Although this Discourse is addressed to no one, von Arnim is led to conjecture from its martial tone that it was delivered before Trajan in A.D. 104 on the eve of the Second Dacian War.
[1] λέγεταί ποτε Ἀλέξανδρον τῷ πατρὶ Φιλίππῳ μειράκιον ὄντα διαλεχθῆναι περὶ Ὁμήρου μάλα ἀνδρείως καὶ μεγαλοφρόνως: οἱ δὲ αὐτοὶ λόγοι οὗτοι σχεδόν τι καὶ περὶ βασιλείας ἦσαν. ἐτύγχανε μὲν γὰρ ὁ Ἀλέξανδρος στρατευόμενος ἤδη μετὰ τοῦ πατρός, καίτοιτοῦ Φιλίππου κωλύοντος: ὁ δὲ οὐχ οἷός τ᾽ ἦν κατέχειν αὑτὸν, ὥσπερ οἱ γενναῖοι σκύλακες οὐχ ὑπομένουσιν ἀπολείπεσθαι τῶν ἐπὶ θήραν ἐξιόντων, ἀλλὰ ξυνέπονται πολλάκις ἀπορρήξαντες τὰ δεσμά.
The Second Discourse on Kingship
It is said that Alexander, while still a lad, was once conversing with Philip his father about Homer in a very manly and lofty strain, their conversation being in effect a discussion of kingship as well. For Alexander was already to be found with his father on his campaigns, although Philip tried to discourage him in this. Alexander, however, could not hold himself in, for it was with the lad as with young dogs of fine breed that cannot brook being left behind when their masters go hunting, but follow along, often breaking their tethers to do so.
[2] ἐνίοτε μὲν οὖν ταράττουσιν ἐν τῷ ἔργῳ διὰ τὴν νεότητα καὶ τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν φθεγγόμενοι πρὸ τοῦ καιροῦ καὶ τὸ θηρίονἀνιστάντες: ἐνίοτέ γε μὴν εἷλον αὐτοὶ προπηδήσαντες. τοιαῦτα ἐκεῖνος ἔπασχε τὸ πρῶτον, ὥστε καὶ τῆς ἐν Χαιρωνείᾳ μάχης τε καὶ νίκης φασὶν αὐτὸν αἴτιον γενέσθαι, τοῦ πατρὸς ὀκνοῦντος τὸν κίνδυνον. τότε δ᾽ οὖν ἀπὸ στρατείας ἥκοντες ἐν Δίῳ τῆς Πιερίας ἔθυον ταῖς Μούσαις, καὶ τὸν ἀγῶνα τῶν Ὀλυμπίων ἐτίθεσαν, ὅν
[2] It is true that sometimes, because of their youth and enthusiasm, they spoil the sport by barking and starting the game too soon, but sometimes too they bring down the game themselves by bounding ahead. This, in fact, happened to Alexander at the very beginning, so that they say he brought about the battle and victory of Chaeronea when his father shrank from taking the risk.
Now it was on this occasion, when they were at Dium in Pieria on their way home from the campaign and were sacrificing to the Muses and celebrating the Olympic festival, which is said to be an ancient institution in that country,
[3] φασιν ἀρχαῖον εἶναι παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς. ἤρετο οὖν αὐτὸν ὁ Φίλιππος [p. 17] ἐν τῇ συνουσίᾳ, Διὰ τί ποτε, ὦ παῖ, σφόδρα οὕτως ἐκπέπληξαι τὸν Ὅμηρον ὥστε διατρίβεις περὶ μόνον τῶν ποιητῶν. ἐχρῆν μέντοι μηδὲ τῶν ἄλλων ἀμελῶς ἔχειν. σοφοὶ γὰρ οἱ ἄνδρες. καὶ ὁ Ἀλέξανδρος ἔφη, Ὅτι δοκεῖ μοι, ὦ πάτερ, οὐ πᾶσα ποίησις βασιλεῖ πρέπειν, ὥσπερ οὐδὲ στολή.
[3] that Philip in the course of their conversation put this question to Alexander: “Why, my son, have you become so infatuated with Homer that you devote yourself to him alone of all the poets? You really ought not to neglect the others, for the men are wise.” And Alexander replied: “My reason, father, is that not all poetry, any more than every style of dress, is appropriate to a king, as it seems to me.
[4] τὰ μὲν οὖν ἄλλα ποιήματα ἔγωγε ἡγοῦμαι τὰ μὲν συμποτικὰ αὐτῶν, τὰ δὲ ἐρωτικά. τὰ δὲ ἐγκώμια ἀθλητῶν τε καὶ ἵππων νικώντων, τὰ δ᾽ ἐπὶ τοῖς τεθνεῶσι θρήνους, τὰ δὲ γέλωτος ἕνεκεν ἢ λοιδορίας πεποιημένα, ὥσπερ τὰ τῶν κωμῳδοδιδασκάλων καὶ τὰ τοῦ Παρίου ποιητοῦ:
[4] Now consider the poems of other men; some I consider to be suitable indeed for the banquet, or for love, or for the eulogy of victorious athletes or horses, or as dirges for the dead, and some as designed to excite laughter or ridicule, like the works of the comic writers and those of the Parian poet.
[5] ἴσως δέ τινα αὐτῶν καὶ δημοτικὰ λέγοιτ᾽ ἄν, συμβουλεύοντα καὶ παραινοῦντα τοῖς πολλοῖς καὶ ἰδιώταις, καθάπερ οἶμαι τὰ Φωκυλίδου καὶ Θεόγνιδος: ἀφ᾽ ὧν τί ἂν ὠφεληθῆναι δύναιτο ἀνὴρ ἡμῖν ὅμοιος,
πάντων μὲν κρατέειν ἐθέλων, πάντεσσι δ᾽ ἀνάσσειν;
[5] And perhaps some of them might be called popular also, in that they give advice and admonition to the masses and to private citizens, as, for instance, the works of Phocylides and Theognis do. What is there in them by which a man could profit, who, like you or me,
‘aspires to be
The master, over all to domineer.’
[6] τὴν δέ γε Ὁμήρου ποίησιν μόνην ὁρῶ τῷ ὄντι γενναίαν καὶ μεγαλοπρεπῆ πρεπῆ καὶ βασιλικήν, ᾗ πρέπει τὸν νοῦν προσέχειν ἄνδρα μάλιστα μὲν ἄρξειν μέλλοντα τῶν ὅποι ποτὲ ἀνθρώπων, εἰ δὲ μή, τῶν πλείστων καὶ φανερωτάτων, ἀτεχνῶς γε ἐσόμενον κατ᾽ ἐκεῖνον ποιμένα λαῶν. ἢ πῶς οὐκ ἄτοπον ἵππῳ μὲν μὴ ἐθέλειν ἢ τῷ ἀρίστῳ χρῆσθαι τὸν βασιλέα, τῶν δὲ ποιητῶν καὶ τοῖς ἥττοσιν ἐντυγχάνειν, ὥσπερ σχολὴν ἄγοντα;
[6] The poetry of Homer, however, I look upon as alone truly noble and lofty and suited to a king, worthy of the attention of a real man, particularly if he expects to rule over all the peoples of the earth — or at any rate over most of them, and those the most prominent — if he is to be, in the strict sense of the term, what Homer calls a ‘shepherd of the people.’ Or would it not be absurd for a king to refuse to use any horse but the best and yet, when it is a question of poets, to read the poorer ones as though he had nothing else to do?
[7] εὖ ἴσθι, ἔφη, ὦ πάτερ, ἐγὼ οὐ μόνον ποιητὴν ἕτερον, ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ μέτρον ἄλλο ἢ τὸ Ὁμήρου ἡρῷον ἀκούων ἀνέχομαι. πάνυ οὖν ὁ Φίλιππος αὐτὸν ἠγάσθη τῆς μεγαλοφροσύνης, ὅτι δῆλος ἦν οὐδὲν φαῦλον οὐδὲ ταπεινὸν ἐπινοῶν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς τε ἥρωσι καὶ τοῖς ἡμιθέοις παραβαλλόμενος.
[7] On my word, father, I not only cannot endure to hear any other poet recited but Homer, but even object to any other metre than Homer’s heroic hexameter.”
Then Philip admired his son greatly for his noble spirit, since it was plain that he harboured no unworthy or ignoble ideas but made the heroes and demigods his examples.
[8] ὅμως δὲ κινεῖν αὐτὸν βουλόμενος, Τὸν δὲ Ἡσίοδον, ὦ Ἀλέξανδρε, ὀλίγου ἄξιον κρίνεις, ἔφη, ποιητήν; οὐκ ἔγωγε, εἶπεν, ἀλλὰ τοῦ παντός, οὐ μέντοι βασιλεῦσιν οὐδὲ στρατηγοῖς ἴσως. ἀλλὰ τίσι μὴν; καὶ ὁ Ἀλέξανδρος γελάσας, Τοῖς ποιμέσιν, ἔφη, καὶ τοῖς τέκτοσι καὶ τοῖς γεωργοῖς. τοὺς μὲν γὰρ ποιμένας [p. 18] φησὶ φιλεῖσθαι ὑπὸ τῶν Μουσῶ�
�, τοῖς δὲ τέκτοσι μάλα ἐμπείρως παραινεῖ πηλίκον χρὴ τὸν ἄξονα τεμεῖν, καὶ τοῖς γεωργοῖς, ὁπηνίκα ἄρξασθαι πίθου.
[8] Nevertheless, in his desire to arouse him, he said, “But take Hesiod, Alexander; do you judge him of little account as a poet?” “Nay, not I,” he replied, “but of every account, though not for kings and generals, I suppose.” “Well, then, for whom?” And Alexander answered with a smile: “For shepherds, carpenters, and farmers; since he says that shepherds are beloved by the Muses, and to carpenters he gives very shrewd advice as to how large they should cut an axle, and to farmers, when to broach a cask.”
[9] τί οὖν; οὐχὶ ταῦτα χρήσιμα, ἔφη, τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, ὁ Φίλιππος; οὐχ ἡμῖν γε, εἶπεν, ὦ πάτερ, οὐδὲ Μακεδόσι τοῖς νῦν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς πρότερον, ἡνίκα νέμοντες καὶ γεωργοῦντες Ἰλλυριοῖσἐδούλευον καὶ Τριβαλλοῖς. οὐδὲ τὰ περὶ τὸν σπόρον, ἔφη, καὶ τὸν ἀμητόν, ὁ Φίλιππος, ἀρέσκει σοι τοῦ Ἠσιόδου μεγαλοπρεπῶς οὕτως εἰρημένα;
πληιάδων Ἀτλαγενέων ἐπιτελλομενάων
ἄρχεσθ᾽ ἀμητοῦ, ἀρότοιο δὲ δυσομενάων.
[9] “Well,” said Philip, “and is not such advice useful to men?” “Not to you and me, father,” he replied, “nor to the Macedonians of the present day, though to those of former times it was useful, when they lived a slave’s life, herding and farming for Illyrians and Triballians.” “But do you not like these magnificent lines of Hesiod about seed-time and harvest?” said Philip:
“Mark well the time when the Pleiads, daughters of Atlas, are rising;
Then begin with the harvest, but do not plough till their setting.”
[10] πολύ γε μᾶλλον, εἶπεν ὁ Ἀλέξανδρος, τὰ παρ᾽ Ὁμήρῳ γεωργικά. καὶ ποῦ περὶ γεωργίας εἴρηκεν Ὅμηρος; ἤρετο ὁ Φίλιππος, ἤ τὰ ἐν τῇ ἀσπίδι μιμήματα λέγεις τῶν ἀρούντων καὶ θεριζόντων καὶ τρυγώντων; ἥκιστά γε, εἶπεν ὁ Ἀλέξανδρος, ἀλλὰ ἐκεῖνα πολὺ μᾶλλον:
οἱ δ᾽ ὥστ᾽ ἀμητῆρες ἐναντίοι ἀλλήλοισιν
ὄγμον ἐλαύνωσιν ἀνδρὸς μάκαρος κατ᾽ ἄρουραν
πυρῶν ἢ κριθῶν: τὰ δὲ δράγματα ταρφέα πίπτει:
ὥς Τρῶες καὶ Ἀχαιοὶ ἐπ᾽ ἀλλήλοισι θορόντες
δῄουν, οὐδ᾽ ἕτεροι μνώοντ᾽ ὀλοοῖο φόβοιο.
[10] “I much prefer what Homer says on farm-life,” said Alexander. “And where,” Philip asked, “has Homer anything to say about farming? Or do you refer to the representations on the shield of men ploughing and gathering the grain and the grapes?” “Not at all,” said Alexander, “but rather to these well-known lines:
‘As when two lines of reapers, face to face,
In some rich landlord’s field of barley or wheat
Move on, and fast the severed handfuls fall,
So, springing on each other, they of Troy
And they of Argos smote each other down,
And neither thought of ignominious flight.’
[11] ταῦτα μέντοι ποιῶν Ὅμηρος ἡττᾶτο ὑπὸ Ἡσιόδου, ὁ Φίλιππος εἶπεν: ἢ οὐκ ἀκήκοας τὸ ἐπίγραμμα τὸ ἐν Ἑλικῶνι ἐπὶ τοῦ τρίποδος:
Ἡσίοδος Μούσαις Ἑλικωνίσι τόνδ᾽ ἀνέθηκεν
ὕμνῳ νικήσας ἐν Χαλκίδι θεῖον Ὅμηρον;
[11] “And yet, in spite of such lines as these,” said Philip, “Homer was defeated by Hesiod in the contest. Or have you not heard of the inscription which is inscribed upon the tripod that stands on Mount Helicon?
‘Hesiod offered this gift to the Muses on Helicon’s mountain
When at Chalcis in song he had vanquished Homer, the godlike.’”
[12] καὶ μάλα δικαίως, εἶπεν ὁ Ἀλέξανδρος, ἡττᾶτο: οὐ γὰρ ἐν βασιλεῦσιν ἠγωνίζετο, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν γεωργοῖς καὶ ἰδιώταις, μᾶλλον δὲ ἐν ἀνθρώποις φιληδόνοις καὶ μαλακοῖς. τοιγαροῦν ἠμύνατο τοὺς Εὐβοέας διὰ τῆς ποιήσεως Ὅμηρος. πῶς; ἤρετο θαυμάσας ὁ Φίλιππος. ὅτι μόνους αὐτοὺς τῶν Ἑλλήνων περιέκειρεν αἴσχιστα,κομᾶν ὄπισθεν ἀφεὶς ὥσπερ οἱ νῦν τοὺς παῖδας τοὺς ἁπαλούς. [p. 19]
[12] “And he richly deserved to be defeated,” rejoined Alexander, “for he was not exhibiting his skill before kings, but before farmers and plain folk, or, rather, before men who were lovers of pleasure and effeminate. And that is why Homer used his poetry to avenge himself upon the Euboeans.” “How so?” asked Philip in wonder. “He singled them out among all the Greeks for a most unseemly haircut, for he makes them wear their hair in long locks flowing down their backs, as the poets of to-day do in describing effeminate boys.”
[13] καὶ ὁ Φίλιππος γελάσας λέγει, ὁρᾷς, ἦ δ᾽ ὃς, ὦ Ἀλέξανδρε, ὅτι δεῖ μὴ λυπεῖν τοὺς ἀγαθοὺς ποιητὰς μηδὲ τοὺς δεινοὺς συγγραφέας, ὡς κυρίους ὄντας ὅ, τι βούλονται περὶ ἡμῶν λέγειν. οὐ πάντως, εἶπε, κυρίους. τῷ γοῦν Στησιχόρῳ ψευσαμένῳ κατὰ τῆς Ἑλένης οὐ συνήνεγκεν. ὁ μέντοι Ἡσίοδος, ὦ πάτερ, δοκεῖ μοι οὐδὲ αὐτὸς ἀγνοεῖν τὴν ἑαυτοῦ δύναμιν ὅσον ἐλείπετο Ὁμήρου.
[13] Philip laughed and said, “You observe, Alexander, that one must not offend good poets or clever writers, since they have the power to say anything they wish about us.” “Not absolute power,” said he; “it was a sorry day for Stesichorus, at any rate, when he told the lies about Helen. As for Hesiod, it seems to me that he himself, father, was not unaware of how much inferior his powers were to Homer’s.”
[14] πῶς λέγεις; ὅτι ἐκείνου περὶ τῶν ἡρώων ποιήσαντος αὐτὸς ἐποίησε Γυναικῶν κατάλογον, καὶ τῷ ὄντι τὴν γυναικωνῖτιν ὕμνησε, παραχωρήσας Ὁμήρῳ τοὺς ἄνδρας ἐπαινέσαι. ἐκ τούτου δὲ ἤρετο ὁ Φίλιππος, Ἀλλὰ σύ, ὦ Ἀλέξανδρε, πότερον ἕλοιο ἂν Ἀγαμέμνων ἢ Ἀχιλλεὺς ἢ ἐκείνων τις γεγονέναι τῶν ἡρώων ἢ Ὅμηρος;
[14] “How is that?” “Because, while Homer wrote of heroes, he composed a Catalogue of Fair Women, and in reality made the women’s quarters the subject of his song, yielding to Homer the eulogy of men.”
Philip next asked him: “But as for you, Alexander, would you like to have been Agamemnon or Achilles or any one of the heroes of those days, or Homer?”
[15] οὐ μέντοι, ἦ δ᾽ ὃς ὁ Ἀλέξανδρος, ἀλλὰ ὑπερβάλλειν πολὺ τὸν Ἀχιλλέα καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους. οὔτε γὰρ σὲ χείρονα νομίζω τοῦ Πηλέως οὔτε τῆς Φθίας ἀσθενεστέραν τὴν Μακεδονίαν οὔτε τὸν Ὄλυμπον ἀδοξότερον ὄρους τοῦ Πηλίου φαίην ἄν: ἀλλὰ μὴν οὐδὲ παιδείας φαυλοτέρας ἐπιτετύχηκα ὑπ᾽ Ἀριστοτέλους ἢ ἐκεῖνος ὑπὸ Φοίνικος τοῦ Ἀμύντορος, φυγάδος ἀνδρὸς καὶ διαφόρου �
�ῷ πατρί. πρὸς δὲ αὖ τούτοις ὁ μὲν Ἀχιλλεὺς ὑπήκουεν ἑτέροις, καὶ πέμπεται μετὰ μικρᾶς δυνάμεως οὐ κύριος ἀλλ᾽ ἄλλῳ συστρατευσόμενος: ἐγὼ δὲ οὐκ ἄν ποτε ὑπὸ ἀνθρώπων οὐδενὸς βασιλευθείην.
[15] “No, indeed, said Alexander, “but I should like to go far beyond Achilles and the others. For you are not inferior to Peleus, in my opinion; nor is Macedonia less powerful than Phthia; nor would I admit that Olympus is a less famous mountain than Pelion; and, besides, the education I have gained under Aristotle is not inferior to that which Achilles derived from Amyntor’s son, Phoenix, an exiled man and estranged from his father. Then, too, Achilles had to take orders from others and was sent with a small force of which he was not in sole command, since he was to share the expedition with another. I, however, could never submit to any mortal whatsoever being king over me.”
[16] καὶ ὁ Φίλιππος μικροῦ παροξυνθείς, Ἀλλ᾽ ὑπ᾽ ἐμοῦ γε βασιλεύῃ, ὦ Ἀλέξανδρε. οὐκ ἔγωγε, εἶπεν: οὐ γὰρ ὡς βασιλέως, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς πατρὸς ἀκούω σου. οὐ δήπου καὶ θεᾶς φήσεις μητρὸς γεγονέναι σεαυτόν, ὥσπερ ὁ Ἀχιλλεύς; εἶπεν ὁ Φίλιππος, ἢ Ὀλυμπιάδα συμβαλεῖν ἀξιοῖς Θέτιδι; καὶ ὁ Ἀλέξανδρος ἡσυχῇ μειδιάσας, Ἐμοὶ μέν, εἶπεν, ὦ πάτερ, ἀνδρειοτέρα δοκεῖ πασῶν τῶν Νηρηίδων.
[16] Whereupon Philip almost became angry with him and said: “But I am king and you are subject to me, Alexander.” “Not I,” said he, “for I hearken to you, not as king, but as father.” “I suppose you will not go on and say, will you, that your mother was a goddess, as Achilles did,” said Philip, “or do you presume to compare Olympias with Thetis?” At this Alexander smiled slightly and said, “To me, father, she seems more courageous than any Nereid.”
Delphi Complete Works of Dio Chrysostom Page 174