserved the state in its moments of direst need, and had been dubbed excellent by those very Athenians — this man they were not content merely to put to death, nay, they would not even permit his corpse to rest in Attic soil, but cast it forth beyond their borders. Or take Nicias son of Niceratus — because he was trusted by his fellow citizens, though he knew full well what the campaign in Sicily would be like, both from the warnings of the god and from his own reasoning, still he was compelled to make the expedition, ill as he was, because of this trust of theirs. Moreover, if after losing his army or a portion of it he himself had come back in safety, clearly on reaching home he would have been put to death. But since, knowing this, he persevered in every way, he was taken captive and suffered that fate at the hands of the enemy.

  [8] τοῦτο ἔπαθεν. καὶ ταῦτα ἐμοὶ περὶ μιᾶς πόλεως εἴρηται καὶ τῶν ἐν μιᾷ πόλει πολιτευομένων, οὐδὲ τούτων ἁπάντων. τοὺς δὲ παρὰ τοῖς τυράννοις δοκοῦντας πιστοὺς εἰ ἐπεξίοιμι οἵων δὴ τετυχήκασι, πολλῶν ἂν ἴσως μοι δεήσαι πάνυ ἡμερῶν. σχεδὸν γὰρ τό γε σωθῆναι ἐκείνους ἀδύνατόν ἐστιν. οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἂν παράσχωσι καθ̓ αὑτῶν αἰτίαν, ὡς ἀδικήσαντες, διὰ τοῦτο ἀπόλλυνται καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδεμιᾶς συγγνώμης τυχεῖν: οἳ δ̓ ἂν ἄνδρες ἀγαθοὶ φανῶσι καὶ διαφυλάττειν δυνάμενοι τὰ πιστευθέντα, παραχρῆμα μὲν τιμῆς τινος ἔτυχον, μετ̓ οὐ πολὺ δὲ ἀπόλλυνται φθονούμενοι

  [8] Now these observations of mine have been made about a single city and about the statesmen in a single city, nor have all of these been named. But as to those who at the courts of the tyrants enjoyed a reputation for trustworthiness, were I to recount fully what sort of fate has been theirs I should perhaps need very many days. For one might almost say that it is impossible for such men to go scot free. For any who lay themselves open to a charge of misconduct are put to death on that account, and there is no chance of obtaining any pardon; while those who show themselves to be good men and competent to safeguard what has been entrusted to them, though at the moment they obtain a certain honour, not much later they meet with disaster, being victims of envy and suspicion.

  [9] καὶ ὑποπτευόμενοι. οὐ γὰρ δοκεῖ λυσιτελεῖν τοῖς μονάρχοις οὐδέν̓ ἄνδρα ἀγαθὸν εἶναι παῤ αὐτοῖς οὐδ̓ εὐδοκιμοῦντα φαίνεσθαι παρὰ τῷ πλήθει. αἱ δὲ παρὰ τῶν ἰδιωτῶν πίστεις κινδύνους μὲν ἥττους ἴσως ἔχουσιν, ὅτι καὶ τὰ πράγματα ἐλάττω ἐστίν, ἀσχολίαν [p. 192] δὲ μυρίαν καὶ πόνους, καὶ πολλάκις οὐδὲ χάρις οὐδ̓ ἡτισοῦν συνέ�
�εται. πολλάκις δὲ συμβαίνει παῤ αὐτῶν τῶν εὖ παθόντων αἰτίαν ἔχειν, ὡς οὐ δικαίως οὐδὲ καθαρῶς ἅπαντα ἀποδόντας.

  [9] It does not, you see, seem to be advantageous to absolute monarchs that any man in their service should be good, or that any man should patently stand high in the esteem of the masses. On the other hand, trusts bestowed by men in private life, though possibly they involve less risk, because the business in hand is less important, still entail untold trouble and labours, and often not even gratitude, however slight, is their reward. On the contrary, it often happens that the very men who have received benefits at their hands charge them with not having paid all that is due with justice and clean hands.

  [10] τί δὴ βουλόμενος ταῦτα ἐγὼ διῆλθον; οὐ γὰρ δὴ νουθετῶν σε τοιαύτην νουθεσίαν οὐδὲ ἀποτρέπων τοῦ πιστὸν εἶναι. πολὺ γὰρ ἂν εἴην τοῦ Ζήθου φαυλότερος τοιαῦτα ἐπιτιμῶν, ὡς ἐκεῖνος ἐνουθέτει τὸν ἀδελφόν, οὐκ ἀξιῶν φιλοσοφεῖν αὐτὸν οὐδὲ περὶ μουσικὴν διατρίβειν, ἐάσαντα τὴν τῶν ἰδίων ἐπιμέλειαν: ἔφη δὲ αὐτὸν ἄτοπόν τινα καὶ ἀσύμφορον μοῦσαν εἰσάγειν. ὥσπερ ἂν τυχὸν εἴποι τις καὶ σὲ τοιαύτην προῃρῆσθαι πρᾶξιν, οὐκ ἀργὸν οὐδὲ φίλοινον οὐδαμῶς, χρημάτων μέντοι τῶν αὑτοῦ ἀτημελῆ ἴσως: καὶ νὴ Δία λέγοι ἂν καὶ τόδε τὸ ἔπος: ἐξ ὧν κενοῖσιν ἐγκατοικήσεις δόμοις.