[118] ἀλλ᾽ ἐκεῖνοι μέν, ὁπότε βουληθεῖεν, ἐπεδείκνυντο τὴν αὑτῶν δύναμιν, τέως δὲ μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων ἡρώων ἐν τῇ Ἀργοῖ συνέπλεον ναυτιλλόμενοι καὶ τἄλλα πράττοντες οὐδενὸς ἧττον. ὁ δὲ τῶν φιλοδόξων ἀνδρῶν προστάτης ἀεὶ μετέωρος, οὐδέποτε γῆς ἐφαπτόμενος οὐδὲ ταπεινοῦ τινος, ἀλλὰ ὑψηλὸς καὶ μετάρσιος,
[118] But while they used to display a power of their own whenever they pleased, yet for a time they went voyaging with the other heroes on the Argo, serving as their shipmates and performing the regular tasks as much as anyone. But the spirit who presides over men who love glory is always aspiring and never touches the earth or anything lowly; no, he is high and lifted up
[119] ὅταν μὲν αἰθρίας τύχῃ καὶ γαλήνης ἢ ζεφύρου τινὸς ἐπιεικῶς πνέοντος, ἀεὶ μᾶλλον ἀγαλλόμενός τε καὶ ἀνιὼν εἰς αὐτὸν τὸν αἰθέρα, πολλάκις δ᾽ ἐν σκοτεινῷ νέφει κρυπτόμενος, ἀδοξίας τινὸς συντρεχούσης καὶ ψόγου παρὰ τῶν πολλῶν ἀνθρώπων, οὕς ἐκεῖνος θεραπεύει καὶ τιμᾷ καὶ τῆς
[119] as long as he enjoys a calm and clear sky or a gently blowing zephyr, feeling ever happier and happier and mounting to the very heavens, but often he is enwrapped in a dark cloud when accompanied by some unpopularity or censure from the many people whom he courts and honours and has appointed to the mastery over his own happiness.
[120] εὐδαιμονίας τῆς αὑτοῦ κυρίους ἀπέδειξεν. οὐδέν γε μὴν προσέοικεν ἀσφαλείας ἕνεκεν οὔτε ἀετοῖς οὔτε γεράνοις οὔτε ἄλλῳ τινὶ πτηνῷ γένει τὴν φύσιν, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον ἄν τις αὐτὸν προσεικάσειε τῇ Ἰκαρίου βιαίῳ καὶ παρὰ φύσιν φορᾷ, οὐ δυνατὸν τέχνημα ἐπιχειρήσαντος Δαιδάλου τεχνήσασθαι.
[120] “As to his safety, this spirit is not at all to be classed with either eagles or cranes or any other feathered species; nay, one might rather liken his flight to the violent and unnatural soaring of Icarus, whose father undertook to contrive a device that proved disastrous.
[121] τοιγαροῦν ὑπὸ νεότητος καὶ ἀλαζονείας ἐπιθυμῶν ὑψηλότερος τῶν ἄστρων φέρεσθαι χρόνον μέν τινα ἐσῴζετο [p. 76] βραχύν, χαλωμένων δὲ τῶν δεσμῶν καὶ τοῦ κηροῦ ῥέοντος, ἐπωνυμίαν ἀπὸ τοῦδε τῷ πελάγει παρέσχεν, οὗπερ ἠφανίσθη πεσών:
[121] So then the lad, moved by the conceit of youth and desiring to soar above the stars, was safe enough for a short time, but when the fastenings became loose and the wax ran, he gave his name from this circumstance to the sea where he fell to be seen no more.
[122] κἀκεῖνος ἀσθενέσι καὶ κούφοις τῷ ὄντι πιστεύσας πτεροῖς, λέγω δὲ τιμαῖς τε καὶ ἐπαίνοις ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων τῶν πολλῶν ὡς ἔτυχε γιγνομένοις, ἐπισφαλῶς καὶ ἀσταθμήτως φέρεται καὶφέρει τὸν ἄνδρα τὸν αὑτοῦ ζηλωτήν τε καὶ ὑπηρέτην, νῦν μὲν ὑψηλὸν καὶ μακάριον πολλοῖς φαινόμενον, πάλιν δὲ αὖ ταπεινόν τε καὶ ἄθλιον τοῖς τε ἄλλοις καὶ πρώτῳ καὶ μάλιστα αὑτῷ δοκοῦντα.
[122] Just so with this spirit of ambition: When he also puts his faith in weak and truly airy wings — I mean at honours and plaudits bestowed at haphazard by the general crowd — he floats away on his perilous and unsteady voyage, taking with him the man, his admirer and henchman, who now appears to many to be high and blessed, but now again seems low and wretched, not only to others, but first and foremost to himself.
[123] εἰ δέ τῳ οὐ φίλον πτηνὸν αὐτὸν διανοεῖσθαι καὶ ποιεῖν, ὁ δὲ ἀφομοιούτω αὐτὸν τῇ τοῦ Ἰξίονος χαλεπῇ καὶ βιαίῳ φορᾷ τε καὶἀνάγκῃ, τροχοῦ τινος ῥύμῃ κύκλῳ κινουμένου τε καὶ φερομένου. οὐ γὰρ ἀπεοικὸς οὐδὲ μακρὰν δὴ τῶν σοφῶν τε καὶ κομψῶν εἰκασμάτων εἴη ἂν ὁ τροχὸς δόξῃ παραβαλλόμενος, τῇ τε κινήσει καὶ μεταβολῇ πάνυ ῥᾳδίως περιθέων, ἐν δὲ τῇ περιφορᾷ παντοῖα σχήματα τὴν ψυχὴν ἀναγκάζων λαμβάνειν μᾶλλον ἢ ὁ τῶν κεραμέων
[123] But if there be anyone who does not care to conceive of and portray him as winged, let him liken him to Ixion, constrained to cruel and violent gyrations as he is rapidly whirled round and round on a wheel. Indeed, the comparison of the wheel with reputation would not be unfitting nor far inferior in truth to the clever and brilliant metaphors of the rhetoricians: by its shifting movement it very readily turns round, and in its revolutions forces the soul to assume all kinds of shapes, more truly than the potter’s wheel affects the things that are being shaped upon it.
[124] τὰ ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ πλαττόμενα. ἄνδρα δὴ τοιοῦτον εἱλούμενον ἀεὶ καὶ περιφερόμενον, κόλακα δήμων τε καὶ ὄχλων ἐν ἐκκλησίαις ἢ ἐπιδείξεσιν ἢ βασιλέων ἢ τυράννων λεγομέναις δὴ φιλίαις καὶ θεραπείαις, τίς οὐκ ἂν ἐλεήσειε τῆς φύσεως καὶ τοῦ βίου; λέγω δὲ οὐχ ὃς ἂν ἀπὸ τοῦ βελτίστου προεστηκὼς πολύ τι πλῆθος ἀνθρώπων πειθοῖκαὶ λόγῳ μετ᾽ εὐνοίας καὶ δικαιοσύνης πειρᾶται ῥυθμίζειν τε καὶ ἄγειν ἐπὶ τὰ βελτίω.
[124] Such a man, ever turning and revolving, a flatterer of peoples and crowds, whether in public assemblies or lecture halls, or in his so-called friendship with tyrants or kings and his courting of them — who would not feel pity for his character and manner of living? I am not speaking of the man, however, who, having managed his own life admirably, endeavours by the persuasion of speech combined with goodwill and a sense of justice to train and direct a great multitude of men and to lead them to better things.
[125] ἐχέτω δὴ καὶ οὗτος ἡμῖν ὁ δαίμων τέλος, ἵνα μὴ νῦν στολάς τε καὶ μορφὰς προστιθέντες αὐτῷ καὶ τἄλλα τὰ προσήκοντα πολὺν καὶ ἄπειρον εἰσφερώμεθα λόγων ὄχλον.
[125] “Let us, then, come to an end with this spirit, too, for I should prefer at the present time not to provide him with clothing and shape, and his other appurtenances, and thus add a great and endless throng of words.
[126] εἴη δ᾽ ἂν αὐτοῦ τὸ ἦθος, ὡς ἐν βραχεῖ περιλαβεῖν, φιλόνικον,ἀνόητον, χαῦνον, ἀλαζονείᾳ καὶ ζηλοτυπίᾳ καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς τοιούτοις ἔγγιστα χαλεποῖς καὶ ἀγρίοις πάθεσιν. ἅπαντα γὰρ ταῦτα φιλοτίμῳ [p. 77]
[126] Put briefly, then, he could be characterized as contentious, foolish, and conceited, and a prey to vainglory, jealousy, and all such difficult and savage emotions. For it is quite inevitable that all these unsociable and savage and difficult feelings should accompany the honour-seeking type of soul,
[127] τρόπῳ ψυχῆς ἀκοινώνητα καὶ ἄγρια καὶ χαλεπὰ ἀνάγκη πᾶσα συνέπεσθαι, ἔτι δὲ αὐτὸν
πολὺ μεταλλάττειν καὶ ἀνώμαλον ἔχειν τὴν διάνοιαν, ἅτε ἀνωμάλῳ δουλεύοντα καὶ προσέχοντα πράγματι, πυκνότερον καὶ συνεχέστερον ἢ τοὺς κυνηγέτας φασὶ χαίροντα καὶ λυπούμενον: ἐκείνοις γὰρ δὴ μάλιστα τοῦτο πλεῖστον καὶ συνεχέστατον συμβαίνειν λέγουσι, φαινομένης τε καὶ ἀπολλυμένης τῆς ἄγρας:
[127] and it is natural that he should change his mind often and be inconsistent — inasmuch as he serves and courts so fickle a thing — alternating between joy and sorrow more often and continuously than hunters are said to do. For they say this is their especial and most continuous experience, when they sight the game and then lose it again.
[128] ὅταν μὲν γὰρ εὐδοκιμήσεις τε καὶ ἔπαινοι συμβαίνωσιν αὐτοῖς, ἡ ψυχὴ τοῦ τοιούτου ἀνδρὸς αὔξει καί βλαστάνει καὶ θαυμαστὸν ἴσχει μέγεθος, καθάπερ Ἀθήνησί φασι τὸν ἱερὸν τῆς ἐλαίας θαλλὸν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ μιᾷ βλαστῆσαι καὶ τέλειον γενέσθαι: ταχὺ δὲ αὖ πάλιν συστέλλεται καὶ ταπεινοῦται καὶ φθίνει, ψόγου τινὸς προσπεσόντος ἢ δυσφημίας.
[128] So it is with the ambitious: When good repute and praise come their way, their souls are magnified and swell and show a wondrous burgeoning, just like the shoot of the sacred olive that they tell of at Athens, which swelled and grew to full size in a single day. But, alas! they soon wither again and droop and die when censure and obloquy overtake them.
[129] ἀπάτη δὲ καὶ τούτῳ παρέπεται τῷ δαίμονι ἁπασῶν πιθανωτάτη. οὐ γὰρ ὡς ἡ τοῦ φιλαργύρου καὶ φιληδόνου λαμπρὸν μὲν οὐδὲν λόγῳ ἐδύναντο ὑποσχέσθαι, οὐδ᾽ ὡς ἐπὶ σεμνὰ καὶ λαμπρὰ προήγαγον τοὺς ἀπατωμένους ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν, ἀλλὰ μόνον τὸ τῶν ἀγαθῶν αὐτοῖς ὄνομα ἐπεφήμιζον καὶ προσετίθεσαν, οὕτως ἡ τοῦδε ἀπάτη, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπᾴδουσα καὶ γοητεύουσά φησι φιλόκαλον αὐτὸν εἶναι καὶ ὡς ἐπ᾽ ἀρετήν τινα ἢ εὔκλειαν ἄγει τὴν δόξαν.
[129] And Delusion, the most convincing thing imaginable, besets this spirit also. For while the miser’s delusion and the hedonist’s were not able to promise them definitely a brilliant fruition, and did not open the door for their dupes to exalted and splendid destinies, but merely whispered and suggested to them the names of the blessings in prospect, it is otherwise with the Delusion of ambition. Fascinating her victim with her charms and spells, she tells him he is a lover of all that is good and leads him towards notoriety as to some virtue or fair renown.
[130] πάλιν οὖν ἐνθάδε κινδυνεύσω τὸ δεύτερον εἰς τὸν αὐτὸν πεσεῖν μῦθον τὸν Ἰξίονος. καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνόν φασιν ἐπιθυμήσαντα τῶν Ἥρας μακαρίων γάμων νεφέλῃ τινὶ συγγενόμενον σκοτεινῇ καὶ ἀχλυώδει ἄχρηστα καὶ ἀλλόκοτα γεννῆσαι τέκνα, τὸ τῶν Κενταύρων γένος ποικίλον καὶ συμπεφορημένον.
[130] So I shall be tempted here again to make a second allusion to the same story of Ixion. ’Tis said that in his eagerness for the blissful union with Hera he embraced a dark and dismal cloud and became the parent of a useless and monstrous brood, the curious hybrid race of the centaurs.
[131] ὁ γὰρ εὐκλείας ἔρωτος διαμαρτών, ἔπειτα δόξης ἐπιθυμίᾳ συνών, τῷ ὄντι νεφέλῃ λέληθεν ἀντὶ τῆς θείας καὶ σεμνῆς ὁμιλίας συνών. ἐκ δὲ τῶν τοιούτων συνουσιῶν ἢ γάμων ὠφέλιμον μὲν ἢ χρήσιμον οὐδὲν ἂν γένοιτο, θαυμαστὰ δὲ καὶ ἄλογα, προσεοικότα τοῖς Κενταύροις,
[131] And in the same way he who has been disappointed in his love for true fame and has then dallied with a lust for notoriety has in reality been consorting with a cloud without knowing it instead of enjoying intercourse with the divine and august. And from such associations and unions nothing useful or serviceable can come, but only strange irrational creations that resemble the centaurs —
[132] δημαγωγῶν τινων πολιτεύματα καὶ ξυγγράμματα σοφιστῶν. ξεναγοὶ [p. 78] γὰρ καὶ σοφισταὶ καὶ δημαγωγοί: λέγω δὲ διακρίνων στρατηγούς τε καὶ παιδευτὰς καὶ πολιτικοὺς ἄνδρας ἀπὸ τῶν νῦν εἰρημένων: οὗτοι πάντες ἐκείνῳ τῷ δαίμονι προσνέμεσθαι ἄξιοι καὶ τῆς ἐκείνου μερίδος τε καὶ ἑταιρείας ἀριθμεῖσθαι.
[132] I mean the political acts of certain demagogues and the treatises of the sophists; for both sophists and demagogues are purely mercenary leaders. But in saying this I distinguish the generals and educators and statesmen from those whom I have just mentioned, all of whom may well be assigned to that spirit of ambition and be counted in its faction and following.
[133] καὶ δὴ νῦν μὲν ἐπεξῆλθον τοὺς ὑφ᾽ ἑνὸς ἑκάστου τῶν εἰρημένωνδαιμόνων ἐλαυνομένους: πολλάκις δὲ καὶ δύο τὸν αὐτὸν ἢ πάντες εἰλήχασι, τἀναντία ἀλλήλοις προστάττοντες καὶ ἀπειλοῦντες,
[133] “And now I have described those who are under the sway of each of the spirits named; but very often two or all of them get hold of the same individual, make conflicting demands upon him, and threaten that, if he does not obey, they will inflict severe penalties upon him.
[134] εἰ μὴ πείθοιτο, μεγάλαις τισὶ περιβαλεῖν ζημίαις, ὁ μὲν φιλήδονος ἀναλίσκειν εἰς τὰς ἡδονὰς κελεύων, καὶ μήτε χρυσοῦ μήτε ἀργύρου μήτε ἄλλου κτήματος φείδεσθαι μηδενός, ὁ δ᾽ αὖ φιλοχρήματοσκαὶ μικρολόγος οὐκ ἐῶν, ἀλλὰ κατέχων τε καὶ ἀπειλῶν, εἰ πείσεται ἐκείνῳ, λιμῷ τε καὶ δίψῃ καὶ ἁπάσῃ πενίᾳ τε καὶ ἀπορίᾳ διολλύειν αὐτόν.
[134] The pleasure-loving spirit bids him to spend money on pleasures and to spare neither gold nor silver nor anything else he has, while the avaricious and parsimonious spirit objects, and checks him and threatens that it will destroy him with hunger, thirst, and utter beggary and want, so surely as he heeds the other.
[135] πάλιν δὲ ὁ μὲν φιλόδοξος συμβουλεύει καὶ παρακαλεῖ προΐεσθαι τὰ ὄντα τιμῆς ἕνεκεν: ὁ δὲ καὶ πρὸς τοῦτον ἀπομάχεται καὶ ἀντιβαίνει. καὶ μὴν ὅ γε τῆς ἡδονῆς φίλοσκαὶ ὁ τῆς δόξης οὔποτε δύνανται συνᾷσαι οὐδὲ τὸ αὐτὸ εἰπεῖν. ὁ μὲν γὰρ καταφρονεῖ τῆς δόξης καὶ λῆρον ἡγεῖται καὶ τὸ τοῦ Σαρδαναπάλλου προφέρεται πολλάκις ἐλεγεῖον,
τόσσ᾽ ἔχω ὅσσ᾽ ἔφαγον καὶ ἐφύβρισα καὶ μετ᾽ ἔρωτος
τέρπν᾽ ἔπαθον: τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ καὶ ὄλβια πάντα λέλειπται,
[135] Again, the spirit that loves distinction counsels and encourages him to sacrifice all that he has for the sake of honour, but the other spirit opposes and blocks this one. And indeed, the l
over of pleasure and the lover of fame can never be in accord or say the same thing; for the one despises fame, thinks it nonsense, and often cites the lines of Sardanapallus:
‘What I have eaten and wantoned, the joys I have had of my amours,
These alone have I now. The rest of my blessings have vanished.’
[136] καὶ μάλιστα τὸν θάνατον ἀεὶ πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν δείκνυσιν, ὡς οὐδενὸς ἔτι τῶν ἡδέων δυνησομένῳ μετασχεῖν: ὁ δὲ φιλόδοξος ἀπάγει τε καὶ ἀφέλκει τῶν ἡδονῶν, τά τε ὀνείδη καὶ τὰς λοιδορίας ἐπανατεινόμενος.
[136] And especially does this spirit ever keep death before his eyes, warning him that when dead he will be able to enjoy no pleasures any longer. But the spirit that courts fame leads, yea, drags him away from pleasure by keeping him in mind of the censure and reproach that will be his.
[137] οὐκ ἔχων οὖν ὃ ποιήσῃ καὶ ὅποι τράπηται καὶ καταδύσηται, ἀποδιδράσκει πολλάκις εἰς τὸ σκότος, καὶ πειρᾶται λανθάνων τῷ ἑτέρῳ χαρίζεσθαι καὶ ὑπηρετεῖν: ὁ δὲ ἀποκαλύπτει καὶ εἰς τὸ μέσον αὐτὸν ἕλκει.
[137] Not knowing, therefore, what to do or whither to turn and hide himself, he often runs away into the darkness and under its cover tries to please and serve the second spirit,
[138] οὕτω δὴ ψυχὴν διαφορουμένην τε καὶ διασπωμένην, ἀεί ποτε ἐν μάχῃ καὶ στάσει διηνεκεῖ πρὸς αὑτὴν οὖσαν, ἀνάγκη πρὸς πᾶσαν ἀφικνεῖσθαι δυστυχίαν. ὥσπερ γὰρ τὰ νοσήματα ἀλλήλοις ἐπιπλεκόμενα, τἀναντία δοκοῦντα πολλάκις,[p. 79] χαλεπὴν καὶ ἄπορον ποιεῖ τὴν ἴασιν, τὸν αὐτὸν οἶμαι τρόπον ἀνάγκη γίγνεσθαι καὶ τῶν τῆς ψυχῆς συμμιγνυμένων τε καὶ συμπλεκομένων εἰς τὸ αὐτὸ παθῶν.
Delphi Complete Works of Dio Chrysostom Page 191