Delphi Complete Works of Dio Chrysostom

by Dio Chrysostom

  [14] σχεδὸν μὲν οὖν ἐπίσταμαι ὅτι πιστεύετέ μοι λέγοντι ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀπειρίας τε κἀνεπιστημοσύνης τῆς ἐμαυτοῦ, δῆλον ὡς διὰ τὴν αὑτῶν ἐπιστήμην καὶ φρόνησιν: καὶτοῦτο οὐκ ἐμοὶ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ Σωκράτει δοκεῖτέ μοι πιστεύειν ἄν, ταὐτὰ ὑπὲρ αὑτοῦ προβαλλομένῳ πρὸς ἅπαντας ὡς οὐδὲν ᾔδει: τὸν δὲ Ἱππίαν καὶ τὸν Πῶλον καὶ τὸν Γοργίαν, ὧν ἕκαστος αὑτὸν μάλιστα ἐθαύμαζε καὶ ἐξεπλήττετο, σοφοὺς ἂν ἡγεῖσθαι καὶ μακαρίους:

  [14] Now I am almost sure that you believe me when I speak of my own inexperience and lack of knowledge and sagacity — and it seems to me that you not only believe me on this point, but would have believed Socrates also, when he continually and to all men advanced on his own behalf the same defence — that he knew nothing; but that Hippias and Polus and Gorgias, each of whom was more struck with admiration of himself than of anyone else, you would have considered wise and blessed.

  [15] ὅμως δὲ προλέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι ἐσπουδάκατε ἀνδρὸς ἀκοῦσαιτοσοῦτον πλῆθος ὄντες οὔτε καλοῦ τὸ εἶδος οὔτε ἰσχυροῦ, τῇ τε ἡλικίᾳ παρηκμακότος ἤδη, μαθητὴν δὲ οὐδένα ἔχοντος, τέχνην δὲ ἢ ἐπιστήμην οὐδεμίαν ὑπισχνουμένου σχεδὸν οὔτε τῶν σεμνῶν οὔτε τῶν ἐλαττόνων, οὔτε μαντικὴν οὔτε σοφιστικήν ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ [p. 159] ῥητορικήν τινα ἢ κολακευτικὴν δύναμιν, οὐδὲ δεινοῦ ξυγγράφειν οὐδὲ ἔργον τι ἔχοντος ἄξιον ἐπαίνου καὶ σπουδῆς, ἀλλ᾽ ἢ μόνον κομῶντος:

  εἰ δ᾽ ὑμῖν δοκέει τόδε λωίτερον καὶ ἄμεινον,

  [15] But notwithstanding, I declare to that, great as is your number, you have been eager to hear a man who is neither handsome in appearance nor strong, and in age is already past his prime, one who has no disciple, who professes, I may almost say, no art or special knowledge either of the nobler or of the meaner sort, no ability either as a prophet or a sophist, nay, not even as an orator or a flatterer, one who is not even a clever writer, who does not even have a craft deserving of praise or of interest, but who simply — wears his hair long!

  But if you think it a better and wiser course,

  [16] δραστέον τοῦτο καὶ πειρατέον ὅπως ἂν ᾖ δυνατὸν ἡμῖν. οὐ μέντοι λόγων ἀκούσεσθε ὁποίων ἄλλου τινὸς τῶν νῦν, ἀλλὰ πολὺ φαυλοτέρων καὶ ἀτοπωτέρων, ὁποίους δὴ καὶ ὁρᾶτε. χρὴ δὲ ἐᾶν ὑμᾶς ἔμβραχυ, ὅ,τι ἂν ἐπίῃ μοι, τούτῳ ἕπεσθαι, καὶ μὴ ἀγανακτεῖν, ἐὰν φαίνωμαι πλανώμενος ἐν τοῖς λόγοις, ὥσπερ ἀμέλει καὶ τὸν ἄλλον χρόνον ἔζηκα ἀλώμενος, ἀλλὰ συγγνώμην ἔχειν, ἅτε ἀκούοντας ἀνδρὸς ἰδιώτου καὶ ἀδολέσχου. καὶ γὰρ δὴ τυγχάνω μακράν τινα ὁδὸν τὰ νῦν πεπορευμένος, εὐθὺ τοῦ Ἴστρου καὶ τῆς Γετῶν χώρας ἢ Μυσῶν, ὥς φησιν Όμηρος κατὰ τὴν νῦν ἐπίκλησιν τοῦ ἔθνους.

  [16] I must do this and try to the best of my ability. However, you will not hear words such as you would hear from any other man of the present day, but words much less pretentious and wearisome, in fact just such as you now observe. And in brief, you must allow me to pursue any thought that occurs to me and not become annoyed if you find me wandering in my remarks exactly as in the past I have lived a life of roving, but you must grant me your indulgence, bearing in mind that you are listening to a man who is a layman and who is fond of talking.

  For in fact, as it happens, I have just finished a long, long journey, all the way from the Ister and the land of the Getae, or Mysians as Homer, using the modern designation of the race, calls them.

  [17] ἦλθον δὲ οὐ χρημάτων ἔμπορος οὐδὲ τῶν πρὸς ὑπηρεσίαν τοῦ στρατοπέδου σκευοφορῶν ἢ βοηλατῶν, οὐδὲ πρεσβείαν ἐπρέσβευον συμμαχικὴν ἤ τινα εὔφημον, τῶν ἀπὸ γλώττης μόνον συνευχομένων, γυμνὸς ἄτερ κόρυθός τε καὶ ἀσπίδος, οὐδ᾽ ἔχον ἔγχος,

  [17] And I went there, not as a merchant with his wares, nor yet as one of the supply-train of the army in the capacity of baggage-carrier or cattle-driver, nor was I discharging a mission as ambassador to our allies or on some embassy bearing congratulations, the members of which join in prayers with the lips only. I went

  Unarmed, with neither helm nor shield nor lance,

  [18] οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ ἄλλο ὅπλον οὐθέν. ὥστε ἐθαύμαζον ὅπως με ἠνείχοντο ὁρῶντες. οὔτε γὰρ ἱππεύειν ἐπιστάμενος οὔτε τοξότης ἱκανὸς ὢν οὔθ᾽ ὁπλίτης, ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ τῶν κούφων καὶ ἀνόπλων τὴν βαρεῖαν ὅπλισιν στρατιωτῶν οὐδ᾽ ἀκοντιστής ἢ λιθοβόλος, οὐδ᾽ αὖ τεμεῖν ὕλην ἢ τάφρον ὀρύττειν δυνατὸς οὐδὲ ἀμῆσαι χιλὸν ἐκ πολεμίου [p. 160] λειμῶνος πυκνὰ μεταστρεφόμενος, οὐδὲ ἐγεῖραι σκηνὴν ἢ χάρακα, ὥσπερ ἀμέλει ξυνέπονται τοῖς στρατοπέδοις πολεμικοί τινες ὑπηρέται:

  [18] nor indeed with any other weapon either, so that I marvelled that they brooked the sight of me. For I, who could not ride a horse and was not a skilled bowman or man-at-arms, nor yet a javelin-thrower, or slinger, belonging to the light-armed troops who carry no heavy armour, nor, again, was able to cut timber or dig a trench, nor to mow fodder from an enemy’s meadow ‘with many a glance behind,’ nor yet to raise a tent or a rampart, just as certain non-combatants do who follow the legions as helpers,

  [19] πρὸς ἅπαντα δὴ ταῦτα ἀμηχάνως ἔχων ἀφικόμην εἰς ἄνδρας οὐ νωθροὺς οὐδὲ σχολὴν ἄγοντας ἀκροᾶσθαι λόγων, ἀλλὰ μετεώρους καὶ ἀγωνιῶντας καθάπερ ἵππους ἀγωνιστὰς ἐπὶ τῶν ὑσπλήγων, οὐκ ἀνεχομένους τὸν χρόνον, ὑπὸ σπουδῆς δὲ καὶ προθυμίας κόπτοντας τὸ ἔδαφος ταῖς ὁπλαῖς: ἔνθα γε ἦν ὁρᾶν πανταχοῦ μὲν ξίφη, πανταχοῦ δὲ θώρακας, πανταχοῦ δὲ δόρατα, πάντα δὲ ἵππων, πάντα δὲ ὅπλων πάντα δὲ ὡπλισμένων ἀνδρῶν μεστά: μόνος δὴ ἐν τοσούτοις φαινόμενος ῥᾴθυμος ἀτεχνῶς σφόδρα τε εἰρηνικὸς

  [19] I, who was useless for all such things, came among men who were not dullards, and yet had no leisure to listen to speeches, but were high-strung and tense like race-horses at the starting barriers, fretting at the delay and in their excitement and eagerness pawing the ground with their hoofs. There one could see everywhere swords, everywhere corselets, everywhere spears, and the whole place was crowded with horses, with arms, and with armed men. Quite alone I appeared in the midst of this mighty host, perfectly undisturbed and a most peaceful observer of war,

  [20] πολέμου θεατής, τὸ μὲν σῶμα ἐνδεής, τὴν δὲ ἡλικίαν προήκων, οὐ χρυσοῦν σκῆπτρον φέρων οὐδὲ στέμματα ἱερὰ θεοῦ τινος, ἐπ�
�� λύσει θυγατρὸς ἥκων εἰς τὸ στρατόπεδον ἀναγκαίαν ὁδόν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπιθυμῶν ἰδεῖν ἄνδρας ἀγωνιζομένους ὑπὲρ ἀρχῆς καὶ δυνάμεως, τοὺς δὲ ὑπὲρ ἐλευθερίας τε καὶ πατρίδος: ἔπειτα οὐ τὸν κίνδυνον ἀποκνήσας,μὴ τοῦτο ἡγησάσθω μηδείς, ἀλλ᾽ εὐχῆς τινος μνησθεὶς παλαιᾶς δεῦρο ἀπετράπην πρὸς ὑμᾶς, ἀεὶ τὰ θεῖα κρείττω καὶ προυργιαίτερα νομίζων τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων, ἡλίκα ἂν ῃ.

  [20] weak in body and advanced in years, not bearing ‘a golden sceptre’ or the sacred fillets of any god and arriving at the camp on an enforced journey to gain a daughter’s release, but desiring to see strong men contending for empire and power, and their opponents for freedom and native land. Then, not because I shrank from the danger — let no one think this — but because I recalled to mind an old vow, I turned my course hither to you, ever considering that things divine have the greater claim and are more profitable than things human, however important these may be.

  [21] πότερον οὖν ἥδιον ὑμῖν καὶ μᾶλλον ἐν καιρῷ περὶ τῶν ἐκεῖ διηγήσασθαι, τοῦ τε ποταμοῦ τὸ μέγεθος καὶ τῆς χώρας τὴν φύσινἢ ὡρῶν ὡς ἔχουσι κράσεως καὶ περὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων τοῦ γένους, ἔτι δὲ οἶμαι τοῦ πλήθους καὶ τῆς παρασκευῆς, ἢ μᾶλλον ἅψασθαι τῆς πρεσβυτέρας τε καὶ μείζονος ἱστορίας περὶ τοῦδε τοῦ θεοῦ,

  [21] Now is it more agreeable and more opportune for you that I should describe what I saw there — the immense size of the river and the character of the country, what climate the inhabitants enjoy and their racial stock, and further, I suppose, the population and their military strength? Or should you prefer that I take up the older and greater tale of this god at whose temple we are now?

  [22] παρ᾽ ᾧ νῦν ἐσμεν; οὗτος γὰρ δὴ κοινὸς ἀνθρώπων καὶ θεῶν βασιλεύς τε καὶ ἄρχων καὶ πρύτανις καὶ πατήρ, ἔτι δὲ εἰρήνης καὶπολέμου ταμίας, ὡς τοῖς πρότερον ἐμπείροις καὶ σοφοῖς ποιηταῖς ἔδοξεν, ἐάν πως ἱκανοὶ γενώμεθα τήν τε φύσιν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν δύναμιν ὑμνῆσαι λόγῳ βραχεῖ καὶ ἀποδέοντι τῆς ἀξίας, αὐτά που ταῦτα λέγοντες.

  [22] For he is indeed alike of men and gods the king and ruler and lord and father, and in addition, the dispenser of peace and of war, as the experienced and wise poets of the past believed — to see if perchance we can commemorate both his nature and his power in a brief speech, which will fall short of what it should be even if we confine ourselves to these two themes alone.

  [23] ἆρ᾽ οὖν κατὰ Ἡσίοδον ἄνδρα ἀγαθὸν καὶ Μούσαις φίλον ἀρκτέον, ὡς ἐκεῖνος μάλα ἐμφρόνως οὐκ αὐτὸς ἐτόλμησενἄρξασθαι παρ᾽ αὑτοῦ διανοηθείς, ἀλλὰ τὰς Μούσας παρακαλεῖ διηγήσασθαι περὶ τοῦ σφετέρου πατρός; τῷ παντὶ γὰρ μᾶλλον [p. 161] πρέπον τόδε τὸ ᾆσμα ταῖς θεαῖς ἢ τοὺς ἐπὶ Ἴλιον ἐλθόντας ἀριθμεῖν, αὐτούς τε καὶ τὰ σέλματα τῶν νεῶν ἐφεξῆς, ὧν οἱ πολλοὶ ἀνόητοι ἦσαν: καὶ ποιητὴς σοφώτερός τε καὶ ἀμείνων ὁ παρακαλῶν ἐπὶ τοῦτο τὸ ἔργον ὧδέ πως:

  [23] Should I, then, begin in the manner of Hesiod, a man good and beloved of the Muses, imitating the way in which he, quite shrewdly, does not venture to begin in his own person and express his own thoughts, but invites the Muses to tell about their own father? For this hymn to the goddesses is altogether more fitting than to enumerate those who went against Ilium, both themselves and the benches of their ships seriatim, although the majority of the men were quite unknown. And what poet is wiser and better than he who invokes aid for this work in the following manner? —

  [24]

  Μοῦσαι Πιερίηθεν ἀοιδῇσι κλείουσαι,

  δεῦτε Δί᾽ ἐννέπετε σφέτερον πατέρ᾽ ὑμνείουσαι,

  ὅντε διὰ βροτοὶ ἄνδρες ὁμῶς ἄφατοί τε φατοί τε

  ῥητοί τ᾽ ἄρρητοί τε, Διὸς μεγάλοιο ἕκητι:

  ῥέα μὲν γὰρ βριάει, ῥέα δὲ βριάοντα χαλέπτει,

  ῥεῖα δ᾽ ἀρίζηλον μινύθει καὶ ἄδηλον ἀέξει,

  ῥεῖα δέ τ᾽ ἰθύνει σκολιὸν καὶ ἀγήνορα κάρφει

  Ζεὺς ὑψιβρεμέτης, ὃς ὑπέρτατα δώματα ναίει.

  [24] O ye Pierian Muses, who glorify man by your lays,

  Draw nigh me, and sing for me Zeus your father, and chant his praise.

  It is he through whom mortal men are renowned or unrenowned;

  At the pleasure of Zeus most high by fame are they crowned or discrowned;

  For lightly he strengtheneth this one, and strength unto that one denies;

  Lightly abases the haughty, the lowly he magnifies;

  Lightly the crooked he straightens, and withers the pride of the proud,

  Even Zeus who thunders on high, who dwelleth in mansions of cloud.

  [25] ὑπολαβόντες οὖν εἴπατε πότερον ἁρμόζων ὁ λόγος οὗτος καὶ τὸ ᾆσμα τῇ συνόδῳ γένοιτ᾽ ἄν, ὦ παῖδες Ἠλείων: ὑμεῖς γὰρ ἄρχοντες καὶ ἡγεμόνες τῆσδε τῆς πανηγύρεως, ἔφοροί τε καὶ ἐπίσκοποι τῶν ἐνθάδε ἔργων καὶ λόγων: ἢ δεῖ θεατὰς εἶναι μόνον τοὺς ἐνθάδε ἥκοντας τῶν τε ἄλλων δῆλον ὅτι παγκάλων καὶ σφόδρα ἐνδόξων θεαμάτων καὶ δὴ μάλιστα τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ θρησκείας καὶ τῷ ὄντι μακαρίας εἰκόνος, ἣν ὑμῶν οἱ πρόγονοι δαπάνης τε ὑπερβολῇ καὶ τέχνης ἐπιτυχόντες τῆς ἄκρας εἰργάσαντο καὶ ἀνέθεσαν πάντων, ὅσα ἐστὶν ἐπὶ γῆς ἀγάλματα, κάλλιστον καὶ θεοφιλέστατον, πρὸς τὴν Ὁμηρικὴν ποίησιν, ὥς φασι, Φειδίου παραβαλλομένου,

  [25] Answer, therefore and tell me whether the address I offer and the hymn would prove more suitable to this assemblage, you sons of Elis — for you are the rulers and the directors of this national festal gathering, both supervisors and guardians of what is said and done here — or perhaps those who have gathered here should be spectators merely, not only of the sights to be seen, admittedly altogether beautiful and exceedingly renowned, but, very specially, of the worship of the god and of his truly blessed image, which your ancestors by lavish expenditure and by securing the service of the highest art made and set up as a dedication — of all the statues which are upon the earth the most beautiful and the most dear to the gods, Pheidias having, as we are told, taken his pattern from Homer’s poesy, where the god by a slight inclination of his brows shook all Olympus,

  [26] τοῦ κινήσαντος ὀλίγῳ νεύματι τῶν ὀφρύων τὸν ξύμπαντα Ὄλυμπον, ὡς ἐκεῖνος μάλιστα ἐναργῶς καὶ πεποιθότως ἐν τοῖς ἔπεσιν εἴρηκεν,

  ἦ καὶ κυανέῃσιν ἐπ᾽ ὀφρύσι νεῦσε Κρονίων,

  ἀμβρόσιαι δ᾽ ἄρα χαῖται ἐπερρώσαντο ἄνα
κτος

  κρατὸς ἀπ᾽ ἀθανάτοιο, μέγαν δ᾽ ἐλέλιξεν Ὄλυμπον.

  ἢ καὶ περὶ αὐτῶν τούτων σκεπτέον ἡμῖν ἐπιμελέστερον τῶν τε ποιημάτων καὶ ἀναθημάτων καὶ ἀτεχνῶς εἴ τι τοιουτότροπόν ἐστι, [p. 162] τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην περὶ τοῦ δαιμονίου δόξαν ἁμῃγέπῃ πλάττον καὶ ἀνατυποῦν, ἅτε ἐν φιλοσόφου διατριβῇ τὰ νῦν.

  [26] as the great poet most vividly and convincingly has expressed it in the following verses:

  He said, and nodded with his shadowy brows;

  Wav’d on th’ immortal head th’ ambrosial locks,

  And all Olympus trembled at his nod.

  Or, should we somewhat more carefully consider these two topics themselves, I mean the expressions of our poets and the dedications here, and try to ascertain whether there is some sort of influence which in some way actually moulds and gives expression to man’s conception of the deity, exactly as if we were in a philosopher’s lecture-room at this moment?

  [27] περὶ δὴ θεῶν τῆς τε καθόλου φύσεως καὶ μάλιστα τοῦ πάντων ἡγεμόνος πρῶτον μὲν καὶ ἐν πρώτοις δόξα καὶ ἐπίνοια κοινὴ τοῦ ξύμπαντος ἀνθρωπίνου γένους, ὁμοίως μὲν Ἑλλήνων, ὁμοίως δὲβαρβάρων, ἀναγκαία καὶ ἔμφυτος ἐν παντὶ τῷ λογικῷ γιγνομένη κατὰ φύσιν ἄνευ θνητοῦ διδασκάλου καὶ μυσταγωγοῦ χωρὶς ἀπάτης καὶ χαρᾶς διά τε τὴν ξυγγένειαν τὴν πρὸς αὐτοὺς καὶ πολλὰ μαρτύρια τἀληθοῦς, οὐκ ἐῶντα κατανυστάξαι καὶ ἀμελῆσαι τοὺς πρεσβυτάτους καὶ παλαιοτάτους: