by Demosthenes
[245] ἔτι τοίνυν ἰαμβεῖα δήπου συλλέξας ἐπέραινεν, οἷον”ὅστις δ᾽ ὁμιλῶν ἥδεται κακοῖς ἀνήρ,
οὐ πώποτ᾽ ἠρώτησα, γιγνώσκων ὅτι
τοιοῦτός ἐσθ᾽ οἵοισπερ ἥδεται ξυνών.
“unknownεἶτα τὸν εἰς τοὺς ὄρνεις εἰσιόντα καὶ μετὰ Πιτταλάκου περιιόντα, καὶ τοιαῦτ᾽ εἰπών, ‘ἀγνοεῖτ᾽,’ ἔφη, ‘ποῖόν τιν᾽ ἡγεῖσθαι δεῖ;’ οὐκοῦν, Αἰσχίνη, καὶ κατὰ σοῦ τὰ ἰαμβεῖα ταῦθ᾽ ἁρμόσει νῦν ἐμοί, κἂν ἐγὼ λέγω πρὸς τούτους, ὀρθῶς καὶ προσηκόντως ἐρῶ: ‘ὅστις δ᾽ ὁμιλῶν ἥδεται,’ καὶ ταῦτα πρεσβεύων, Φιλοκράτει, ‘οὐ πώποτ᾽ ἠρώτησα, γιγνώσκων ὅτι’ ἀργύριον εἴληφ᾽ οὗτος, ὥσπερ Φιλοκράτης ὁ ὁμολογῶν.
[245] After these heroics he naturally proceeds to collect and declaim some iambic poetry, for instance:
“ Whoso delights to walk with wicked men,
Of him I ask not, for I know him such
As are the men whose converse pleases him.
“
Unknown
Then follows the passage about “the man who frequented cockpits, and consorted with Pittalacus,” and so forth; “do you not know what his character is?” Well, Aeschines, your iambics shall now serve my turn for an observation about you. I shall be speaking with the propriety of the Tragic Muse, when I say to the jury: Whoso delights to walk （especially on an embassy） with Philocrates, of him I ask not, for I know him well — to have taken bribes, as Philocrates did, who made confession.
[246] λογογράφους τοίνυν καὶ σοφιστὰς καλῶν τοὺς ἄλλους καὶ ὑβρίζειν πειρώμενος, αὐτὸς ἐξελεγχθήσεται τούτοις ὢν ἔνοχος. ταῦτα μὲν γὰρ τὰ ἰαμβεῖ᾽ ἐκ Φοίνικός ἐστιν Εὐριπίδου: τοῦτο δὲ τὸ δρᾶμ᾽ οὐδεπώποτ᾽ οὔτε Θεόδωρος οὔτ᾽ Ἀριστόδημος ὑπεκρίναντο, οἷς οὗτος τὰ τρίτα λέγων διετέλεσεν, ἀλλὰ Μόλων ἠγωνίζετο καὶ εἰ δή τις ἄλλος τῶν παλαιῶν ὑποκριτῶν. Ἀντιγόνην δὲ Σοφοκλέους πολλάκις μὲν Θεόδωρος, πολλάκις δ᾽ Ἀριστόδημος ὑποκέκριται, ἐν ᾗ πεποιημέν᾽ ἰαμβεῖα καλῶς καὶ συμφερόντως ὑμῖν πολλάκις αὐτὸς εἰρηκὼς καὶ ἀκριβῶς ἐξεπιστάμενος παρέλιπεν.
[246] Well, when he tries to insult other people by calling them speech-makers and charlatans, he shall be shown to be open to the same reproach. For those iambics come from the Phoenix of Euripides. That play was never acted by Theodorus or Aristodemus, for whom Aeschines commonly took the inferior parts; Molon however produced it, and perhaps some other players of the old school. But Sophocles’ Antigone was frequently acted by Theodorus, and also by Aristodemus; and in that play there are some iambic lines, admirably and most instructively composed. That passage Aeschines omitted to quote, though he has often spoken the lines, and knows them by heart;
[247] ἴστε γὰρ δήπου τοῦθ᾽ ὅτι ἐν ἅπασι τοῖς δράμασι τοῖς τραγικοῖς ἐξαίρετόν ἐστιν ὥσπερ γέρας τοῖς τριταγωνισταῖς τὸ τοὺς τυράννους καὶ τοὺς τὰ σκῆπτρ᾽ ἔχοντας εἰσιέναι. ταῦτα τοίνυν ἐν τῷ δράματι τούτῳ σκέψασθ᾽ ὁ Κρέων Αἰσχίνης οἷα λέγων πεποίηται τῷ ποιητῇ, ἃ οὔτε πρὸς αὑτὸν οὗτος ὑπὲρ τῆς πρεσβείας διελέχθη οὔτε πρὸς τοὺς δικαστὰς εἶπεν. λέγε.
“Ἰαμβεῖα Σοφοκλέους ἐξ Ἀντιγόνηςἀμήχανον δὲ παντὸς ἀνδρὸς ἐκμαθεῖν
ψυχήν τε καὶ φρόνημα καὶ γνώμην, πρὶν ἂν
ἀρχαῖς τε καὶ νόμοισιν ἐντριβὴς φανῇ.
ἐμοὶ γὰρ ὅστις πᾶσαν εὐθύνων πόλιν
μὴ τῶν ἀρίστων ἅπτεται βουλευμάτων,
ἀλλ᾽ ἐκ φόβου του γλῶσσαν ἐγκλείσας ἔχει,
κάκιστος εἶναι νῦν τε καὶ πάλαι δοκεῖ:
καὶ μείζον᾽ ὅστις ἀντὶ τῆς αὑτοῦ πάτρας
φίλον νομίζει, τοῦτον οὐδαμοῦ λέγω.
ἐγὼ γάρ, ἴστω Ζεὺς ὁ πάνθ᾽ ὁρῶν ἀεί,
οὔτ᾽ ἂν σιωπήσαιμι τὴν ἄτην ὁρῶν
στείχουσαν ἀστοῖς ἀντὶ τῆς σωτηρίας,
οὔτ᾽ ἂν φίλον ποτ᾽ ἄνδρα δυσμενῆ χθονὸς
θείμην ἐμαυτῷ, τοῦτο γιγνώσκων ὅτι
ἥδ᾽ ἐστὶν ἡ σῴζουσα, καὶ ταύτης ἔπι
πλέοντες ὀρθῆς τοὺς φίλους ποιούμεθα.
“
Soph. Ant. 175-190
[247] for of course you are aware that, in all tragic dramas, it is the enviable privilege of third-rate actors to come on as tyrants, carrying their royal scepters. Now you shall weigh the merits of the verses which were specially written by the poet for the character of Creon-Aeschines, though he forgot to repeat them to himself in connection with his embassy, and did not quote them to the jury. Read.
“ Iambics from the Antigone of Sophocles Who shall appraise the spirit of a man,
His mind, his temper, till he hath been proved
In ministry of laws and government?
I hold, and long have held, that man a knave
Who, standing at the helm of state, deserts
The wisest counsel, or in craven fear
Of any, sets a curb upon his lips.
Who puts his friend above his fatherland
I scorn as nothing worth; and for myself,
Witness all-seeing Heaven! I will not hold
My peace when I descry the curse that comes
To sap my citizens’ security;
Nor will I count as kin my country’s foes;
For well I wot our country is the ship
That saves us all, sailing on even keel:
Embarked in her we fear no dearth of friends.
“
Soph. Ant. 175-190
[248] τούτων οὐδὲν Αἰσχίνης εἶπε πρὸς αὑτὸν ἐν τῇ πρεσβείᾳ, ἀλλ᾽ ἀντὶ μὲν τῆς πόλεως τὴν Φιλίππου ξενίαν καὶ φιλίαν πολλῷ μείζον᾽ ἡγήσαθ᾽ αὑτῷ καὶ λυσιτελεστέραν, ἐρρῶσθαι πολλὰ φράσας τῷ σοφῷ Σοφοκλεῖ, τὴν δ᾽ ἄτην ὁρῶν στείχουσαν ὁμοῦ, τὴν ἐπὶ Φωκέας στρατείαν, οὐ προεῖπεν οὐδὲ προεξήγγειλεν, ἀλλὰ τοὐναντίον συνέκρυψε καὶ συνέπραξε καὶ τοὺς βουλομένους εἰπεῖν διεκώλυσεν,
[248] Aeschines did not quote any of these lines for his own instruction on his embassy. He put the hospitality and friendship of Philip far above his country, — and found it more profitable. He bade a long farewell to the sage Sophocles; and when he saw the curse that came, — to wit, the army advancing upon the Phocians, — he sounded no warning, sent no timely report; rather he helped both to conceal and to execute the design, and obstructed those who were ready to tell the truth.
[249] οὐκ ἀναμνησθεὶς ὅτι ‘ἥδ᾽ ἐστὶν ἡ σῴζ
ουσα καὶ ταύτης ἔπι’ τελοῦσα μὲν ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ καὶ καθαίρουσα καὶ καρπουμένη τὰς τῶν χρωμένων οὐσίας ἐξέθρεψε τοσούτους τουτουσί, διδάσκων δ᾽ ὁ πατὴρ γράμματα, ὡς ἐγὼ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων ἀκούω, πρὸς τῷ τοῦ ἥρω τοῦ ἰατροῦ, ὅπως ἠδύνατο, ἀλλ᾽ οὖν ἐν ταύτῃ γ᾽ ἔζη, ὑπογραμματεύοντες δ᾽ αὐτοὶ καὶ ὑπηρετοῦντες ἁπάσαις ταῖς ἀρχαῖς ἀργύριον εἰλήφεσαν, καὶ τὸ τελευταῖον ὑφ᾽ ὑμῶν γραμματεῖς χειροτονηθέντες δύ᾽ ἔτη διετράφησαν ἐν τῇ θόλῳ, πρεσβεύων δ᾽ ἀπέσταλτο νῦν οὗτος ἐκ ταύτης.
[249] He forgot the ship that saves; forgot that embarked in her his own mother, performing her rites, scouring her candidates, making her pittance from the substance of her employers, here reared her hopeful brood to greatness. Here, too, his father, who kept an infant-school, lived as best he could, — next door to Heros the physician, as I am told by elderly informants, — anyhow, he lived in this city. The offspring of this pair earned a little money as junior clerks and messengers in the public offices, until, by your favor, they became full-fledged clerks, with free maintenance for two years in the Rotunda. Finally, from this same city Aeschines received his commission as ambassador.
[250] τούτων οὐδὲν ἐσκέψατο, οὐδ᾽ ὅπως ὀρθὴ πλεύσεται προείδετο, ἀλλ᾽ ἀνέτρεψε καὶ κατέδυσε καὶ τὸ καθ᾽ αὑτὸν ὅπως ἐπὶ τοῖς ἐχθροῖς ἔσται παρεσκεύασεν. εἶτ᾽ οὐ σὺ σοφιστής; καὶ πονηρός γε. οὐ σὺ λογογράφος; καὶ θεοῖς ἐχθρός γε: ὃς ἃ μὲν πολλάκις ἠγωνίσω καὶ ἀκριβῶς ἐξηπίστασο, ὑπερέβης, ἃ δ᾽ οὐδεπώποτ᾽ ἐν τῷ βίῳ ὑπεκρίνω, ταῦτα ζητήσας ἐπὶ τῷ τῶν πολιτῶν βλάψαι τιν᾽ εἰς μέσον ἤνεγκας.
[250] He cared for none of these obligations; he took no thought that the ship of state should sail on even keel; he scuttled her and sank her, and so far as in him lay put her at the mercy of her foes. Are not you then a charlatan? Yes, and a vile one too. Are not you a speech-writer? Yes, and an unprincipled one to boot. You passed over the speech that you so often spoke on the stage, and knew by heart; you hunted up rant that in all your career you had never declaimed in character, and revived it for the undoing of your own fellow-citizen.
[251] φέρε δὴ καὶ περὶ τοῦ Σόλωνος ὃν εἶπε λόγον σκέψασθε. ἔφη τὸν Σόλων᾽ ἀνακεῖσθαι τῆς τῶν τότε δημηγορούντων σωφροσύνης παράδειγμα, εἴσω τὴν χεῖρ᾽ ἔχοντ᾽ ἀναβεβλημένον, ἐπιπλήττων τι καὶ λοιδορούμενος τῇ τοῦ Τιμάρχου προπετείᾳ. καίτοι τὸν μὲν ἀνδριάντα τοῦτον οὔπω πεντήκοντ᾽ ἔτη φάσ᾽ ἀνακεῖσθαι Σαλαμίνιοι, ἀπὸ Σόλωνος δ᾽ ὁμοῦ διακόσι᾽ ἐστὶν ἔτη καὶ τετταράκοντ᾽ εἰς τὸν νυνὶ παρόντα χρόνον, ὥσθ᾽ ὁ δημιουργὸς ὁ τοῦτο πλάσας τὸ σχῆμα οὐ μόνον οὐκ αὐτὸς ἦν κατ᾽ ἐκεῖνον, ἀλλ᾽ οὐδ᾽ ὁ πάππος αὐτοῦ.
[251] Let us now turn to his remarks about Solon. By way of censure and reproach of the impetuous style of Timarchus, he alleged that a statue of Solon, with his robe drawn round him and his hand enfolded, had been set up to exemplify the self-restraint of the popular orators of that generation. People who live at Salamis, however, inform us that this statue was erected less than fifty years ago. Now from the age of Solon to the present day about two hundred and forty years have elapsed, so that the sculptor who designed that disposition of drapery had not lived in Solon’s time, — nor even his grand-father.
[252] τοῦτο μὲν τοίνυν εἶπε τοῖς δικασταῖς καὶ ἐμιμήσατο: ὃ δὲ τοῦ σχήματος ἦν τούτου πολλῷ τῇ πόλει λυσιτελέστερον, τὸ τὴν ψυχὴν τὴν Σόλωνος ἰδεῖν καὶ τὴν διάνοιαν, ταύτην οὐκ ἐμιμήσατο, ἀλλὰ πᾶν τοὐναντίον. ἐκεῖνος μέν γ᾽ ἀφεστηκυίας Σαλαμῖνος Ἀθηναίων καὶ θάνατον ζημίαν ψηφισαμένων, ἄν τις εἴπῃ κομίζεσθαι, τὸν ἴδιον κίνδυνον ὑποθεὶς ἐλεγεῖα ποιήσας ᾖδε, καὶ τὴν μὲν χώραν ἀνέσωσε τῇ πόλει, τὴν δ᾽ ὑπάρχουσαν αἰσχύνην ἀπήλλαξεν:
[252] He illustrated his remarks by representing to the jury the attitude of the statue; but his mimicry did not include what, politically, would have been much more profitable than an attitude, — a view of Solon’s spirit and purpose, so widely different from his own. When Salamis had revolted, and the Athenian people had forbidden under penalty of death any proposal for its recovery, Solon, accepting the risk of death, composed and recited an elegiac poem, and so retrieved that country for Athens and removed a standing dishonor.
[253] οὗτος δ᾽, ἣν βασιλεὺς καὶ πάντες οἱ Ἕλληνες ὑμετέραν ἔγνωσαν, Ἀμφίπολιν, ταύτην ἐξέδωκε καὶ ἀπέδοτο καὶ τῷ ταῦτα γράφοντι συνεῖπε Φιλοκράτει. ἄξιόν γ᾽, οὐ γάρ; ἦν Σόλωνος αὐτῷ μεμνῆσθαι. καὶ οὐ μόνον ἐνταῦθα ταῦτ᾽ ἐποίησεν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐκεῖσ᾽ ἐλθὼν οὐδὲ τοὔνομ᾽ ἐφθέγξατο τῆς χώρας ὑπὲρ ἧς ἐπρέσβευεν. καὶ ταῦτ᾽ αὐτὸς ἀπήγγειλε πρὸς ὑμᾶς: μέμνησθε γὰρ δήπου λέγοντ᾽ αὐτὸν ὅτι περὶ δ᾽ Ἀμφιπόλεως εἶχον μὲν κἀγὼ λέγειν: ἵνα δ᾽ ἐγγένηται Δημοσθένει περὶ αὐτῆς εἰπεῖν, παρέλιπον.
[253] Aeschines, on the other hand, gave away and sold Amphipolis, a city which the King of Persia and all Greece recognized as yours, speaking in support of the resolution moved by Philocrates. It was highly becoming in him, was it not to remind us of Solon? Not content with this performance at home, he went to Macedonia, and never mentioned the place with which his mission was concerned. So he stated in his own report, for no doubt you remember how he said “I, too, had something to say about Amphipolis, but I left it out to give Demosthenes a chance of dealing with that subject.”
[254] ἐγὼ δὲ παρελθὼν οὐδὲν ἔφην τοῦτον ὧν ἐβούλετ᾽ εἰπεῖν πρὸς Φίλιππον ἐμοὶ παραλιπεῖν: θᾶττον γὰρ ἂν τοῦ αἵματος ἢ λόγου μεταδοῦναί τινι. ἀλλ᾽, οἶμαι, χρήματ᾽ εἰληφότ᾽ οὐκ ἦν ἀντιλέγειν πρὸς Φίλιππον τὸν ὑπὲρ τούτου δεδωκότα, ὅπως ἐκείνην μὴ ἀποδῷ. λέγε δή μοι λαβὼν καὶ τὰ τοῦ Σόλωνος ἐλεγεῖα ταυτί, ἵν᾽ ἴδηθ᾽ ὅτι καὶ Σόλων ἐμίσει τοὺς οἵους οὗτος ἀνθρώπους.
[254] I rose and told you that he had never once left to me anything that he wanted to say to Philip: he would sooner give a man a share of his life-blood than a share of his speech. The truth is that, having accepted money, he could hardly confront Philip, who gave him the money on purpose that he might not restore Amphipolis. Now, please, take and read these elegiac verses of Solon, to show the jury how Solon detested people like the defendant.
[255] οὐ λέγειν εἴσω τὴν χεῖρ᾽ ἔχοντ᾽, Αἰσχίνη, δεῖ, οὔ, ἀλλὰ πρεσβεύειν εἴσω τὴν χεῖρ᾽
ἔχοντα. σὺ δ᾽ ἐκεῖ προτείνας καὶ ὑποσχὼν καὶ καταισχύνας τούτους ἐνθάδε σεμνολογεῖ, καὶ λογάρια δύστηνα μελετήσας καὶ φωνασκήσας οὐκ οἴει δίκην δώσειν τηλικούτων καὶ τοσούτων ἀδικημάτων, κἂν πιλίδιον λαβὼν περὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν περινοστῇς καὶ ἐμοὶ λοιδορῇ; λέγε σύ.”Ἐλεγεῖα
ἡμετέρη δὲ πόλις κατὰ μὲν Διὸς οὔποτ᾽ ὀλεῖται
αἶσαν καὶ μακάρων θεῶν φρένας ἀθανάτων:
τοίη γὰρ μεγάθυμος ἐπίσκοπος ὀβριμοπάτρη
Παλλὰς Ἀθηναίη χεῖρας ὕπερθεν ἔχει.
αὐτοὶ δὲ φθείρειν μεγάλην πόλιν ἀφραδίῃσιν
ἀστοὶ βούλονται, χρήμασι πειθόμενοι,
δήμου θ᾽ ἡγεμόνων ἄδικος νόος, οἷσιν ἑτοῖμον
ὕβριος ἐκ μεγάλης ἄλγεα πολλὰ παθεῖν.
οὐ γὰρ ἐπίστανται κατέχειν κόρον, οὐδὲ παρούσας