Delphi Complete Works of Dio Chrysostom

by Dio Chrysostom

  [12] At this point I say it is advisable — even if some one, after reading my recommendation of the consummate masters of oratory, is going to find fault — also not to remain unacquainted with the more recent orators, those who lived a little before our time; I refer to the works of such men as Antipater, Theodorus, Plution, and Conon, and to similar material. For the powers they display can be more useful to us because, when we read them, our judgment is not fettered and enslaved, as it is when we approach the ancients. For when we find that we are able to criticize what hasº been said, we are most encouraged to attempt the same things ourselves, and we find more pleasure in comparing ourselves with others

  [13] ἂν φαίνεσθαι. τρέψομαι δὲ ἤδη ἐπὶ τοὺς Σωκρατικούς, οὓς δὴ ἀναγκαιοτάτους εἶναί φημι παντὶ ἀνδρὶ λόγων ἐφιεμένῳ. ὥσπερ γὰρ οὐδὲν ὄψον ἄνευ ἁλῶν γεύσει κεχαρισμένον, οὕτως λόγων οὐδὲν εἶδος ἔμοιγε δοκεῖ ἀκοῇ προσηνὲς ἂν γενέσθαι χάριτος Σωκρατικῆς ἄμοιρον. τοὺς μὲν δὴ ἄλλους μακρὸν ἂν εἴη ἔργον

  [13] when we are convinced that in the comparison we should be found to be not inferior to them, with the chance, occasionally, of being even superior.

  I shall now turn to the Socratics, writers who, I affirm, are quite indispensable to every man who aspires to become an orator. For just as no meat without salt will be gratifying to the taste, so no branch of literature, as it seems to me, could possibly be pleasing to the ear if it lacked the Socratic grace.

  It would be a long task to eulogize the others; even to read them is no light thing.

  [14] ἐπαινεῖν καὶ ἐντυγχάνειν αὐτοῖς οὐ τὸ τυχόν. Ξενοφῶντα δὲ ἔγωγε ἡγοῦμαι ἀνδρὶ πολιτικῷ καὶ μόνον τῶν παλαιῶν ἐξαρκεῖν δύνασθαι: εἴτε ἐν πολέμῳ τις στρατηγῶν εἴτε πόλεως ἀφηγούμενος, εἴτε ἐν δήμῳ λέγων εἴτε ἐν βουλευτηρίῳ, εἴτε καὶ ἐν δικαστηρίῳ μὴ ὡς ῥήτωρ ἐθέλοι μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὡς πολιτικὸς καὶ βασιλικὸς ἀνὴρ τὰ τῷ τοιούτῳ προσήκοντα ἐν δίκῃ εἰπεῖν: πάντων ἄριστος ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ καὶ λυσιτελέστατος πρὸς ταῦτα πάντα Ξενοφῶν. τά [p. 255] τε γὰρ διανοήματα σαφῆ καὶ ἁπλᾶ καὶ παντὶ ῥᾴδια φαινόμενα, τό τε εἶδος τῆς ἀπαγγελίας προσηνὲς καὶ κεχαρισμένον καὶ πειστικόν, πολλὴν μὲν ἔχον πιθανότητα, πολλὴν δὲ χάριν καὶ ἐπιβολήν, ὥστε μὴ λόγων δεινότητι μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ γοητείᾳ ἐοικέναι τὴν δύναμιν.

  [14] But it is my own opinion that Xenophon, and he alone of the ancients, can satisfy all the requirements of a man in public life. Whether one is commanding an army in time of war, or is guiding the affairs of a state, or is addressing a popular assembly or a senate, or even if he were addressing a court of law and desired, not as a professional master of eloquence merely, but as a statesman or a royal prince, to utter sentiments appropriate to such a character at the bar of justice, the best exemplar of all, it seems to me, and the most profitable for all these purposes is Xenophon. For not only are his ideas clear and simple and easy for everyone to grasp, but the character of his narrative style is attractive, pleasing, and convincing, being in a high degree true to life in the representation of character, with much charm also and effectiveness, so that his power suggests not cleverness but actual wizardry.

  [15] εἰ γοῦν ἐθελήσειας αὐτοῦ τῇ περὶ τὴν Ἀνάβασιν πραγματείᾳ σφόδρα ἐπιμελῶς ἐντυχεῖν, οὐδένα λόγον εὑρήσεις τῶν ὑπὸ σοῦ λεχθῆναι δυνησομένων, ὃν οὐ διείληπται καὶ κανόνος ἂν τρόπον ὑπόσχοι τῷ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀπευθῦναι ἢ μιμήσασθαι βουλομένῳ. εἴτε γὰρ θαρρῦναι τοὺς σφόδρα καταπεπτωκότας χρήσιμον πολιτικῷ ἀνδρί, καὶ πολλάκις ὡς χρὴ τοῦτο ποιεῖν δείκνυσιν: εἴτε προτρέψαι καὶ παρακαλέσαι, οὐδεὶς Ἑλληνικῆς φωνῆς ἐπαΐων οὐκ ἂν ἐπαρθείη

  [15] If, for instance, you should be willing to read his work on the March Inland very carefully, you will find no speech, such as you will one day possess the ability to make, whose subject matter he has not dealt with and can offer as a kind of norm to any man who wishes to steer his course by him or imitate him. If it is needful for the statesman to encourage those who are in the depths of despondency, time and again our writer shows how to do this; or if the need is to incite and exhort, no one who understands the Greek language could fail to be aroused by Xenophon’s hortatory speeches.

  [16] τοῖς προτρεπτικοῖς Ξενοφῶντος λόγοις ῾ἐμοὶ γοῦν κινεῖται ἡ διάνοια καὶ ἐνίοτε δακρύω μεταξὺ διὰ τοσούτων ἐτῶν τοῖς λόγοις ἐντυγχάνων̓ εἴτε μέγα φρονοῦσι καὶ ἐπηρμένοις ὁμιλῆσαι φρονίμως καὶ μήτε παθεῖν τι ὑπ̓ αὐτῶν δυσχερανάντων μήτε ἀπρεπῶς δουλῶσαι τὴν αὑτοῦ διάνοιαν καὶ τὸ ἐκείνοις κεχαρισμένον ἐκ παντὸς ποιῆσαι, καὶ ταῦτα ἔνεστιν. καὶ ἀπορρήτοις δὲ λόγοις ὡς προσήκει χρήσασθαι καὶ πρὸς στρατηγοὺς ἄνευ πλήθους καὶ πρὸς πλῆθος οὐ κατὰ ταὐτὸ, καὶ βασιλικοῖς τίνα τρόπον διαλεχθῆναι, καὶ ἐξαπατῆσαι ὅπως πολεμίους μὲν ἐπὶ βλάβῃ, φίλους δ̓ ἐπὶ τῷ συμφέροντι, καὶ μάτην ταραττομένοις ἀλύπως τἀληθὲς καὶ πιστῶς εἰπεῖν, καὶ τὸ μὴ ῥᾳδίως πιστεύειν τοῖς ὑπερέχουσι, καὶ οἷς ἐξαπατῶσιν οἱ ὑπερέχοντες καὶ οἷς καταστρατηγοῦσι καὶ καταστρατηγοῦνται ἄνθρωποι, πάντα ταῦτα ἱκανῶς τὸ σύνταγμα περιέχει.

  [16] My own heart, at any rate, is deeply moved and at times I weep even as I read his account of all those deeds of valour. Or, if it is necessary to deal prudently with those who are proud and conceited and to avoid, on the one hand, being affected in any way by their displeasure, or, on the other, enslaving one’s own spirit to them in unseemly fashion and doing their will in everything, guidance in this also is to be found in him. And also how to hold secret conferences both with generals apart from the common soldiers and with the soldiers in the same way; the proper manner of conversing with kings and princes; how to deceive enemies to their hurt and friends for their own benefit; how to tell the plain truth to those who are needlessly disturbed without giving offence, and to make them believe it; how not to trust too readily those in authority over you, and the means by which such persons deceive their inferiors, and the way in which men outwit and are outwitted —

  [17] ἅτε γὰρ οἶμαι μιγνὺς ταῖς πράξεσι τοὺς λόγους, οὐκ ἐξ ἀκοῆς παραλαβὼν οὐδὲ μιμησάμενος, ἀλλ̓ αὐτὸς πράξας ἅμα καὶ εἰπών, πιθανωτάτους ἐποίησεν ἐν ἅπασί τε τοῖς συντάγμασι καὶ ἐν τούτῳ μάλιστα, οὗ ἐπιμνησθεὶς ἐτύγχανον. καὶ εὖ ἴσθι, οὐδένα σοι τρόπον μεταμελήσει, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν βουλῇ καὶ ἐν δήμῳ ὀρέγοντός σοι [p. 256] χεῖρα α�
��σθήσῃ τοῦ ἀνδρός, εἰ αὐτῷ προθύμως καὶ φιλοτίμως ἐντυγχάνοις.

  [17] on all these points Xenophon’s treatise gives adequate information. For I imagine that it is because he combines deeds with words, because he did not learn by hearsay nor by copying, but by doing deeds himself as well as telling of them, that he made his speeches most convincingly true to life in all his works and especially in this one which I chanced to mention. And be well assured that you will have no occasion to repent, but that both in the senate and before the people you will find this great man reaching out a hand to you if you earnestly and diligently read him.

  [18] γράφειν μὲν οὖν οὐ συμβουλεύω σοι αὐτῷ ἀλλ̓ ἢ σφόδρα ἀραιῶς, ἐπιδιδόναι δὲ μᾶλλον. πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ ὁμοιότερος τῷ λέγοντι ὁ ὑπαγορεύων τοῦ γράφοντος: ἔπειτα ἐλάττονι πόνῳ γίγνεται: ἔπειτα πρὸς δύναμιν μὲν ἧττον συλλαμβάνει τοῦ γράφειν, πρὸς ἕξιν δὲ πλεῖον. καὶ γράφειν δὲ οὐ ταῦτά σε ἀξιῶ τὰ σχολικὰ πλάσματα, ἀλλ̓, εἴπερ ἄρα, τινὰ τῶν λόγων, οἷς ἂν ἡσθῇς ἐντυγχάνων, μάλιστα τῶν Ξενοφωντείων, ἢ ἀντιλέγοντα τοῖς

  [18] Writing, however, I do not advise you to engage in with your own hand, or only very rarely, but rather to dictate to a secretary. For, in the first place, the one who utters his thoughts aloud is more nearly in the mood of a man addressing an audience than is one who writes, and, in the second place, less labour is involved. Again, while it contributes less to effectiveness in delivery than writing does, it contributes more to your habit of readiness. But when you do write, I do not think it best for you to write these made-up school exercises; yet if you must write, take one of the speeches that you enjoy reading, preferably one of Xenophon’s, and either oppose what he said, or advance the same arguments in a different way.

  [19] εἰρημένοις ἢ τὰ αὐτὰ ἕτερον τρόπον ὑποβάλλοντα. καὶ ἀναλαμβάνειν μέντοι, εἴ σοι ῥᾴδιον μεμνῆσθαι, τὰ ἐκείνων ἄμεινον. τῷ τε γὰρ τρόπῳ τῆς ἀπαγγελίας καὶ τῇ ἀκριβείᾳ τῶν διανοημάτων πάνυ συνήθεις ποιεῖ. λέγω δὲ οὐχ ἵνα σύνταγμά τι ὅλον, ὥσπερ οἱ παῖδες, εἴρων συνάπτῃς, ἀλλ̓ ἵνα, εἴ τί σοι σφόδρα ἀρέσειε, τοῦτο κατάσχῃς. πλείονα περὶ τούτου μειρακίῳ ἂν ἔγραψα, σοὶ δὲ ἀρκεῖ τοσαῦτα. καὶ γὰρ εἰ ἐλάχιστα ἀναλάβοις, πολὺ ὀνήσει: καὶ εἰ δυσκόλως ἔχοις καὶ μετὰ ὀδύνης πράττοις, οὐκ ἐξ

  [19] And yet repeating what his speeches contain is better still if you have a good memory for it. For this makes one thoroughly familiar with both the way he expresses his thoughts and the accuracy with which his thoughts are conceived. I say this, not to encourage you to string together line for line an entire treatise, as schoolboys do, but that you may thoroughly master anything that happens to please you especially. I should have written at great length about this to a lad, but for you, thus much is sufficient. For if you call to memory only very small portions, you will derive great benefit; whereas if you should feel disinclined and find the effort painful, this work is not absolutely necessary.

  [20] ἅπαντος ἀναγκαῖον. ἀλλὰ ἔοικα μὲν πάνυ μηκῦναι τὴν συμβουλίαν: σὺ δὲ αἴτιος ἀναπείσας καὶ προκαλεσάμενος: ὥσπερ οἱ ἐν πάλῃ ὑπερέχοντες τοῖς ἀσθενεστέροις ὑπείκοντες ἐνίοτε ἐποίησαν αὐτοὺς πείθεσθαι ἰσχυροτέρους εἶναι: καὶ σὺ ἔοικας, ἃ κρεῖττον τυγχάνεις εἰδώς, ἐμὲ προτρέψαι ὡς ἔλαττον ἐπισταμένῳ γράψαι. βουλοίμην δ̓ ἄν, εἴ σοι κεχαρισμένον εἴη, καὶ ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ ποτε ἡμᾶς γενέσθαι, ἵνα

  [20] Well, I seem to have extended my advice to great length, but you yourself are to blame for that by persuading and challenging me. Just as expert wrestlers sometimes give way to those who are weaker and make them believe that they are stronger, so you seem to have led me on to write and tell what you, as it happens, know better yourself, just as if you did not know it so well. But I should prefer, if it proved agreeable to you, that we should get together some time and by reading the ancient writers and discussing them render some service to each other.

  [21] καὶ ἐντυγχάνοντες τοῖς παλαιοῖς καὶ διαλεγόμενοι περὶ αὐτῶν χρήσιμοί τι γενοίμεθα: ὥσπερ τοῖς ζωγράφοις καὶ πλάσταις οὐκ ἀπόχρη εἰπεῖν ὅτι δεῖ τοιάδε τὰ χρώματα εἶναι καὶ τοιάσδε τὰς γραμμάς, ἀλλὰ μεγίστη ὠφέλεια, εἴ τις αὐτοὺς ἢ γράφοντας [p. 257] ἢ πλάττοντας ἴδοι: καὶ ὡς τοῖς παιδοτρίβαις οὐκ ἀρκεῖ εἰπεῖν τὰ παλαίσματα, ἀλλὰ καὶ δεῖξαι ἀνάγκη τῷ μαθησομένῳ: οὕτω καὶ ἐν ταῖς τοιαύταις συμβουλίαις πλείων ἡ ὠφέλεια γίγνοιτ̓ ἄν, εἴ τις αὐτὸν πράττοντα ἴδοι τὸν συμβεβουλευκότα. ὡς ἔγωγε, καὶ εἰ ἀναγιγνώσκειν με δέοι σοῦ ἀκροωμένου, τῆς σῆς ἕνεκα ὠφελείας οὐκ ἂν ὀκνήσαιμι, στέργων τέ σε καὶ τῆς φιλοτιμίας ἀγάμενος καὶ τῆς πρὸς ἐμὲ τιμῆς χάριν εἰδώς.

  [21] Just as it is not enough to say to painters and to sculptors that their colours should be just so and that their lines should be just so, but they derive the greatest help if the critic can see them at work, painting or modelling; and just as it is not sufficient for the gymnastic masters to name the different holds in wrestling, but they must go on and demonstrate them to the youth who wishes to learn; so too in consultations like this, the help would be greater if one were to see the man who has given the advice in action himself. I declare for my part that even if I had to read aloud to you while you listened, for the sake of helping you I should not hesitate, since I both love you and admire you for your ambition, and am grateful for the honour you have shown me.

  THE NINETEENTH DISCOURSE: ON THE AUTHOR’S FONDNESS FOR LISTENING TO MUSIC, THE DRAMA, AND ORATORY

  ΠΕΡΙ ΤΗΣ ΑΥΤΟΥ ΦΙΑΗΚΟΙΑΣ.

  THE NINETEENTH DISCOURSE: ON THE AUTHOR’S FONDNESS FOR LISTENING TO MUSIC, THE DRAMA, AND ORATORY

  In this fragment Dio relates an incident which occurred during his exile. He had come to Cyzicus to meet some friends and fellow-townsmen who evidently wished him to deliver an address in which he should tell the story of his wanderings; but he was saved from doing so by the arrival of a bard who drew the attention of all, Dio included, to himself. Then he speaks of the great pleasure he gets in listening to those who sing and play the lyre and to actors. This leads him to refer to the state of Comedy and Tragedy in his day. At this point the Discourse as we have it breaks off, and we can only conjecture as to what was the subject of the Discourse proper. Possibly Dio went on to speak in detail of music or of the drama.

  This pleasing introduction to his main subject reminds us of the seventh Discourse, in vol. I, where Dio tells of his experience with the hunters of Euboea in order to secure our attention to what follows.

  [1] Ἐδέοντο μὲν πάλαι τῶν οἰκείων τῶν ἐμῶν τινες ἐντυγχάνειν μοι: καὶ τῶν πολιτῶν δὲ ἐλέγοντο ἐπιθυμεῖν πολλοὶ θεάσασθαι, νομίζ�
�ντες πλέον τι παρὰ τοὺς ἄλλους ἔχειν με διὰ τὴν ἄλην καὶ τὴν μεταβολὴν τοῦ βίου καὶ διὰ τὴν δοκοῦσαν αὐτοῖς τοῦ σώματος ταλαιπωρίαν: τελευτῶντες δὲ ἤδη καὶ ἐνεκάλουν, ἀδικεῖσθαι φάσκοντες. ἐγὼ δὲ οὐκ ἤθελον ἐγγὺς ἰέναι πρὸς αὐτοὺς τοὺς ὅρους, ἀλλὰ ἐδόκει μοι τὸ τοιοῦτο παντελῶς ἀχθομένου τινὸς εἶναι τῇ φυγῇ καὶ ἐπιθυμοῦντος κατελθεῖν: ὥσπερ οἱ μηδὲν καταλιπόντες

  The Nineteenth Discourse: On the Author’s Fondness for Listening to Music, the Drama, and Oratory

  A number of my intimate friends had long been asking for an opportunity to meet me; and besides, many of my fellow-citizens were said to be eager to see me, considering that I have a certain advantage over most men because of my wanderings and the reversal of my fortunes, and the bodily hardships which I was supposed to have experienced. And finally they went so far as actually to find fault with me and maintain that I was not treating them fairly. But I for my part refused to go near to the actual boundary; on the contrary, it seemed to me that any such act befitted a man who was utterly crushed by his exile and very eager to be restored; just as those who have left nothing in the cup are evidently very thirsty.

  [2] ἐν τῇ κύλικι δῆλοί εἰσι πάνυ διψῶντες. ἐλθὼν οὖν εἰς Κύζικον ἐκεῖ διέτριβον καὶ παρεῖχον, εἴ τις βούλεταί μοι τῶν ἐπιτηδείων συγγίγνεσθαι. καὶ δὴ τὸ τοῦ κιθαρῳδοῦ τοῦτο ὃ λέγουσιν ἔσωσέ με, ᾠδήν τινα ᾄσαντα αὐτοῖς. ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἧκεν ὁ ἄριστος τῶν νῦν κιθαρῳδῶν, ὡς δ̓ ἔνιοί φασιν, οὐδὲ τῶν πρότερον οὐδενὸς ἐνδεέστερος, ἀλλ̓ οὐδὲ Ἀρίονος τοῦ ἐκ πελάγους, μαντευόμενοι δῆλον ὅτι, πῶς γὰρ ἂν εἰδεῖεν τὸ σαφὲς οὐκ ἀκούσαντες ἐκείνου; — ὡς δ̓ οὖν τάχιστα ᾔσθοντο ἐπιδημοῦντα τὸν ἄνδρα, εὐθὺς καὶ σπουδὴ