Delphi Complete Works of Dio Chrysostom

by Dio Chrysostom

  Δύσπαρι, εἶδος ἄριστε, γυναιμανές, ἠπεροπευτά,

  αἴθ᾽ ὄφελες ἄγονός τ᾽ ἔμεναι ἄγαμός τ᾽ ἀπολέσθαι.

  οὐ γάρ τοι χραίσμῃ κίθαρις τά τε δῶρ᾽ Ἀφροδίτης

  ἥ τε κόμη τό τε εἶδος, ὅτ᾽ ἐν κονίῃσι μιγείης:

  [55] And if Paris had any thought of carrying Helen away, why was the thing permitted to happen by his father, who was no fool, but had the reputation of having great intelligence, and by his mother? What likelihood is there that Hector tolerated such a deed at the outset and then afterwards heaped abuse and reproach upon him for abducting her as Homer declares he did? Here are his words:

  ‘O luckless Paris, nobly formed,

  Yet woman-follower and seducer! Thou

  Shouldst never have been born, or else at best

  Have died unwedded. Thy harp will not avail,

  Nor all the gifts of Venus, nor thy locks,

  Nor thy fair form, when thou art laid in dust.’

  [56] ἐξ ἀρχῆς δὲ πράττοντι συγχωρῆσαι ταῦτα; ὅ τε Ἕλενος πῶς οὐ προέλεγε μάντις ὤν, ἥ τε Κασσάνδρα θεοφορουμένη, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις ὁ Ἀντήνωρ δοκῶν φρονεῖν, ἀλλ᾽ ὕστερον ἠγανάκτουν καὶ ἐπέπληττον ἐπὶ πεπραγμένοις, ἐξὸν ἀφ᾽ ἑστίας κωλύειν; ἵνα δὲ εἰδῇς τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τῆς ἠλιθιότητος καὶ ὡς τὰ ψευδῆ ἀλλήλοις μάχεται: λέγουσι γὰρ ὡς πρὸ ὀλίγων ἐτῶν Ἡρακλῆς πεπορθήκει τὴν πόλιν διὰ μικρὰν πρόφασιν, ὀργισθεὶς ὑπὲρ ἵππων, ὅτι ὑποσχόμενος αὐτῷ δώσειν ὁ Λαομέδων ψεύσαιτο.

  [56] How comes it that neither Helenus, seer though he was, nor Cassandra, the divinely inspired, nor even Antenor, reputed for his wisdom, gave a word of warning but afterwards were indignant and censured what had been done, when they could have kept Helen from their doors?

  “But that you may understand the excess of absurdity and see how the lies contradict one another, I cite what is told of Heracles sacking the city a few years previously on a slight pretext, angered because Laomedon had proved himself false in not giving him the horses which he had promised.”

  [57] καὶ ἐγὼ ἀνεμνήσθην τῶν ἐπῶν, ἐν οἷς ταῦτά φησιν: [p. 130]

  ὅς ποτε δεῦρ᾽ ἐλθὼν ἕνεχ᾽ ἵππων Λαομέδοντος

  ἓξ οἴῃς σὺν νηυσὶ καὶ ἀνδράσι παυροτέροισιν

  Ἰλίου ἐξαλάπαξε πόλιν, χήρωσε δ᾽ ἀγυιάς.

  οὔκουν, εἶπεν, οὐδὲ τοῦτο ἀληθὲς λέγουσι. πῶς γὰρ ἐν ὀλίγῳ χρόνῳ οὕτω πόλις ἁλοῦσα καὶ ἐρημωθεῖσα τοσαύτην ἐπίδοσιν ἔσχενὡς μεγίστην γενέσθαι τῶν κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν; πῶς δὲ ὁ μὲν Ἡρακλῆς σὺν ἓξ ναυσὶν εἷλεν ἐκ πολλοῦ ἀπόρθητον οὖσαν, οἱ δὲ Ἀχαιοὶ μετὰ νεῶν χιλίων καὶ διακοσίων ἐλθόντες οὐκ ἐδύναντο ἑλεῖν; ἢ πῶς τὸν Πρίαμον εἴασε βασιλεύειν ὁ Ἡρακλῆς, ἀποκτείνας αὐτοῦ τὸν πατέρα, ὡς πάντων ἐχθρότατον, ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἄλλον τινὰ ἀπέδειξεν

  [57] And I recalled the verses in which Homer makes this statement:

  “Hercules

  The lion-hearted, who once came to Troy

  To claim the coursers of Laomedon,

  With but six ships, and warriors but a few,

  He laid the city waste and made its streets

  A desolation.”

  “This is another popular misstatement,” said my friend, “for how could a city that had been thus taken and reduced to a wilderness have made such a wondrous recovery in so short a time so as to become the greatest of all in Asia? And how was it that Heracles, coming with only six ships, captured it when it had long been inviolate, while the Achaeans, who came with twelve hundred ships, could not capture it? Or how did Heracles, who slew Priam’s father, his mortal enemy, suffer Priam to become king instead of appointing someone else as ruler of the country?

  [58] ἄρχοντα τῆς χώρας; εἰ δ᾽ ἦν οὕτως ὥς φασι, πῶς οὐκ ἔφριττον οἱ Τρῶες καὶ ὁ Πρίαμος τὴν πρὸς τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἔχθραν, εἰδότες ὅτι καὶ πρότερον οὐδὲν τηλικοῦτον ἐξαμαρτόντες ἀπώλοντο καὶ ἀνάστατοι ἐγένοντο, καὶ πολλοὶ μνημονεύοντες τὴν ἅλωσιν μηδὲν τούτων ἐννοῆσαι μηδὲ κωλῦσαι τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον μηδένα αὐτῶν;τίνα δὲ τρόπον ἀφικόμενος εἰς τὴν Ἑλλάδα συνῆν τῇ Ἑλένῃ καὶ διελέγετο καὶ τελευτῶν ἀνέπεισεν αὐτήν φυγεῖν, μήτε γονέων μήτε πατρίδος μήτε ἀνδρὸς ἢ θυγατρὸς μήτε τῆς παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησι φήμης φροντίσασαν, ἀλλὰ μηδὲ τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς φοβηθεῖσαν περιόντας, οἳ πρότερον αὐτὴν ἀφείλοντο Θησέως καὶ οὐ περιεῖδον

  [58] But if it was as they say, how is that Priam and the Trojans did not dread a feud with the Greeks when they were aware that once before, and for a crime not so great, their people had lost their lives or been driven into exile? And though many recalled the capture, how is it that not one of them thought of any of these things,” cried the Egyptian, “and that not one of them stopped Paris?”

  “And how in the world after coming to Greece did he become intimate with Helen, and talk to her, and finally persuade her to elope, without thinking of parents, country, husband, or daughter, or of her repute among the Greeks, nay, without fearing even her brothers, who were still living and had once before recovered her from Theseus and had not brooked her abduction?

  [59] ἁρπασθεῖσαν; τοῦτο μὲν γὰρ παρόντα τὸν Μενέλαον πῶς ταῦτα ἔλαθε γιγνόμενα; τοῦτο δὲ ἀπόντος ἀνδρὸς γυναῖκα εἰς ὁμιλίαν ἀφικνεῖσθαι ξένῳ ἀνδρὶ πῶς εἰκός τοῦτο δὲ μηδὲ τῶν ἄλλων μηδένα αἰσθέσθαι τὴν ἐπιβουλὴν ἢ αἰσθομένους κρύψαι, προσέτι δὲ τὴν Αἴθραν τὴν τοῦ Θησέως μητέρα συναπᾶραι αὐτῇ αἰχμάλωτονοὖσαν; — οὐ γὰρ ἱκανὸν ἦν Πιτθέως θυγατέρα οὖσαν ἐν Σπάρτῃ δουλεύειν, ἀλλ᾽ ᾑρεῖτο ἀκολουθεῖν εἰς Τροίαν,

  [59] For if Menelaus was at home, how did he fail to notice what was going on, but if, on the other hand, he was away from home, how is it probable that his wife could meet and converse with a strange man and none of the others be alive to the plot, or that they should have concealed it if they knew of it; and further, that Aethra, the mother of Theseus, and she a captive, should have sailed away with her — For it was not enough that she, the daughter of Pittheus, should be a slave in Sparta, but she must deliberately follow along to Troy,

  [60] ὁ δὲ Ἀλέξανδρος ἀδεῶς καὶ μετὰ τοσαύτης ἐξουσίας ἔπραττε τὸ πρᾶγμα, ὥστε οὐκ ἦν ἱκανὸν αὐτῷ τῆν γυναῖκα ἀπαγαγεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ χρήματα προσεπέθετο — καὶ μηδὲ ἐπαναχθῆναι μηδένα αὐτῷ, μήτε[p. 131] τῶν τοῦ Μενελάου μήτε τῶν τοῦ Τυνδάρεω μήτε τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς τῆς Ἑ
λένης, καὶ ταῦτα νεῶν οὐσῶν ἐν τῇ Λακωνικῇ, ἔτι δὲ πρότερον πεζῇ ἀπὸ Σπάρτης ἐπὶ θάλατταν κατιόντων, παραχρῆμα, ὡς εἰκός, περιβοήτου γενομένης τῆς ἁρπαγῆς; καὶ οὕτω μὲν οἰ δυνατὸν ἐλθεῖν Ἑλένην μετὰ Ἀλεξάνδρου: γάμῳ δὲ παρ᾽ ἑκόντων δοθεῖσαν τῶν οἰκείων.

  [60] and Paris conducted the affair so boldly and with such licence that it was not enough for him to abduct the wife, but he took the treasure too! — and that not a single soul should have put out after him, none of the people of Menelaus or of Tyndareus, nor Helen’s brothers, though there were ships in Laconia and, what is more, though the pair had first to get down on foot from Sparta to the coast, and the news of her abduction was probably published at once? It would have been impossible for her to go with Paris in any such way, but possible if she was given in marriage with the full consent of her kinsfolk.

  [61] οὕτω γὰρ εὔλογον ἦν τήν τε Αἴθραν ἀφικέσθαι μετ᾽ αὐτῆς καὶ τὰ χρήματα κομισθῆναι. οὐδὲν γὰρ τούτων ἁρπαγῆς, ἀλλὰ πολὺ μᾶλλον γάμου σημεῖόν ἐστιν. ἐπεὶ δέ, ὡς ἔφην, γαμήσας ὁ Ἀλέξανδρος ἀπηλλάγη μετ᾽ αὐτῆς, ὅ τε Μενέλαος ἠνιᾶτο τῆς μνηστείας ἀποτυχὼν καὶ τὸν ἀδελφὸν ᾐτιᾶτο, καὶ ἔφη προδοθῆναι ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ,

  [61] Thus only was it reasonable that Aethra arrived with her and that the treasures were taken along. None of these facts points to an abduction, but much rather to a marriage.

  “But when, as I said, Paris married Helen and departed with her, Menelaus brooded over the failure of his suit and upbraided his brother, declaring that he had been betrayed by him.

  [62] ὅ τε Ἀγαμέμνων ἐκείνου μὲν ἧττον ἐφρόντιζε, τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον δὲ ἐφοβεῖτο καὶ ὑπώπτευε μήποτε ἀντιποιήσηται τῶν ἐν τῇ Ἑλλάδι πραγμάτων, προσηκόντων αὐτῷ διὰ τὸν γάμον. οὕτω δὴ καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους συγκαλεῖ τοὺς μνηστῆρας τῆς Ἑλένης, καὶ ἔφη ὑβρισθῆναι αὐτοὺς ἅπαντας, καὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα καταφρονηθῆναι, καὶ τὴν ἀρίστην γυναῖκα οἴχεσθαι εἰς τοὺς βαρβάρους ἐκδοθεῖσαν, ὡς οὐδενὸς ὄντος ἀξίου παρ᾽

  [62] But Agamemnon was not so much concerned about him as he was fearful of Paris, who, he suspected, might interfere some time in the affairs of Greece, which concerned him now on account of his marriage with Helen. For this reason he convoked the others who had been Helen’s suitors and declared that they had one and all been outraged and Greece treated with contempt, and that the best woman among them had been given in marriage to barbarians and was gone, as though there were no one among themselves who was worthy of her.

  [63] αὐτοῖς. ταῦτα λέγων τὸν μὲν Τυνδάρεων παρῃτεῖτο καὶ συγγνώμην ἔχειν ἐκέλευε: παραλογισθῆναι γὰρ αὐτὸν ὑπὸ δώρων: τὸν δὲ Ἀλέξανδρον αἴτιον ἁπάντων ἀπέφαινε καὶ τὸν Πρίαμον: καὶ παρεκάλει συστρατεύειν ἐπὶ τὴν Τροίαν: πολλὰς γὰρ ἐλπίδας ἔχειν αἱρήσειν αὐτὴν συναραμένων ἁπάντων. γενομένου δὲ τούτου πολλὰ χρήματα διαρπάσειν αὐτοὺς καὶ χώρας κρατήσειν τῆς ἀρίστης. εἶναι γὰρ τὴν μὲν πόλιν πλουσιωτάτην ἁπασῶν, τοὺς δὲ ἀνθρώπους ὑπὸ τρυφῆς διεφθαρμένους: ἔχειν δὲ καὶ συγγενεῖς πολλοὺς ἐν τῇ Ἀσίᾳ τοὺς ἀπὸ Πέλοπος, οἳ συμπράξουσιν αὐτῷ, μισοῦντες τὸν Πρίαμον.

  [63] In such terms, he sought to excuse Tyndareus and urged them to forgive him as having been blinded by the gifts; but he laid the entire blame upon Paris and Priam and exhorted his countrymen to make war together upon Troy, declaring that he had great hopes of taking it if they would all join in, and of their reaping a rich harvest of booty in that event and securing dominion over the fairest of countries; for of all cities, he said, Troy was the wealthiest, and its people had been enervated by luxury. Besides, he had many relatives in Asia who belonged to the house of Pelops and would make common cause with him because they hated Priam.

  [64] ταῦτα δὴ ἀκούοντες, οἱ μέν τινες ὠργίζοντο καὶ ἀτιμίαν τῷ ὄντι ἐνόμιζον τῆς Ἑλλάδος τὸ γεγονός, οἱ δέ τινες ἤλπιζον ὠφεληθήσεσθαι ἀπὸ τῆς στρατείας: δόξα γὰρ ἦν τῶν ἐν τῇ Ἀσίᾳ πραγμάτων ὡς μεγάλων καὶ πλούτου ὑπερβάλλοντος. εἰ μὲν οὖν ἡττήθησαν ὑπὸ τοῦ Μενελάου μνηστεύοντες τὴν Ἑλένην, οὐκ ἂν ἐφρόντισαν, ἀλλὰ τοὐναντίον ἐφήδεσθαι ἔμελλον αὐτῷ: νῦν [p. 132] δὲ τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον ἐμίσουν ἅπαντες, αὐτὸς ἕκαστος ἡγούμενος ἀφῃρῆσθαι τοῦ γάμου. οὕτω δὲ τῆς στρατείας γενομένης, πέμψας ὁ Ἀγαμέμνων ἀπῄτει τὴν Ἑλένην: προσήκειν γὰρ αὐτὴν Ἑλληνίδα οὖσαν γαμηθῆναί τινι τῶν Ἑλλήνων.

  [64] “Now some of the suitors were furious on hearing these words, feeling that the occurrence was indeed a disgrace to Greece, while others expected to profit from the campaign; for the notion prevailed that Asia was a land of big things and of wealth untold. Now had it been Menelaus who had defeated them in the suit for Helen’s hand, they would not have cared themselves; nay, on the contrary, they doubtless would have rejoiced in his happiness. But as it was, they all hated Paris, each man feeling as though his own bride had been torn from him. Thus it was that the campaign began, and Agamemnon sent to demand the return of Helen on the ground that she, a Greek woman, should be married to some one of the Greeks.

  [65] ταῦτα δὲ ἀκούσαντες οἱ Τρῶες ἠγανάκτουν καὶ ὁ Πρίαμος καὶ πάντων μάλιστα ὁ Ἕκτωρ,ὅτι νόμῳ τοῦ Ἀλεξάνδρου λαβόντος παρὰ τοῦ πατρός, καὶ τῆς Ἑλένης βουλομένης ἐκείνῳ συνοικεῖν, οἱ δὲ οὕτως ἀναίσχυντον ἐτόλμων λέγειν λόγον: καὶ ἔφασαν γιγνώσκειν ὅτι ζητοῖεν πολέμου πρόφασιν: αὐτοὶ δὲ μὴ ἄρχειν πολέμου, κρείττους ὄντες, ἀμύνεσθαι δὲ ἐπιχειροῦντας. καὶ διὰ ταῦτα ὑπέμενον οἱ Τρῶεσπολὺν χρόνον πολεμούμενοι καὶ πολλὰ πάσχοντες, οὐχ ὅσα Ὅμηρός φησιν, ὅμως δὲ καὶ τῆς γῆς αὐτῶν φθειρομένης καὶ πολλῶν ἀποθνῃσκόντων ἀνθρώπων, ὅτι ἠπίσταντο ἀδικοῦντας τοὺς Ἀχαιοὺς καὶ τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον οὐθὲν ἄτοπον πράξαντα.

  [65] “When they heard this message, the Trojans were indignant and so was Priam, but Hector in particular, since Paris had lawfully received her at her father’s hand, and Helen had consented to be his wife, and yet the Greeks dared to use such impudent language. They perceived, they said, that the Greeks were seeking a pretext for war, and that they were not the aggressors, stronger though they were, but were defending themselves from attack. This is why the Trojans held out although they were assailed a long time and suffered many hardships — not so many as Homer says, but none the less their land
was being wasted and numbers of their people were perishing — because they knew that the Achaeans were in the wrong and that Paris had done nothing improper.

  [66] εἰ δὲ μή, τίς ἂν ἠνέσχετο αὐτῶν ἢ τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἢ ὁ πατὴρ ἢ τῶν ἄλλων πολιτῶνἀπολλυμένων καὶ πάσης κινδυνευούσης ἀναστάτου γενέσθαι τῆς πόλεως διὰ τὴν ἐκείνου παρανομίαν, ἐξὸν ἀποδόντας τὴν Ἑλένην σῶσαι αὑτούς; οἱ δὲ καὶ ὕστερον, ὥς φασιν, Ἀλεξάνδρου ἀποθανόντος, κατεῖχον αὐτὴν καὶ Δηιφόβῳ συνῴκιζον, ὡς μέγιστον ἀγαθὸν ἔχοντες ἐν τῇ πόλει καὶ φοβούμενοι μὴ καταλίποι αὑτούς.

  [66] If this had not been the case, would any of them, would any of the brothers or the father have endured it while their fellow-countrymen perished and the city was in danger of total destruction on account of Paris’ lawless act, when by the surrender of Helen they might have saved themselves? Yet according to the story, they even afterwards upon the death of Paris kept her and married her to Deïphobus, as though it were a very great boon to have her in the city and they feared she might desert them.

  [67] καίτοιεἰ πρότερον ἐρῶσα τοῦ Ἀλεξάνδρου ἔμενεν, πῶς ἔτι ἐβούλετο μένειν, εἰ μὴ καὶ Δηιφόβου αὐτὴν ἐρασθῆναι λέγουσιν; εἰκὸς γὰρ ἦν πεῖσαι τοὺς Τρῶας, ἀποδοῦναι αὐτὴν ἑτοίμους ὄντας. εἰ δὲ ἐφοβεῖτο τοὺς Ἀχαιούς, διαλύσεις πρότερον εὑρέσθαι χρῆν: καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνοι ἀγαπητῶς ἂν ἀπηλλάγησαν τοῦ πολέμου, πλείστωνκαὶ ἀρίστων τεθνηκότων. ἀλλ᾽ οὐ γὰρ ἦν ἀληθὲς τὸ τῆς ἁρπαγῆς οὐδὲ παρέσχον αἰτίαν τοῦ πολέμου οἱ Τρῶες, ὅθεν εὐέλπιδες ἦσαν περιγενέσθαι. οἱ γὰρ ἄνθρωποι, ἐν οἷς ἂν ἀδικῶνται, μέχρι ἐσχάτου ὑπομένουσιν ἀμυνόμενοι.