Delphi Complete Works of Dio Chrysostom

by Dio Chrysostom

  [11] or, on the other hand, because it is possible for them to enjoy abundant shade in the summer-time and drink all the wine they wish, on that account never expose themselves to the sun, never experience a natural thirst, keep to the house just as much as women do, are inactive and sluggish of body, and have their souls steeped in a drunken stupor. This is why they devise for themselves both unwholesome menus and baths to counteract the bad effects of these, and within the same twenty-four hours they often want both a breeze and heavy clothing; they want ice and fire at one and the same time, and — what is most absurd of all — they long for both hunger and thirst.

  [12] ἐπιθυμοῦσι καὶ λιμοῦ καὶ δίψους. ἀκόλαστοι δὲ ὄντες οὐχ ἥδονται ἀφροδισίοις διὰ τὸ μὴ περιμένειν ὀρέγεσθαι αὐτῶν: ὅθεν ζητοῦσιν ἀχαρίτους καὶ ἀτερπεῖς ἡδονάς. ὁ δὲ λιμῷ μὲν ἐχρῆτο καὶ δίψει πρὸ τῆς τροφῆς ἑκάστοτε, καὶ ἐνόμιζε τοῦτο ἱκανώτατον καὶ δριμύτατοντῶν ὄψων. τοιγαροῦν ἥδιον μὲν προσεφέρετο μᾶζαν ἢ οἱ ἄλλοι τὰ πολυτελέστατα τῶν σιτίων, ἥδιον δὲ ἔπινε τοῦ ῥέοντος ὕδατος ἢ οἱ ἄλλοι τὸν Θάσιον οἶνον.

  [12] And though they are incontinent, they find no delight in love because they do not wait till they desire it naturally; consequently the pleasures they seek are devoid of satisfaction and are joyless.

  Diogenes, however, always waited until he was hungry or thirsty before he partook of nourishment, and he thought that hunger was the most satisfactory and pungent of appetizers. And so he used to partake of a barley cake with greater pleasure than others did of the costliest of foods, and enjoyed a drink from a stream of running water more than others did their Thasian wine.

  [13] κατεγέλα δὲ τῶν, ὁπότε διψῷεν, τὰς μὲν κρήνας παρερχομένων, ζητούντων δὲ πάντως ὁπόθεν ὠνήσονται Χῖον ἢ Λέσβιον, καὶ πολὺ ἔφασκεν ἀφρονεστέρουσεἶναι τῶν βοσκημάτων: ἐκεῖνα γὰρ οὐδέποτε διψῶντα κρήνην οὐδὲ ῥεῦμα καθαρὸν παρελθεῖν οὐδὲ πεινῶντα ἀπέχεσθαι τῶν ἁπαλωτάτων φύλλων καὶ πόας τῆς ἱκανῆς τρέφειν:

  [13] He scorned those who would pass by a spring when thirsty and move heaven and earth to find where they could buy Chian or Lesbian wine; and he used to say that such persons were far sillier than cattle, since these creatures never pass by a spring or a clear brook when thirsty or, when hungry, disdain the tenderest leaves or grass enough to nourish them.

  [14] οἰκίας δὲ τὰς καλλίστας καὶ ὑγιεινοτάτας ἐν ἁπάσαις ταῖς πόλεσιν ἔχειν ἀναπεπταμένας τά τε ἱερὰ καὶ τὰ γυμνάσια. ἱμάτιον δὲ ἓν ἐξήρκει τοῦθέρους αὐτῷ καὶ τοῦ χειμῶνος: τοῦ γὰρ ἀέρος ἠνείχετο ῥᾳδίως,

  [14] He also said that the most beautiful and healthful houses were open to him in every city: to wit, the temples and the gymnasia. And one garment was all he needed for both summer and winter, for he endured the cold weather easily because he had become used to it.

  [15] ἅτε δὴ συνήθης αὐτῷ γενόμενος. τοὺς δὲ πόδας οὐδέποτε ἔσκεπεν: οὐ γὰρ ἔφη τρυφερωτέρους εἷναι τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν καὶ τοῦ προσώπου. ταῦτα γάρ, ἀσθενέστατα πεφυκότα, μάλιστα ἀνέχεσθαι τὸ ψῦχος διὰ τὸ γυμνοῦσθαι ἀεί: μὴ γὰρ εἶναι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις δυνατὸνκαταδησαμένους τὰ ὄμματα βαδίζειν, ὥσπερ τοὺς πόδας. ἔφη δὲ τοὺς πλουσίους ὁμοίους εἶναι τοῖς νεογνοῖς βρέφεσι: δεῖσθαι γὰρ ἀεί ποτε σπαργάνων.

  [15] He never protected his feet, either, because they were no more sensitive, he claimed, than his eyes and face. For these parts, though by nature most delicate, endured the cold very well on account of their constant exposure; for men could not possibly walk after binding their eyes as they did their feet. He used to say, too, that rich men were like new-born babes; both were in constant need of swaddling-clothes.

  [16] ὑπὲρ οὗ δὲ πλεῖστα μὲν πράγματα [p. 87] ἔχουσιν ἄνθρωποι, πλεῖστα δὲ χρήματα ἀναλίσκουσι, πολλαὶ δὲ ἀνάστατοι πόλεις διὰ ταῦτα γεγόνασι, πολλὰ δὲ ἔθνη τούτων ἕνεκεν οἰκτρῶς ἀπόλωλεν, ἁπάντων ἐκείνῳ χρημάτων ἀπονώτατον ἦν καὶ ἀδαπανώτατον.

  [16] That for which men gave themselves the most trouble and spent the most money, which caused the razing of many cities and the pitiful destruction of many nations — this he found the least laborious and most inexpensive of all things to procure.

  [17] οὐ γὰρ ἔδει αὐτὸν οὐδαμόσε ἐλθεῖν ἀφροδισίων δισίων ἕνεκεν, ἀλλὰ παίζων ἔλεγεν ἁπανταχοῦ παρεῖναι αὐτῷ τὴν Ἀφροδίτην προῖκα: τοὺς δὲ ποιητὰς καταψεύδεσθαι τῆς θεοῦ διὰ τὴν αὑτῶν ἀκρασίαν, πολύχρυσον καλοῦντας. ἐπεὶ δὲ πολλοὶ τοῦτο ἠπίστουν, ἐν τῷ φανερῷ ἐχρῆτο καὶ πάντων ὁρώντων: καὶ ἔλεγεν ὡς εἴπερ οἱ ἄνθρωποι οὕτως εἶχον, οὐκ ἂν ἑάλω ποτὲ ἡ Τροία, οὐδ᾽ ἂν ὁ Πρίαμος ὁ Φρυγῶν βασιλεύς, ἀπὸ Διὸς γεγονώς,

  [17] For he did not have to go anywhere for his sexual gratification but, as he humorously put it, he found Aphrodite everywhere, without expense; and the poets libelled the goddess, he maintained, on account of their own want of self-control, when they called her “the all-golden.” And since many doubted this boast, he gave a public demonstration before the eyes of all, saying that if men were like himself, Troy would never have been taken, nor Priam, king of the Phrygians and a descendant of Zeus, been slain at the altar of Zeus.

  [18] ἐπὶ τῷ βωμῷ τοῦ Διὸς ἐσφάγη. τοὺς δὲ Ἀχαιοὺς οὕτως εἶναι ἄφρονας ὥστε καὶ τοὺς νεκροὺς νομίζειν προσδεῖσθαι γυναικῶν καὶ τὴν Πολυξένην σφάττειν ἐπὶ τῷ τάφῳ τοῦ Ἀχιλλέως. ἔφη δὲ τοὺς ἰχθύας σχεδόν τι φρονιμωτέρους φαίνεσθαι τῶν ἀνθρώπων: ὅταν γὰρ δέωνται τὸ σπέρμα ἀποβαλεῖν, ἰόντας ἔξω προσκνᾶσθαι πρὸς τὸ τραχύ.

  [18] But the Achaeans had been such fools as to believe that even dead men found women indispensable and so slew Polyxena at the tomb of Achilles. Fish showed themselves more sensible than men almost; for whenever they needed to eject their sperm, they went out of doors and rubbed themselves against something rough.

  [19] θαυμάζειν δὲ τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὸ τὸν μὲν πόδα μὴ θέλειν ἀργυρίου κνᾶσθαι μηδὲ τὴν χεῖρα μηδὲ ἄλλο μηδὲν τοῦ σώματος, μηδὲ τοὺς πάνυ πλουσίους ἀναλῶσαι ἂν μηδεμίαν ὑπὲρ τούτου δραχμήν: ἕν δὲ ἐκεῖνο τὸ μέρος πολλάκις πολλῶν ταλάντων, τοὺς δέ τινας ἤδη καὶ τῇ ψυχῇ παραβαλλομένους.

  [19] He marvelled that while men were unwilling to pay out money to have a leg or arm or any other part of their body rubbed, that while not even the very rich would spend a single drachma for this purpose, yet on that one member
they spent many talents time and again and some had even risked their lives in the bargain.

  [20] ἔλεγε δὲ παίζων τὴν συνουσίαν ταύτην εὕρεμα εἶναι τοῦ Πανός, ὅτε τῆς Ἠχοῦς ἐρασθεὶς οὐκ ἐδύνατο λαβεῖν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπλανᾶτο ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσι νύκτα καὶ ἡμέραν, τότε οὖν τὸν Ἑρμῆν διδάξαι αὐτόν, οἰκτείραντα τῆς ἀπορίας, ἅτε υἱὸν αὐτοῦ. καὶ τόν, ἐπεὶ ἔμαθε, παύσασθαι τῆς πολλῆς ταλαιπωρίας: ἀπ᾽ ἐκείνου δὲ τοὺς ποιμένας χρῆσθαι μαθόντας.

  [20] In a joking way he would say that this sort of intercourse was a discovery made by Pan when he was in love with Echo and could not get hold of her, but roamed over the mountains night and day till Hermes in pity at his distress, since he was his son, taught him the trick. So Pan, when he had learned his lesson, was relieved of his great misery; and the shepherds learned the habit from him.

  [21] τὰ μὲν οὖν τοιαῦτα ἐνίοτε τῶν ἀνθρώπων καταγελῶν ἔλεγεν τῶν τετυφωμένων καὶ ἀνοήτων: μάλιστα δὲ ὕβριζε τοὺς σοφιστὰς τοὺς σεμνοὺς εἶναι θέλοντας καὶ πλέον τι τῶν ἄλλων εἰδέναι οἰομένους. [p. 88] ἔλεγε δὲ διὰ τὴν μαλακίαν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἀθλιώτερον ζῆν τῶν θηρίων.

  [21] In such language he at times used to ridicule the victims of conceit and folly, though it was against the sophists, who wanted to be looked up to and thought they knew more than other men, that he railed in particular. He used to say that men, owing to their softness, lived more wretched lives than the beasts.

  [22] ἐκεῖνα γὰρ ὕδατι μὲν ποτῷ χρώμενα, τροφῇ δὲ βοτάνῃ, τὰ πολλὰ δὲ αὐτῶν γυμνὰ ὄντα δι᾽ ἔτους, εἰς οἰκίαν δὲ οὐδέποτε εἰσιόντα, πυρὶ δὲ οὐδὲν χρώμενα, ζῆν μὲν ὁπόσον ἡ φύσις ἑκάστοις ἔταξε χρόνον, ἐὰν μηδεὶς ἀναιρῇ: ἰσχυρὰ δὲ καὶὑγιαίνοντα διάγειν ὁμοίως ἅπαντα, δεῖσθαι δὲ μηδὲν ἰατρῶν μηδὲ φαρμάκων.

  [22] For these took water for their drink and grass for their food, were most of them naked from one end of the year to the other, never entered a house nor made any use of fire, and yet they lived as long as nature had ordained for each, if no one destroyed them, and all alike remained strong and healthy, and had no need of doctors or of drugs.

  [23] τοὺς δὲ ἀνθρώπους οὕτως μὲν πάνυ φιλοζῴους ὄντας, τοσαῦτα δὲ μηχανωμένους πρὸς ἀναβολὴν τοῦ θανάτου, τοὺς μὲν πολλοὺς αὐτῶν μηδὲ εἰς γῆρας ἀφικνεῖσθαι, ζῆν δὲ νοσημάτων γέμοντας, ἃ μηδὲ ὀνομάσαι ῥᾴδιον, τὴν δὲ γῆν αὐτοῖς μὴ ἐξαρκεῖν

  [23] Men, however, who are so very fond of life and devise so many ways to postpone death, generally did not even reach old age, but lived infested by a host of maladies which it were no easy task even to name, and the earth did not supply them with drugs enough, but they required the knife and cautery as well.

  [24] παρέχουσαν φάρμακα, δεῖσθαι δὲ καὶ σιδήρου καὶ πυρός. καὶ μήτε Χείρωνος μήτε Ἀσκληπιοῦ μήτε τῶν Ἀσκληπιαδῶν ἰωμένων μηδὲν αὐτοῖς ὄφελος εἶναι διὰ τὴν αὐτῶν ἀκολασίαν καὶ πονηρίαν,

  [24] Nor were Cheiron and Asclepius’ sons, with all their healing power, nor prophetic seers nor priestly exorcists of any use to them at all because of their excesses and wickedness.

  [25] μηδὲ μάντεων μαντευομένων μηδὲ ἱερέων καθαιρόντων. εἰς δὲ τὰς πόλεις συνελθόντας, ὅπως ὑπὸ τῶν ἔξωθεν μὴ ἀδικῶνται,τοὐναντίον αὑτοὺς ἀδικεῖν καὶ τὰ δεινότατα πάντα ἐργάζεσθαι, ὥσπερ ἐπὶ τούτῳ ξυνεληλυθότας. διὰ ταῦτα δὲ δοκεῖν αὐτῷ καὶ τὸν μῦθον λέγειν ὡς τὸν Προμηθέα κολάζοι ὁ Ζεὺς διὰ τὴν εὕρεσιν καὶ μετάδοσιν τοῦ πυρός, ὡς ἀρχὴν τοῦτο καὶ ἀφορμὴν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις μαλακίας καὶ τρυφῆς. οὐ γὰρ δὴ τὸν Δία μισεῖν τοὺς

  [25] Men crowded into the cities to escape wrong from those outside, only to wrong one another and commit all sorts of the most dreadful misdeeds as though that had been the object of their coming together. And the reason, in his opinion, why the myth says that Zeus punished Prometheus for his discovery and bestowal of fire was that therein lay the origin and beginning of man’s softness and love of luxury; for Zeus surely did not hate men or grudge them any good thing.

  [26] ἀνθρώπους οὐδὲ φθονεῖν αὐτοῖς ἀγαθοῦ τινος. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἔλεγόν τινες οὐ δυνατὸν εἶναι ζῆν τὸν ἄνθρωπον ὁμοίως τοῖς ἄλλοις ζῴοις διὰ τὴν ἁπαλότητα τῶν σαρκῶν καὶ διότι ψιλός ἐστιν, οὔτε θριξὶ σκεπόμενος, ὥσπερ τὰ πολλὰ τῶν θηρίων, οὔτε πτεροῖς,

  [26] When some people urged that it is impossible for man to live like the animals owing to the tenderness of his flesh and because he is naked and unprotected either by hair, as the majority of beasts are, or by feathers and has no covering of tough skin,

  [27] οὐδὲ δέρμα ἰσχυρὸν ἐπαμπέχεται, πρὸς ταῦτα ἀντέλεγεν, οὕτωσμὲν σφόδρα ἁπαλοὺς εἶναι διὰ τὴν δίαιταν: φεύγειν μὲν γὰρ ὡς τὸ πολὺ τὸν ἥλιον, φεύγειν δὲ τὸ ψῦχος: τὴν δὲ ψιλότητα τοῦ σώματος μηδὲν ἐνοχλεῖν. ἐπεδείκνυε δὲ τούς τε βατράχους καὶ ἄλλα οὐκ ὀλίγα ζῷα πολὺ μὲν ἁπαλώτερα ἀνθρώπου, πολὺ δὲ ψιλότερα, καὶ ἔνια τούτων ἀνεχόμενα οὐ τὸν ἀέρα μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ

  [27] he would say in reply that men are so very tender because of their mode of life, since, as a rule, they avoid the sun and also avoid the cold. It is not the nakedness of the body that causes the trouble. He would then call attention to the frogs and numerous other animals much more delicate than man and much less protected, and yet some of them not only withstand the cold air but are even able to live in the coldest water during the winter.

  [28] ἐν τῷ ψυχροτάτῳ ὕδατι ζῆν δυνάμενα τοῦ χειμῶνος. ἐπεδείκνυε δὲ τῶν ἀνθρώπων αὐτῶν τούς τε ὀφθαλμοὺς καὶ τὸ πρόσωπον [p. 89] οὐδὲν δεόμενα σκέπης. καθόλου δὲ ἐν μηδενὶ τόπῳ γίγνεσθαι ζῷον, ὃ μὴ δύναται ζῆν ἐν αὐτῷ: ἢ πῶς ἂν ἐσώθησαν οἱ πρῶτοι ἄνθρωποι γενόμενοι, μήτε πυρὸς ὄντος μήτε οἰκιῶν μήτε ἐσθῆτος μήτε ἄλλης τροφῆς ἢ τῆς αὐτομάτου; ἀλλὰ τὴν πανουργίαν τοῖς ὕστερον καὶ τὸ πολλὰ εὑρίσκειν καὶ μηχανᾶσθαι πρὸς τὸν βίον οὐ

  [28] He also pointed out that the eyes and the face of man himself have no need of protection. And, in general, no creature is born in any region that cannot live in it. Else how could the first human beings to be born have survived, there being no fire, or houses, or clothing, or any other food than that which grew wild? Nay, man’s ingenuity and his discovering and contriving so many h
elps to life had not been altogether advantageous to later generations,

  [29] πάνυ τι συνενεγκεῖν. οὐ γὰρ πρὸς ἀνδρείαν οὐδὲ δικαιοσύνην χρῆσθαι τῇ σοφίᾳ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, ἀλλὰ πρὸς ἡδονήν: διώκοντας οὖν τὸ ἡδὺ ἐξ ἅπαντος ἀεὶ ζῆν ἀηδέστερον καὶ ἐπιπονώτερον, καὶ δοκοῦντας προμηθεῖσθαι σφῶν αὐτῶν κάκιστα ἀπόλλυσθαι διὰ τὴν πολλὴν ἐπιμέλειάν τε καὶ προμήθειαν.

  [29] since men do not employ their cleverness to promote courage or justice, but to procure pleasure. And so, as they pursue the agreeable at any cost, their life becomes constantly less agreeable and more burdensome; and while they appear to be attending to their own needs, they perish most miserably, just because of excessive care and attention. And for these reasons Prometheus was justly said to have been bound to the rock and to have had his liver plucked by the eagle.

  [30] καὶ οὕτως δὴ τὸν Προμηθέα δικαίως λέγεσθαι δεδεμένον ἐν πέτρᾳ κείρεσθαι τὸ ἧπαρ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀετοῦ. ὁπόσα μὲν: οὖν πολυδάπανα καὶ δεόμενα πραγματείας καὶ ταλαιπωρίας, ταῦτα μὲν ἀφῄρει καὶ βλαβερὰ τοῖς χρωμένοις ἀπέφαινεν: ὅσα δὲ ῥᾳδίως καὶ ἀπραγμόνως ἔστιν ἐπικουρεῖν τῷ σώματι καὶ πρὸς χειμῶνα καὶ πρὸς λιμὸν καὶ πρὸς τὸ παῦσαί τινα ὄρεξιν τοῦ σώματος, οὐ παρέπεμπεν οὐδὲν αὐτῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τόπους ᾑρεῖτο τοὺς ὑγιεινοὺς μᾶλλον ἢ τοὺς νοσώδεις καὶ τοὺς εὐφόρους ἑκάστῃ ὥρᾳ,