Delphi Complete Works of Demosthenes

by Demosthenes

  [314] εἶτα τῶν πρότερον γεγενημένων ἀγαθῶν ἀνδρῶν μέμνησαι. καὶ καλῶς ποιεῖς. οὐ μέντοι δίκαιόν ἐστιν, ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τὴν πρὸς τοὺς τετελευτηκότας εὔνοιαν ὑπάρχουσαν προλαβόντα παρ᾽ ὑμῶν πρὸς ἐκείνους ἐξετάζειν καὶ παραβάλλειν ἐμὲ τὸν νῦν ζῶντα μεθ᾽ ὑμῶν.

  [314] Then you remind us of the heroes of past generations. Quite right: but it is not fair, men of Athens, to take advantage of the affection you cherish for the departed, and analyze me, who am still living in your midst, by comparing me with them.

  [315] τίς γὰρ οὐκ οἶδε τῶν πάντων, ὅτι τοῖς μὲν ζῶσι πᾶσιν ὕπεστί τις ἢ πλείων ἢ ἐλάττων φθόνος, τοὺς τεθνεῶτας δ᾽ οὐδὲ τῶν ἐχθρῶν οὐδεὶς ἔτι μισεῖ; οὕτως οὖν ἐχόντων τούτων τῇ φύσει, πρὸς τοὺς πρὸ ἐμαυτοῦ νῦν ἐγὼ κρίνωμαι καὶ θεωρῶμαι; μηδαμῶς: οὔτε γὰρ δίκαιον οὔτ᾽ ἴσον, Αἰσχίνη, ἀλλὰ πρὸς σὲ καὶ ἄλλον εἴ τινα βούλει τῶν ταὐτά σοι προῃρημένων καὶ ζώντων.

  [315] Everybody knows that against the living there is always an undercurrent of more or less jealousy, while the dead are no longer disliked even by their enemies. Such is human nature; am I then to be criticized and canvassed by comparison with my predecessors? Heaven forbid! No, Aeschines; that is unfair and unjust: compare me with yourself, or with any living man you choose, whose principles are identical with yours.

  [316] κἀκεῖνο σκόπει. πότερον κάλλιον καὶ ἄμεινον τῇ πόλει διὰ τὰς τῶν πρότερον εὐεργεσίας, οὔσας ὑπερμεγέθεις, οὐ μὲν οὖν εἴποι τις ἂν ἡλίκας, τὰς ἐπὶ τὸν παρόντα βίον γιγνομένας εἰς ἀχαριστίαν καὶ προπηλακισμὸν ἄγειν, ἢ πᾶσιν, ὅσοι τι μετ᾽ εὐνοίας πράττουσι, τῆς παρὰ τούτων τιμῆς καὶ φιλανθρωπίας μετεῖναι;

  [316] Consider this question: is it more decent and patriotic that for the sake of the services of men of old times, enormous as they were, nay, great beyond expression, the services that are now being rendered to the present age should be treated with ingratitude and vituperation, or that every man who achieves anything in a spirit of loyalty should receive some share of the respect and consideration of his fellow-citizens?

  [317] καὶ μὴν εἰ καὶ τοῦτ᾽ ἄρα δεῖ μ᾽ εἰπεῖν, ἡ μὲν ἐμὴ πολιτεία καὶ προαίρεσις, ἄν τις σκοπῇ, ταῖς τῶν τότ᾽ ἐπαινουμένων ἀνδρῶν ὁμοία καὶ ταὐτὰ βουλομένη φανήσεται, ἡ δὲ σὴ ταῖς τῶν τοὺς τοιούτους τότε συκοφαντούντων: δῆλον γὰρ ὅτι καὶ κατ᾽ ἐκείνους ἦσάν τινες, οἳ διασύροντες τοὺς ὄντας τότε τοὺς δὲ πρότερον γεγενημένους ἐπῄνουν, βάσκανον πρᾶγμα καὶ ταὐτὸ ποιοῦντες σοί.

  [317] If I must deal with that subject, I say that, if my policy and my principles are considered, they will be found to resemble in spirit and purpose those of the venerated names of antiquity. Yours are like those of the men who maligned them: for it is certain that, even in their days, there were men who were always carping at the living and commending the dead — a spiteful vocation, and just like yours. You tell me I am not at all like those great men.

  [318] εἶτα λέγεις ὡς οὐδὲν ὅμοιός εἰμ᾽ ἐκείνοις ἐγώ; σὺ δ᾽ ὅμοιος, Αἰσχίνη; ὁ δ᾽ ἀδελφὸς ὁ σός; ἄλλος δέ τις τῶν νῦν ῥητόρων; ἐγὼ μὲν γὰρ οὐδένα φημί. ἀλλὰ πρὸς τοὺς ζῶντας, ὦ χρηστέ, ἵνα μηδὲν ἄλλ᾽ εἴπω, τὸν ζῶντ᾽ ἐξέταζε καὶ τοὺς καθ᾽ αὑτόν, ὥσπερ τἄλλα πάντα, τοὺς ποιητάς, τοὺς χορούς, τοὺς ἀγωνιστάς.

  [318] Are you like them, Aeschines? Or your brother? Or any other orator of this generation? In my opinion, none. Then, my honest friend — to call you nothing worse — assay a living man by the standard of living men, men of his own time. That is the test you apply to everything else — to dramatists, to choruses, to athletes.

  [319] ὁ Φιλάμμων οὐχ ὅτι Γλαύκου τοῦ Καρυστίου καί τινων ἑτέρων πρότερον γεγενημένων ἀθλητῶν ἀσθενέστερος ἦν, ἀστεφάνωτος ἐκ τῆς Ὀλυμπίας ἀπῄει, ἀλλ᾽ ὅτι τῶν εἰσελθόντων πρὸς αὐτὸν ἄριστ᾽ ἐμάχετο, ἐστεφανοῦτο καὶ νικῶν ἀνηγορεύετο. καὶ σὺ πρὸς τοὺς νῦν ὅρα με ῥήτορας, πρὸς σαυτόν, πρὸς ὅντινα βούλει τῶν ἁπάντων: οὐδέν᾽ ἐξίσταμαι.

  [319] Philammon did not leave Olympia without a crown, because he was not so strong as Glaucus of Carystus, or other bygone champions: he was crowned and proclaimed victor, because he fought better than the men who entered the ring against him. You must compare me with the orators of today; with yourself, for instance, or anyone you like: I exclude none.

  [320] ὧν, ὅτε μὲν τῇ πόλει τὰ βέλτισθ᾽ ἑλέσθαι παρῆν, ἐφαμίλλου τῆς εἰς τὴν πατρίδ᾽ εὐνοίας ἐν κοινῷ πᾶσι κειμένης, ἐγὼ κράτιστα λέγων ἐφαινόμην, καὶ τοῖς ἐμοῖς καὶ ψηφίσμασι καὶ νόμοις καὶ πρεσβείαις ἅπαντα διῳκεῖτο, ὑμῶν δ᾽ οὐδεὶς ἦν οὐδαμοῦ, πλὴν εἰ τούτοις ἐπηρεάσαι τι δέοι: ἐπειδὴ δ᾽ ἃ μήποτ᾽ ὤφελεν συνέβη, καὶ οὐκέτι συμβούλων ἀλλὰ τῶν τοῖς ἐπιταττομένοις ὑπηρετούντων καὶ τῶν κατὰ τῆς πατρίδος μισθαρνεῖν ἑτοίμων καὶ τῶν κολακεύειν ἕτερον βουλομένων ἐξέτασις ἦν, τηνικαῦτα σὺ καὶ τούτων ἕκαστος ἐν τάξει καὶ μέγας καὶ λαμπρὸς ἱπποτρόφος, ἐγὼ δ᾽ ἀσθενής, ὁμολογῶ, ἀλλ᾽ εὔνους μᾶλλον ὑμῶν τουτοισί.

  [320] When the commonwealth was at liberty to choose the best policy, when there was a competition of patriotism open to all comers, I made better speeches than any other man, and all business was conducted by my resolutions, my statutes, my diplomacy. Not one o f you ever put in an appearance — except when you must needs fall foul of my measures. But when certain deplorable events had taken place, and there was a call, not for counsellors, but for men who would obey orders, who were ready to injure their country for pay, and willing to truckle to strangers, then you and your party were at your post, great men with gorgeous equipages. I was powerless, I admit; but I was still the better patriot.

  [321] δύο δ᾽, ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τὸν φύσει μέτριον πολίτην ἔχειν δεῖ （οὕτω γάρ μοι περὶ ἐμαυτοῦ λέγοντι ἀνεπιφθονώτατον εἰπεῖν）, ἐν μὲν ταῖς ἐξουσίαις τὴν τοῦ γενναίου καὶ τοῦ πρωτείου τῇ πόλει προαίρεσιν διαφυλάττειν, ἐν παντὶ δὲ καιρῷ καὶ πράξει τὴν εὔνοιαν: τούτου γὰρ ἡ φύσις κυρία, τοῦ δύνασθαι δὲ καὶ ἰσχύειν ἕτερα. ταύτην τοίνυν παρ᾽ ἐμοὶ μεμενηκυῖαν εὑρήσεθ᾽ ἁπλῶς.

  [321] There are two traits, men of Athens, that mark the dispositio
n of the well-meaning citizen; — that is a description I may apply to myself without offence. When in power, the constant aim of his policy should be the honor and the ascendancy of his country; and on every occasion and in all business he should preserve his loyalty. That virtue depends on his natural disposition: ability and success depend upon other considerations.

  [322] ὁρᾶτε δέ. οὐκ ἐξαιτούμενος, οὐκ εἰς Ἀμφικτύονας δίκας ἐπαγόντων, οὐκ ἀπειλούντων, οὐκ ἐπαγγελλομένων, οὐχὶ τοὺς καταράτους τούτους ὥσπερ θηρία μοι προσβαλλόντων, οὐδαμῶς ἐγὼ προδέδωκα τὴν εἰς ὑμᾶς εὔνοιαν. τὸ γὰρ ἐξ ἀρχῆς εὐθὺς ὀρθὴν καὶ δικαίαν τὴν ὁδὸν τῆς πολιτείας εἱλόμην, τὰς τιμάς, τὰς δυναστείας, τὰς εὐδοξίας τὰς τῆς πατρίδος θεραπεύειν, ταύτας αὔξειν, μετὰ τούτων εἶναι.

  [322] Such, you will find, has been my disposition, abidingly and without alloy. Look at the facts. They demanded that I should be given up; they arraigned me before the Amphictyonic Council; they tried me with threats, they tried me with promises; they set these miscreants to worry me like a pack of wolves; but through it all I never renounced my loyalty to you. At the very outset of my career I had chosen once for all the path of political uprightness and integrity, and resolved to support, to magnify, and to associate myself with the honor, the power, and the glory of my native land.

  [323] οὐκ ἐπὶ μὲν τοῖς ἑτέρων εὐτυχήμασι φαιδρὸς ἐγὼ καὶ γεγηθὼς κατὰ τὴν ἀγορὰν περιέρχομαι, τὴν δεξιὰν προτείνων καὶ εὐαγγελιζόμενος τούτοις οὓς ἂν ἐκεῖσ᾽ ἀπαγγελεῖν οἴωμαι, τῶν δὲ τῆς πόλεως ἀγαθῶν πεφρικὼς ἀκούω καὶ στένων καὶ κύπτων εἰς τὴν γῆν, ὥσπερ οἱ δυσσεβεῖς οὗτοι, οἳ τὴν μὲν πόλιν διασύρουσιν, ὥσπερ οὐχ αὑτοὺς διασύροντες, ὅταν τοῦτο ποιῶσιν, ἔξω δὲ βλέπουσι, καὶ ἐν οἷς ἀτυχησάντων τῶν Ἑλλήνων ηὐτύχησ᾽ ἕτερος, ταῦτ᾽ ἐπαινοῦσι καὶ ὅπως τὸν ἅπαντα χρόνον μενεῖ φασὶ δεῖν τηρεῖν.

  [323] I do not perambulate the marketplace, gaily exulting in the good fortune of the alien, holding out my right hand, and telling the glad tidings to anyone I think likely to send word over yonder. When I hear of my country’s successes, I do not shudder, and sigh, and hang down my head, like those blasphemers, who traduce Athens, forgetting that thereby they are traducing themselves; who turn their eyes abroad, and, when the alien has prospered by the distresses of Greece, applaud his good fortune, and declare that we must try to preserve it for ever.

  [324] μὴ δῆτ᾽, ὦ πάντες θεοί, μηδεὶς ταῦθ᾽ ὑμῶν ἐπινεύσειεν, ἀλλὰ μάλιστα μὲν καὶ τούτοις βελτίω τινὰ νοῦν καὶ φρένας ἐνθείητε, εἰ δ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ἔχουσιν ἀνιάτως, τούτους μὲν αὐτοὺς καθ᾽ ἑαυτοὺς ἐξώλεις καὶ προώλεις ἐν γῇ καὶ θαλάττῃ ποιήσατε, ἡμῖν δὲ τοῖς λοιποῖς τὴν ταχίστην ἀπαλλαγὴν τῶν ἐπηρτημένων φόβων δότε καὶ σωτηρίαν ἀσφαλῆ.

  [324] Never, O ye Powers of Heaven, never vouchsafe to them the fulfillment of that desire. If it be possible, implant even in them a better purpose and a better spirit; but, if their malady is incurable, consign them, and them alone, to utter and untimely destruction by land and sea, and to us who remain grant speedy deliverance from the terrors that hang over our heads, and a salvation that shall never fail.

  περὶ τῆς Παραπρεσβείας — ON THE EMBASSY

  [1] περὶ τῆς Παραπρεσβείας

  ὅση μέν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, σπουδὴ περὶ τουτονὶ τὸν ἀγῶνα καὶ παραγγελία γέγονε, σχεδὸν οἶμαι πάντας ὑμᾶς ᾐσθῆσθαι, ἑορακότας ἄρτι τοὺς ὅτ᾽ ἐκληροῦσθ᾽ ἐνοχλοῦντας καὶ προσιόντας ὑμῖν. δεήσομαι δὲ πάντων ὑμῶν, ἃ καὶ τοῖς μὴ δεηθεῖσι δίκαιόν ἐστιν ὑπάρχειν, μηδεμίαν μήτε χάριν μήτ᾽ ἄνδρα ποιεῖσθαι περὶ πλείονος ἢ τὸ δίκαιον καὶ τὸν ὅρκον ὃν εἰσελήλυθεν ὑμῶν ἕκαστος ὀμωμοκώς, ἐνθυμουμένους ὅτι ταῦτα μέν ἐσθ᾽ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν καὶ ὅλης τῆς πόλεως, αἱ δὲ τῶν παρακλήτων αὗται δεήσεις καὶ σπουδαὶ τῶν ἰδίων πλεονεξιῶν εἵνεκα γίγνονται, ἃς ἵνα κωλύηθ᾽ οἱ νόμοι συνήγαγον ὑμᾶς, οὐχ ἵνα κυρίας τοῖς ἀδικοῦσι ποιῆτε.

  [1] Citizens of Athens, I do not doubt that you are all pretty well aware that this trial has been the center of keen partisanship and active canvassing, for you saw the people who were accosting and annoying you just now at the casting of lots. But I have to make a request which ought to be granted without asking, that you will all give less weight to private entreaty or personal influence than to the spirit of justice and to the oath which you severally swore when you entered that box. You will reflect that justice and the oath concern yourselves and the commonwealth, whereas the importunity and party spirit of advocates serve the end of those private ambitions which you are convened by the laws to thwart, not to encourage for the advantage of evil-doers.

  [2] τοὺς μὲν οὖν ἄλλους, ὅσοι πρὸς τὰ κοινὰ δικαίως προσέρχονται, κἂν δεδωκότες ὦσιν εὐθύνας, τὴν ἀειλογίαν ὁρῶ προτεινομένους, τουτονὶ δ᾽ Αἰσχίνην πολὺ τἀναντία τούτου: πρὶν γὰρ εἰσελθεῖν εἰς ὑμᾶς καὶ λόγον δοῦναι τῶν πεπραγμένων τὸν μὲν ἀνῄρηκε τῶν ἐπὶ τὰς εὐθύνας ἐλθόντων, τοῖς δ᾽ ἀπειλεῖ περιιών, δεινότατον πάντων ἔθος εἰς τὴν πολιτείαν εἰσάγων καὶ ἀσυμφορώτατον ὑμῖν: εἰ γὰρ ὁ πράξας τι τῶν κοινῶν καὶ διοικήσας τῷ καθ᾽ ἑαυτὸν φόβῳ καὶ μὴ τῷ δικαίῳ κατασκευάσει μηδέν᾽ εἶναι κατήγορον αὑτοῦ, παντάπασιν ἄκυροι πάντων ὑμεῖς γενήσεσθε.

  [2] Now I observe that men who enter public life with honest intentions, even after they have submitted to scrutiny, do still acknowledge a perpetual responsibility. But Aeschines, the defendant, reverses this practice. Before coming into court to justify his proceedings, he has put out of the way one of the men who called him to account, and the others he is constantly threatening. So he is trying to introduce into politics a most dangerous and deplorable practice; for if a man who has undertaken and administered any public function can get rid of accusers not by his honesty but by the fear he inspires, the people will soon lose all control of public affairs.

  [3] τὸ μὲν οὖν ἐξελέγξειν πολλὰ καὶ δεινὰ πεποιηκότα τουτονὶ καὶ τῆς ἐσχάτης ὄντα τιμωρίας ἄξιον θαρρῶ καὶ πάνυ πιστεύω: ὃ δὲ καίπερ ὑπειληφὼς ταῦτα φοβοῦμαι, φράσω πρὸς ὑμᾶς καὶ οὐκ ἀποκρύψομαι, ὅτι μοι δοκοῦσιν ἅπαντες οἱ παρ᾽ ὑμῖν ἀγῶνες οὐχ ἧττον, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τῶν καιρῶν ἢ τῶν πραγμάτων εἶναι, καὶ τὸ χρόνον γεγενῆσθαι μετ�
� τὴν πρεσβείαν πολὺν δέδοικα, μή τινα λήθην ἢ συνήθειαν τῶν ἀδικημάτων ὑμῖν ἐμπεποιήκῃ.

  [3] While I have entire confidence that I shall prove that this man is guilty of serious delinquencies, and that he deserves the most severe punishment, yet, in spite of that assurance, I have a misgiving, which I will explain to you quite frankly. It appears to me, men of Athens, that the trials which come before you are affected quite as much by the conditions of the hour as by the facts; and I am afraid that the long lapse of time since the embassy has inclined you to forget or to acquiesce in these iniquities.

  [4] ὡς δή μοι δοκεῖτ᾽ ἂν ὅμως ἐκ τούτων καὶ γνῶναι τὰ δίκαια καὶ δικάσαι νυνί, τοῦθ᾽ ὑμῖν λέξω: εἰ σκέψαισθε παρ᾽ ὑμῖν αὐτοῖς, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, καὶ λογίσαισθε τίνων προσήκει λόγον παρὰ πρεσβευτοῦ λαβεῖν. πρῶτον μὲν τοίνυν ὧν ἀπήγγειλε, δεύτερον δ᾽ ὧν ἔπεισε, τρίτον δ᾽ ὧν προσετάξατ᾽ αὐτῷ, μετὰ ταῦτα τῶν χρόνων, ἐφ᾽ ἅπασι δὲ τούτοις, εἰ ἀδωροδοκήτως ἢ μὴ πάντα ταῦτα πέπρακται.