by Demosthenes
[56] Moreover, you are aware that, although anxious to exclude aliens from the contest, you do not grant unlimited right to any chorus-master to summon for scrutiny any member of a chorus; if he summons him, he is fined fifty drachmas, and a thousand drachmas if he orders him to sit among the spectators. What is the object? To protect the crowned official, who is doing public service to the god, from being maliciously summoned or annoyed or insulted on that day.
[57] εἶτα τὸν μὲν χορευτὴν οὐδ᾽ ὁ προσκαλέσας κατὰ τὸν νόμον ἀζήμιος ἔσται, τὸν δὲ χορηγὸν οὐδ᾽ ὁ συγκόψας παρὰ πάντας τοὺς νόμους οὕτω φανερῶς δώσει δίκην; ἀλλὰ μὴν οὐδέν ἐστ᾽ ὄφελος καλῶς καὶ φιλανθρώπως τοὺς νόμους ὑπὲρ τῶν πολλῶν κεῖσθαι, εἰ τοῖς ἀπειθοῦσι καὶ βιαζομένοις αὐτοὺς ἡ παρ᾽ ὑμῶν ὀργὴ τῶν ἀεὶ κυρίων μὴ γενήσεται.
[57] So even the man who in due course of law summons a member of a chorus will not escape a fine. And shall not he be punished who in contempt of all the laws thus publicly strikes the master of a chorus? Surely it is useless for your laws to be thus well and humanely framed for the protection of the humbler citizen, if those who disobey and flout them are not to incur the resentment of you who are, for the time being, entrusted with their administration.
[58] φέρε δὴ πρὸς θεῶν κἀκεῖνο σκέψασθε. παραιτήσομαι δ᾽ ὑμᾶς μηδὲν ἀχθεσθῆναί μοι, ἐὰν ἐπὶ συμφορᾶς τινῶν γεγονότων ὀνομαστὶ μνησθῶ: οὐ γὰρ ὀνειδίσαι μὰ τοὺς θεοὺς οὐδενὶ δυσχερὲς οὐδὲν βουλόμενος τοῦτο ποιήσω, ἀλλὰ δεῖξαι τὸ βιάζεσθαι καὶ ὑβρίζειν καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα ποιεῖν ὡς ἅπαντες ὑμεῖς οἱ ἄλλοι φεύγετε. Σαννίων ἐστὶ δήπου τις ὁ τοὺς τραγικοὺς χοροὺς διδάσκων: οὗτος ἀστρατείας ἑάλω καὶ κέχρηται συμφορᾷ.
[58] And now I solemnly call your attention to another point. I shall beg you not to be offended if I mention by name some persons who have fallen into misfortune; for I swear to you that in doing so I have no intention of casting reproach upon any man; I only want to show you how carefully all the rest of you avoid anything like violent or insulting behavior. There is, for instance, Sannio, the trainer of the tragic choruses, who was convicted of shirking military service and so found himself in trouble.
[59] τοῦτον μετὰ τὴν ἀτυχίαν ταύτην ἐμισθώσατό τις φιλονικῶν χορηγὸς τραγῳδῶν, οἶμαι, Θεοζοτίδης. τὸ μὲν οὖν πρῶτον ἠγανάκτουν οἱ ἀντιχορηγοὶ καὶ κωλύσειν ἔφασαν, ὡς δ᾽ ἐπληρώθη τὸ θέατρον καὶ τὸν ὄχλον συνειλεγμένον εἶδον ἐπὶ τὸν ἀγῶνα, ὤκνησαν, εἴασαν, οὐδεὶς ἥψατο, ἀλλὰ τοσοῦτον τῆς εὐσεβείας ἐν ἑκάστῳ τις ἂν ὑμῶν ἴδοι τὸ συγκεχωρηκὸς ὥστε πάντα τὸν μετὰ ταῦτα χρόνον διδάσκει τοὺς χοροὺς καὶ οὐδὲ τῶν ἰδίων ἐχθρῶν οὐδεὶς κωλύει: τοσοῦτ᾽ ἀπέχει τῶν χορηγῶν.
[59] After that misfortune he was hired by a chorus-master — Theozotides, if I am not mistaken — who was keen to win a victory in the tragedies. Well, at first the rival masters were indignant and threatened to debar him, but when they saw that the theater was full and the crowd assembled for the contest, they hesitated, they gave way, and no one laid a finger on him. One can see that the forbearance which piety inspires in every one of you is such that Sannio has been training choruses ever since, not hindered even by his private enemies, much less by any of the chorus-masters.
[60] ἄλλος ἐστὶν Ἀριστείδης Οἰνῇδος φυλῆς, ἠτυχηκώς τι καὶ οὗτος τοιοῦτον, ὃς νῦν μὲν καὶ γέρων ἐστὶν ἤδη καὶ ἴσως ἥττων χορευτής, ἦν δέ ποθ᾽ ἡγεμὼν τῆς φυλῆς κορυφαῖος. ἴστε δὲ δήπου τοῦθ᾽ ὅτι τὸν ἡγεμόν᾽ ἂν ἀφέλῃ τις, οἴχεται ὁ λοιπὸς χορός. ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως πολλῶν χορηγῶν φιλονικησάντων, οὐδεὶς πώποτε τοῦτ᾽ εἶδε τὸ πλεονέκτημα, οὐδ᾽ ἐτόλμησε τοῦτον ἐξαγαγεῖν οὐδὲ κωλῦσαι: διὰ γὰρ τὸ δεῖν αὐτὸν ἐπιλαβόμενον τῇ χειρὶ τοῦτο ποιῆσαι καὶ μὴ προσκαλέσασθαι πρὸς τὸν ἄρχοντ᾽ ἐξεῖναι, ὥσπερ ἂν εἰ ξένον τις ἐξαγαγεῖν ἐβούλετο, ἅπας τις ὤκνει τῆς ἀσελγείας ταύτης αὐτόχειρ ὀφθῆναι γιγνόμενος.
[60] Then again there is Aristeides of the tribe of Oeneis, who has had a similar misfortune. He is now an old man and perhaps less useful in a chorus, but he was once chorus-leader for his tribe. You know, of course, that if the leader is withdrawn, the rest of the chorus is done for. But in spite of the keen rivalry of many of the chorus-masters, not one of them looked at the possible advantage or ventured to remove him or prevent him from performing. Since this involved laying hands on him, and since he could not be cited before the Archon as if he were an alien whom it was desired to eject, every man shrank from being seen as the personal author of such an outrage.
[61] οὔκουν δεινόν, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, καὶ σχέτλιον τῶν μὲν νικᾶν ἂν παρὰ τοῦτ᾽ οἰομένων χορηγῶν, τῶν ἀνηλωκότων πολλάκις πάντα τὰ ὄντ᾽ εἰς τὰς λῃτουργίας, μηδένα τολμῆσαι πώποτε μηδ᾽ ὧν οἱ νόμοι διδόασιν ἅψασθαι, ἀλλ᾽ οὕτως εὐλαβῶς, οὕτως εὐσεβῶς, οὕτω μετρίως διακεῖσθαι ὥστ᾽ ἀναλίσκοντας, ἀγωνιῶντας ὅμως ἀπέχεσθαι καὶ προορᾶσθαι τὰς ὑμετέρας βουλήσεις καὶ τὴν περὶ τὴν ἑορτὴν σπουδήν, Μειδίαν δ᾽ ἰδιώτην ὄντα, μηδὲν ἀνηλωκότα, ὅτι τῳ προσέκρουσεν καὶ ἐχθρὸς ὑπῆρχεν, τοῦτον ἀναλίσκοντα, χορηγοῦντα, ἐπίτιμον ὄντα προπηλακίζειν καὶ τύπτειν, καὶ μήτε τῆς ἑορτῆς μήτε τῶν νόμων μήτε τί ὑμεῖς ἐρεῖτε μήτε τοῦ θεοῦ φροντίζειν;
[61] Then is not this, gentlemen of the jury, a shocking and intolerable position? On the one hand, chorus-masters, who think that such a course might bring them victory and who have in many cases spent all their substance on their public services, have never dared to lay hands even on one whom the law permits them to touch, but show such caution, such piety, such moderation that, in spite of their expenditure and their eager competition, they restrain themselves and respect your wishes and your zeal for the festival. Meidias, on the other hand, a private individual who has been put to no expense, just because he has fallen foul of a man whom he hates — a man, remember, who is spending his money as chorus-master and who has full rights of citizenship — insults him and strikes him and cares nothing for the festival, for the laws, for your opinion, or for the god’s honor.
[62] πολλῶν τοίνυν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, γεγενημένων ἐχθρῶν ἀλλήλοις, οὐ μόνον ἐξ ἰδίων ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐκ κοινῶν πραγμάτων, οὐδεὶς πώποτ᾽ εἰς τοσοῦτ᾽ ἀναιδείας ἀφίκεθ᾽ ὥστε τοιοῦτόν τι τολμῆσαι ποιεῖν. καίτοι φασὶν Ἰφικράτην ποτ᾽ ἐκ
εῖνον Διοκλεῖ τῷ Πιθεῖ τὰ μάλιστ᾽ ἐλθεῖν εἰς ἔχθραν, καὶ ἔτι πρὸς τούτῳ συμβῆναι Τεισίαν τὸν Ἰφικράτους ἀδελφὸν ἀντιχορηγῆσαι τῷ Διοκλεῖ. ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως πολλοὺς μὲν ἔχων φίλους Ἰφικράτης, πολλὰ δὲ χρήματα κεκτημένος, φρονῶν δ᾽ ἐφ᾽ αὑτῷ τηλικοῦτον ἡλίκον εἰκὸς ἄνδρα καὶ δόξης καὶ τιμῶν τετυχηκόθ᾽ ὧν ἐκεῖνος ἠξίωτο παρ᾽ ὑμῶν,
[62] Now although men have quarrelled often enough, whether on private or on public grounds, no one has ever been so lost to shame as to venture on such conduct as this. Yet it is said that the famous Iphicrates once had a serious quarrel with Diocles of the Pitthean deme, and, to make matters worse, Iphicrates’ brother Teisias happened to be a chorus-master in competition with Diocles. Iphicrates was a wealthy man with many friends and had a high opinion of himself, as a man would naturally have who had earned so many honors and distinctions at your hands;
[63] οὐκ ἐβάδιζ᾽ ἐπὶ τὰς τῶν χρυσοχόων οἰκίας νύκτωρ, οὐδὲ κατερρήγνυεν τὰ παρασκευαζόμεν᾽ ἱμάτι᾽ εἰς τὴν ἑορτήν, οὐδὲ διέφθειρε διδάσκαλον, οὐδὲ χορὸν μανθάνειν ἐκώλυεν, οὐδὲ τῶν ἄλλων οὐδὲν ὧν οὗτος διεπράττετ᾽ ἐποίει, ἀλλὰ τοῖς νόμοις καὶ τῇ τῶν ἄλλων βουλήσει συγχωρῶν ἠνείχετο καὶ νικῶντα καὶ στεφανούμενον τὸν ἐχθρὸν ὁρῶν, εἰκότως: ἐν ᾗ γὰρ αὐτὸς εὐδαίμων ᾔδει γεγονὼς πολιτείᾳ, ταύτῃ συγχωρεῖν τὰ τοιαῦτ᾽ ἠξίου.
[63] but Iphicrates never went under cover of night to the goldsmiths’ shops, he never ripped up the costumes intended for the festival, he never bribed the instructor and hindered the training of the chorus, he never played any of the tricks that Meidias repeatedly practised. No, he submitted to the laws and to the wishes of his fellow-citizens, and patiently witnessed the victory and the crowning of his enemy. And he was right; for he felt that such submission was due to the constitution under which he himself had enjoyed such prosperity.
[64] πάλιν Φιλόστρατον πάντες ἴσμεν τὸν Κολωνῆθεν Χαβρίου κατηγοροῦντα, ὅτ᾽ ἐκρίνετο τὴν περὶ Ὠρωποῦ κρίσιν θανάτου, καὶ πάντων τῶν κατηγόρων πικρότατον γενόμενον, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα χορηγοῦντα παισὶν Διονύσια καὶ νικῶντα, καὶ Χαβρίαν οὔτε τύπτοντα οὔτ᾽ ἀφαρπάζοντα τὸν στέφανον οὔθ᾽ ὅλως προσιόνθ᾽ ὅποι μὴ προσῆκεν αὐτῷ.
[64] Take another instance. We all know that Philostratus of Colonus was one of the accusers when Chabrias was tried for his life on charges relating to Oropus, and that he showed himself the bitterest of them all, and that afterwards he won the prize at the Dionysia with a chorus of boys. Yet Chabrias neither struck him nor snatched the crown off his head nor in any way intruded where he had no right.
[65] πολλοὺς δ᾽ ἂν ἔχων εἰπεῖν ἔτι καὶ διὰ πολλὰς προφάσεις ἐχθροὺς γεγενημένους ἀλλήλοις, οὐδένα πώποτ᾽ οὔτ᾽ ἀκήκοα οὔθ᾽ ἑόρακα ὅστις εἰς τοσοῦτον ἐλήλυθεν ὕβρεως ὥστε τοιοῦτόν τι ποιεῖν. οὐδέ γ᾽ ἐκεῖν᾽ οὐδεὶς ὑμῶν οἶδ᾽ ὅτι μνημονεύει πρότερον, τῶν ἐπὶ τοῖς ἰδίοις ἢ καὶ τοῖς κοινοῖς ἐχθρῶν ἀλλήλοις οὐδέν᾽ οὔτε καλουμένων τῶν κριτῶν παρεστηκότα, οὔθ᾽ ὅταν ὀμνύωσιν ἐξορκοῦντα, οὔθ᾽ ὅλως ἐπ᾽ οὐδενὶ τῶν τοιούτων ἐχθρὸν ἐξεταζόμενον.
[65] I could mention many others who on various grounds have quarrelled with their neighbors, but I have never seen or heard of anyone who carried his insolence so far as to behave like this. And I am quite sure that no one here can recall any case where a man, involved in a public or private dispute, has taken his stand beside the umpires while they were being named, or dictated the oath when they were being sworn, or paraded his hostility on any such occasion.
[66] ταῦτα γὰρ πάντα καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτ᾽, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, φιλονικίᾳ μὲν ὑπαχθέντα χορηγὸν ὄντα ποιεῖν ἔχει τινὰ συγγνώμην: ἔχθρᾳ δ᾽ ἐλαύνοντά τινα, ἐκ προαιρέσεως, ἐφ᾽ ἅπασι, καὶ τὴν ἰδίαν δύναμιν κρείττω τῶν νόμων οὖσαν ἐνδεικνύμενον, Ἡράκλεις, βαρὺ κοὐχὶ δίκαιόν ἐστιν οὐδὲ συμφέρον ὑμῖν. εἰ γὰρ ἑκάστῳ τῶν χορηγούντων τοῦτο πρόδηλον γένοιτο, ὅτι ἂν ὁ δεῖν᾽ ἐχθρὸς ᾖ μοι, Μειδίας ἤ τις ἄλλος θρασὺς οὕτω καὶ πλούσιος, πρῶτον μὲν ἀφαιρεθήσομαι τὴν νίκην, κἂν ἄμεινον ἀγωνίσωμαί τινος, ἔπειτ᾽ ἐφ᾽ ἅπασιν ἐλαττωθήσομαι καὶ προπηλακιζόμενος διατελῶ, τίς οὕτως ἀλόγιστος ἢ τίς οὕτως ἄθλιός ἐστιν, ὅστις ἑκὼν ἂν μίαν δραχμὴν ἐθελήσειεν ἀναλῶσαι; οὐδεὶς δήπου.
[66] These and all similar acts, Athenians, are partly excusable in a chorus-master who is carried away by emulation; but to harass a man with one’s hostility, deliberately and on every occasion, and to boast one’s own power as superior to the laws, that, by Heaven! is cruel and unjust and contrary to your interests. For if each man when he becomes chorus-master could foresee this result: “If So-and-so is my enemy — Meidias for example or anyone else equally rich and unscrupulous — first I shall be robbed of my victory, even if I make a better show than any of my competitors next I shall be worsted at every point and exposed to repeated insults:” who is so irrational or such a poor creature that he would voluntarily consent to spend a single drachma?
[67] ἀλλ᾽, οἶμαι, τὸ πάντας ποιοῦν καὶ φιλοτιμεῖσθαι καὶ ἀναλίσκειν ἐθέλειν ἐκεῖν᾽ ἐστίν, ὅτι τῶν ἴσων καὶ τῶν δικαίων ἕκαστος ἡγεῖται ἑαυτῷ μετεῖναι ἐν δημοκρατίᾳ. ἐγὼ τοίνυν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τούτων οὐκ ἔτυχον διὰ τοῦτον, ἀλλὰ χωρὶς ὧν ὑβρίσθην, καὶ τῆς νίκης προσαπεστερήθην. καίτοι πᾶσιν ὑμῖν ἐγὼ τοῦτο δείξω σαφῶς, ὅτι μηδὲν ἀσελγὲς ἐξῆν ποιοῦντι Μειδίᾳ μηδ᾽ ὑβρίζοντι μηδὲ τύπτοντι καὶ λυπεῖν ἐμὲ καὶ κατὰ τοὺς νόμους αὐτῷ φιλοτιμεῖσθαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς, καὶ μηδὲ διᾶραι περὶ αὐτοῦ τὸ στόμ᾽ ἔχειν ἐμέ.
[67] I suppose what tends to make everyone public-spirited and liberal with his money is the reflection that under a democracy each man has his share of just and equal rights. Now I, men of Athens, was deprived of those rights through this man’s acts, and, quite apart from the insults I endured, I was robbed of my victory. Yet I shall prove to all of you beyond a doubt that Meidias, without committing any outrageous offence, without insulting or striking me, had it in his power both to cause me trouble and to display his public spirit to you in a legitimate way, so that I should not be able to open my lips against him.
[68] ἐχρῆν γὰρ αὐτόν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ὅτ᾽ ἐγὼ τῆς Πανδιονίδος χορηγὸς ὑπέστην
ἐν τῷ δήμῳ, τότε τῆς Ἐρεχθῇδος ἀναστάντα, τῆς ἑαυτοῦ φυλῆς, ἀνθυποστῆναι, καὶ καταστήσανθ᾽ ἑαυτὸν ἐξ ἴσου καὶ τὰ ὄντ᾽ ἀναλίσκονθ᾽ ὥσπερ ἐγώ, οὕτω μ᾽ ἀφαιρεῖσθαι τὴν νίκην, ὑβρίζειν δὲ τοιαῦτα καὶ τύπτειν μηδὲ τότε.
[68] This is what he ought to have done, Athenians. When I offered myself to the Assembly as chorus-master for the tribe of Pandionis, he should have got up and offered himself as a rival master for his own tribe of Erechtheis he should have put himself on equal terms with me and spent his money as I was spending mine and tried in that way to wrest the victory from me; but not even as my rival should he have thus insulted and struck me.
[69] νῦν δὲ τοῦτο μὲν οὐκ ἐποίησεν, ἐν ᾧ τὸν δῆμον ἐτίμησεν ἄν, οὐδ᾽ ἐνεανιεύσατο τοιοῦτον οὐδέν: ἐμοὶ δ᾽, ὃς εἴτε τις, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, βούλεται νομίσαι μανίαν （μανία γὰρ ἴσως ἐστὶν ὑπὲρ δύναμίν τι ποιεῖν）, εἴτε καὶ φιλοτιμίᾳ χορηγὸς ὑπέστην, οὕτω φανερῶς καὶ μιαρῶς ἐπηρεάζων παρηκολούθησεν ὥστε μηδὲ τῶν ἱερῶν ἱματίων μηδὲ τοῦ χοροῦ μηδὲ τοῦ σώματος τὼ χεῖρε τελευτῶν ἀποσχέσθαι μου.