Delphi Complete Works of Dio Chrysostom

by Dio Chrysostom

  [81] Yet in an earlier passage Agamemnon affirms that the seer who made this prophecy was never a true prophet.

  “So far in the order of events Homer evidently does not treat his readers so cavalierly, but adheres to the truth fairly well except in regard to the abduction; this he does not relate in his own person as having taken place, but depicts Hector as upbraiding Paris, Helen as lamenting to Priam, and Paris himself as alluding to it in his interview with Helen, although this fact should have been presented with especial clearness and the greatest care. A further exception is the account of the single combat.

  [82] οὐ γὰρ δυνάμενος εἰπεῖν ὡς ἀπέκτεινε τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον ὁ Μενέλαος, κενὰς αὐτῷ χαρίζεται χάριτας καὶ νίκην γελοίαν, ὡς τοῦ ξίφους καταχθέντος. οὐ γὰρ ἦν τῷ τοῦ Ἀλεξάνδρου χρήσασθαι,τοσοῦτόν γε κρείττονα ὄντα, ὡς ἕλκειν αὐτὸν εἰς τοὺς Ἀχαιοὺς ζῶντα μετὰ τῶν ὅπλων, ἀλλ᾽ ἀπάγχειν ἔδει τῷ ἱμάντι;

  [82] For since Homer cannot say that Menelaus slew Paris, he favours him with an empty honour and with a victory that is ridiculous by saying that his sword broke. Pray was it impossible for him to use Paris’ sword — when he was at any rate strong enough to drag him alive to the Achaeans, armour and all — but did he have to choke him with the strap of his helmet?

  [83] ψευδὴς δὲ καὶ ἡ τοῦ Αἴαντος καὶ τοῦ Ἕκτορος μονομαχία καὶ πάνυ εὐήθης ἡ διάλυσις, πάλιν ἐκεῖ τοῦ Αἴαντος νικῶντος, πέρας δὲ οὐδέν, καὶ δῶρα δόντων ἀλλήλοις ὥσπερ φίλων. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ἤδη τἀληθῆ λέγει, τὴν τῶν Ἀχαιῶν ἧτταν καὶ τροπὴν καὶ τὰς τοῦ Ἕκτορος ἀριστείας καὶ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ἀπολλυμένων, ὥσπερ ὑπέσχετο ἐρεῖν,

  [83] The single combat between Ajax and Hector is also a pure fabrication, and its ending is very absurd. Here again Ajax conquers, but there is no finality, and the two make gifts to one another as if they were friends!

  “But immediately after this Homer gives the true account, telling of the defeat and rout of the Achaeans, Hector’s mighty deeds, and the numbers of the slain, as he had promised to do, and yet with a certain reluctance and a desire to enhance Achilles’ glory.

  [84] τρόπον τινὰ ἄκων καὶ ἀναφέρων εἰς τιμὴν τοῦ Ἀχιλλέως. καίτοι θεοφιλῆ γ᾽ εἶναι τὴν πόλιν φησὶ καὶ Δία ἄντικρυς πεποίηκε λέγοντα πασῶν τῶν ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον πόλεων τὸ Ἴλιον μάλιστα ἀγαπῆσαικαὶ τὸν Πρίαμον καὶ τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ. ἔπειτα ὀστράκου μεταπεσόντος, φασί, τοσοῦτον μετέβαλεν ὥστε οἴκτιστα ἀνελεῖν τὴν ἁπασῶν προσφιλεστάτην δι᾽ ἑνὸς ἀνδρὸς ἁμαρτίαν, εἴπερ ἥμαρτεν. ὅμως δὲ οὐχ οἷός τέ ἐστιν ἀποκρύψαι τὰ τοῦ Ἕκτορος ἔργα νικῶντος καὶ διώκοντος μέχρι τῶν νεῶν, ὁτὲ μὲν Ἄρει παραβάλλωναὐτόν, ὁτὲ δὲ φλογὶ λέγων τὴν ἀλκὴν ὅμοιον εἶναι, καὶ πάντων αὐτὸν ἐκπεπληγμένων τῶν ἀρίστων, μηδενὸς δὲ ἁπλῶς ὑπομένοντος αὐτόν, τοῦ τε Ἀπόλλωνος αὐτῷ παρισταμένου καὶ τοῦ Διὸς ἄνωθεν ἐπισημαίνοντος ἀνέμῳ καὶ βροντῇ —

  [84] Still he calls the city ‘beloved of the gods,’ and has Zeus say frankly that of all the cities beneath the sun he had loved Ilium best, and Priam and his people. Yet afterwards when the shell fell other side up, as the expression is, he made such a complete volte-face as to destroy that most beloved of cities most miserably on account of one man’s crime, if crime there was. However, Homer cannot ignore the story of Hector’s exploits when he routed and pursued the enemy even to the ships, and all the bravest were terror-stricken at the sight of him. Now he compares him to Ares, and again he says that his strength is like that of fire and not a single one dares to confront him, while Apollo stands at his side and Zeus from above signals his approval with wind and thunder.

  [85] ταῦτα γὰρ οὐ βουλόμενος εἰπεῖν οὕτως ἐναργῶς, ὅμως ἐπεὶ ἀληθῆ ἦν, ἀρξάμενος[p. 137] αὐτῶν οὐ δύναται ἀποστῆναι — τήν τε νύκτα ἐκείνην τὴν χαλεπὴν καὶ τὴν ἐν τῷ στρατοπέδῳ κατήφειαν καὶ τὴν τοῦ Ἀγαμέμνονος ἔκπληξιν καὶ τὰς οἰμωγάς, ἔτι δὲ τὴν νυκτερινὴν ἐκκλησίαν βουλευομένων ὅπως φύγοιεν, καὶ τὰς δεήσεις τὰς τοῦ Ἀχιλλέως, εἴ τι δύναιτο ἐκεῖνος ἄρα ὠφελῆσαι.

  [85] Homer is reluctant to state these things so frankly, yet since they are true, he cannot refrain when once he has started. Then there is that dreadful night of discouragement in the camp, Agamemnon’s panic fear and lamentation, that midnight council, too, at which they deliberated on the method of flight, and that appeal to Achilles in the hope that he might find it possible after all to give them some aid.

  [86] τῇ δ᾽ ὑστεραίᾳ τῷ μὲν Ἀγαμέμνονι χαρίζεταί τινα ἀριστείαν ἀνόνητον καὶ τῷ Διομήδει καὶ τῷ Ὀδυσσεῖ καὶ Εὐρυπύλῳ, καὶ τὸν Αἴαντά φησι μάχεσθαι προθύμως, εὐθὺς δὲ τοὺς Τρῶας ἐπικρατῆσαι καὶ τὸν Ἕκτορα ἐλαύνειν ἐπὶ τὸ τεῖχος τῶν Ἀχαιῶν καὶ τὰς ναῦς. καὶ ταῦτα μὲν λέγων δῆλός ἐστιν ὅτι ἀληθῆ λέγει καὶ τὰ γενόμενα ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν τῶν πραγμάτων προαγόμενος: ὅταν δὲ αὔξῃ τοὺς Ἀχαιούς, πολλῆς ἀπορίας μεστός ἐστι καὶ πᾶσι φανερὸς ὅτι ψεύδεται: τὸν μὲν Αἴαντα δὶς κρατῆσαι τοῦ Ἕκτορος μάτην, ὁτὲ μὲν τῇ μονομαχίᾳ, πάλιν δὲ τῷ λίθῳ, τὸν δὲ Διομήδην τοῦ Αἰνείου, μηδὲ τούτου μηδὲν πράξαντος, ἀλλὰ τοὺς ἵππους μόνον λαβόντος, ὅπερ ἦν ἀνεξέλεγκτον.

  [86] “For the following day Homer does grant some ineffectual display of prowess to Agamemnon, and to Diomede, Odysseus, and Eurypylus, and he says that Ajax did fight stoutly, but that the Trojans straightway gained the upper hand and Hector pursued them to the Achaean rampart and the ships. In this part of his narrative he is also evidently telling the truth and what really occurred, carried away as he is by the facts themselves. But when he glorifies the Achaeans, he is terribly embarrassed, and anyone can see that he is dealing in fiction: when, for instance, he has Ajax conquer Hector twice, but both times without result, once in the single combat and once again with the stone; again when Diomede conquers Aeneas, this time too without any result beyond merely capturing his horses, a statement that could not be disproved.

  [87] οὐκ ἔχων δὲ ὅ, τι αὐτοῖς χαρίσηται τὸν Ἄρην καὶ τὴν Ἀφροδίτην φησὶ τρωθῆναι ὑπὸ τοῦ Διομήδους. ἐν οἷς ἅπασι δῆλός ἐστιν εὔνους μὲν ὢν ἐκείνοις καὶ βουλόμενος αὐτοὺς θαυμάζειν, οὐκ ἔχων δὲ ὅ,τι εἴπῃ ἀληθές, διὰ τὴν ἀπορίαν εἰς ἀδύνατα ἐμπίπτων καὶ ἀσεβῆ πράγματα, ὃ πάσχουσιν ὡς τὸ πολὺ πάντες ὅσοι τῇ ἀληθείᾳ μάχονται.

  [8
7] So not knowing what to credit the Achaeans with, he tells how Ares and Aphrodite were wounded by Diomede. In all such accounts it is clear that he is partial to the Achaeans and eager to extol them, but that, not knowing of anything to say that is true, he is led in his embarrassment to mention impossible and impious deeds — the usual experience of all who oppose the truth.

  [88] ἀλλ᾽ οὐ περὶ τοῦ Ἕκτορος ὁμοίως ἀπορεῖ ὅ,τι εἴπῃ μέγα καὶ θαυμαστόν, ὥς γε οἶμαι τὰ γενόμενα διηγούμενος: ἀλλὰ φεύγοντας μὲν προτροπάδην ἅπαντας καὶ κατ᾽ ὄνομα τοὺς ἀρίστους, ὅταν φῇ μήτε Ἰδομενέα μένειν μήτε Ἀγαμέμνονα μήτε τοὺς δύο Αἴαντας, ἀλλὰ Νέστορα μόνον ὑπ᾽ ἀνάγκης, καὶ τοῦτον ἁλῶναι παρ᾽ ὀλίγον: ἐπιβοηθήσαντα δὲ τὸν Διομήδην καὶ πρὸς ὀλίγον θρασυνόμενον, ἔπειτα εὐθὺς ἀποστραφέντα φεύγειν,

  [88] “In the case of Hector, however, he shows no such a loss for something great and splendid to say — because, I believe, he is telling of actual events. Nay, he says that all fled pell-mell, even the bravest, whose names he gives, that neither Idomeneus stood his ground, nor Agamemnon, nor the two Ajaxes, but only Nestor, and he because he was forced to do so, and that he was almost captured; but that Diomede came to his relief, put on a bold front for a short time, then straightway wheeled about and fled — because, forsooth, some thunderbolts deterred him!

  [89] ὡς κεραυνῶν δῆθεν εἰργόντων αὐτόν: τέλος δὲ τὴν τάφρον διαβαινομένην καὶ τὸ ναύσταθμον πολιορκούμενον καὶ ῥηγνυμένας [p. 138] ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἕκτορος τὰς πύλας καὶ τοὺς Ἀχαιοὺς εἰς τὰς ναῦς ἤδη κατειλημένους καὶ περὶ τὰς σκηνὰς πάντα τὸν πόλεμον καὶ τὸν Αἴαντα ἄνωθεν μαχόμενον ἀπὸ τῶν νεῶν καὶ τέλος ἐκβληθέντα ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἕκτορος καὶ ἀναχωρήσαντα καὶ τῶν νεῶν τινας ἐμπρησθείσας.

  [89] Finally, Homer tells how the trench was crossed, the ship-station besieged and the gates broken down by Hector, how the Achaeans were now crowded into their ships and all the war centred around the huts, how Ajax fights above on the ships and is finally dislodged by Hector and retires, while some of the ships are set on fire.

  [90] ἐνταῦθα γὰρ οὐκ ἔστιν Αἰνείας ὑπὸ Ἀφροδίτης ἁρπαζόμενοσοὐδὲ Ἄρης ὑπὸ ἀνδρὸς τιτρωσκόμενος οὐδὲ ἄλλο τοιοῦτον οὐθὲν ἀπίθανον, ἀλλὰ πράγματα ἀληθῆ καὶ ὅμοια γεγονόσι. μεθ᾽ ἣν ἧτταν οὐκέτι ἦν ἀναμάχεσθαι δυνατὸν οὐδὲ θαρρῆσαί ποτε τοὺς οὕτως ἀπειρηκότας ὡς μήτε ὑπὸ τῆς τάφρου μήτε ὑπὸ τοῦ ἐρύματος ὠφεληθῆναι μηθὲν μήτε αὐτὰς διαφυλάξαι τὰς ναῦς.

  [90] For here there is no Aeneas snatched away by Aphrodite, no Ares wounded by a mortal, nor any other such incredible tales; nay, here are true events, and they resemble actual occurrences. After this defeat the men who had been so completely crushed could by no possibility have renewed the struggle or even regained courage so as to be helped at all by the trench or the rampart, or even so as to save their ships.

  [91] ποία γὰρ ἔτι τηλικαύτη δύναμις ἢ τίς οὕτως ἀνὴρ ἄμαχος καὶ θεοῦ ῥώμην ἔχων, ὃς ἐπιφανεὶς ἐδύνατο σῶσαι τοὺς ἀπολωλότας ἤδη; τὸ γὰρ τῶν Μυρμιδόνων πλῆθος πόσον τι πρὸς τὴν σύμπασαν ἦν στρατιάν; ἢ τὸ τοῦ Ἀχιλλέως σθένος, οὐ δήπου τότε πρῶτον μέλλοντος μάχεσθαι, πολλάκις δὲ ἐν πολλοῖς τοῖς ἔμπροσθενἔτεσιν εἰς χεῖρας ἐλθόντος, καὶ μήτε τὸν Ἕκτορα ἀποκτείναντος μήτε ἄλλο μηθὲν εἰργασμένου μέγα, εἰ μή γε Τρωίλον παῖδα ἔτι ὄντα τὴν ἡλικίαν ἑλόντος;

  [91] For where now was any such strength to be found or any hero so invincible and possessed of a god’s might, that they who were already lost could have been saved by his appearance? How insignificant, for instance, was the number of Myrmidons compared with that of the entire Trojan army! — or the strength of Achilles, who was certainly not going to fight then for the first time, but had time and again in the many years preceding engaged in conflict, and yet neither slain Hector nor performed any other great exploit beyond capturing Troïlus, who was still a boy in years!

  [92] ἐνταῦθα δὲ γενόμενος Ὅμηρος οὐδὲν ἔτι τἀληθοῦς ἐφρόντισεν, ἀλλ᾽ εἰς ἅπαν ἧκεν ἀναισχυντίας καὶ πάντα τὰ πράγματα ἁπλῶσἀνέτρεψε καὶ μετέστησεν εἰς τοὐναντίον, καταπεφρονηκὼς μὲν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ὅτι καὶ τἄλλα ἑώρα πάνυ ῥᾳδίως πειθομένους αὐτοὺς καὶ περὶ τῶν θεῶν, οὐκ ὄντων δὲ ἑτέρων ποιητῶν οὐδὲ συγγραφέων, παρ᾽ οἷς ἐλέγετο τἀληθές, ἀλλ᾽ αὐτὸς πρῶτος ἐπιθέμενος ὑπὲρ τούτων γράφειν, γενεαῖς δὲ ὕστερον ξυνθεὶς πολλαῖς, τῶν εἰδότωναὐτὰ ἠφανισμένων καὶ τῶν ἐξ ἐκείνων ἔτι, ἀμαυρᾶς δὲ καὶ ἀσθενοῦς ἔτι φήμης ἀπολειπομένης, ὡς εἰκὸς περὶ τῶν σφόδρα παλαιῶν, ἔτι δὲ πρὸς τοὺς πολλοὺς καὶ ἰδιώτας μέλλων διηγεῖσθαι τὰ ἔπη, καὶ ταῦτα βελτίω ποιῶν τὰ τῶν Ἑλλήνων, ὡς μηδὲ τοὺς γιγνώσκοντας ἐξελέγχειν. οὕτως δὴ ἐτόλμησε τἀναντία τοῖς γενομένοις

  [92] “However, on reaching this point in his narrative Homer had no further concern for the truth but carried his shamelessness to extremes. He simply turned all the events topsy-turvy and reversed them, holding his hearers in contempt because he saw how easily they were duped in other matters, and particularly about the gods. Besides, there were no other poets or authors where one could read the truth, but he was the first who applied himself to the recording of these events, though he composed his poem many generations after the actual occurrences, when those who had known the facts had passed away along with their descendants, and only an obscure and uncertain tradition survived, as is to be expected in the case of events that have occurred in the distant past. Moreover, he intended to recite his epics to the masses and the common people, at the same time overstating the achievements of the Greeks, so that even the wiser persons would not refute him.

  [93] ποιῆσαι: [p. 139] Τοῦ γὰρ Ἀχιλλέως ἐπιβοηθήσαντος ἐν τῇ καταλήψει τῶν νεῶν ὑπ᾽ ἀνάγκης τὸ πλέον καὶ τῆς αὑτοῦ σωτηρίας ἕνεκεν, τροπὴν μέν τινα γενέσθαι τῶν Τρώων καὶ ἀναχωρῆσαι παραχρῆμα ἀπὸ τῶν νεῶν αὐτοὺς καὶ σβεσθῆναι τὸ πῦρ, ἅτε ἐξαπίνης ἐπιπεσόντος τοῦ Ἀχιλλέως, καὶ τούς τε ἄλλους ἀποχωρεῖν καὶ τὸν Ἕκτορα ὑπάγειν αὑτὸν ἔξω τῆς τάφρου καὶ τῆς περὶ τὸ στρατόπεδον στενοχωρίας,

  [93] Thus it was that he went so far as to represent the opposite of what actually occurred.

  “For instance, when Achilles came to their aid during the assault on the ships, of necessity for the
most part and to save his own skin, there was,” so the Egyptian claimed, “a partial rout of the Trojans, who withdrew from the ships forthwith, and the fire was quenched because Achilles had fallen upon them by surprise; and, in addition to the general retreat, Hector himself withdrew beyond the trench and the narrow space about the encampment, stoutly contesting each step, however, as Homer himself admits.

  [94] σχέδην δὲ καὶ ἐφιστάμενον, ὥσπερ αὐτός φησιν Ὅμηρος. συμπεσόντων δὲ καὶ μαχομένων πάλιν, τὸν Ἀχιλλέα κάλλιστα ἀγωνίσασθαι μετὰ τῶν αὑτοῦ, καὶ πολλοὺς ἀποκτεῖναι τῶν Τρώων καὶ τῶν ἐπικούρων, ἄλλους τε καὶ τὸν Σαρπηδόνα τὸν τοῦ Διὸς υἱὸν λεγόμενον εἶναι, βασιλέα Λυκίων: καὶ περὶ τὴν τοῦ ποταμοῦ διάβασιν ἀποχωρούντων γενέσθαι φόνον πολύν, οὐ μέντοι προτροπάδην φεύγειν αὐτούς, ἀλλὰ πολλὰς ἑκάστοτε ὑποστροφὰς γίγνεσθαι.