[8] τῶν ἰδίων ἱκανοὶ ὦμεν βουλεύεσθαι καὶ λέγειν. ἄτοπον γὰρ τοὺς μὲν ἀρτιάζοντας σύνεσιν ἐπιδείκνυσθαι, καὶ ταῦτα εἰκάζοντας καὶ μὴ ὁρῶντας τοῦτο περὶ οὗ ἀποφαίνονται, τοὺς δὲ περὶ πραγμάτων βουλευομένους μήτε ξύνεσιν μήτε ἐπιστήμην μήτε ἐμπειρίαν ἐπιδείκνυσθαι, καὶ τούτων ἐνίοτε τῶν μεγίστων ὄντων, περὶ ὁμονοίας καὶ φιλίας οἰκιῶν καὶ πόλεων καὶ περὶ εἰρήνης καὶ πολέμου καὶ περὶ κατοικισμοῦ καὶ περὶ κατοικίσεως, περί τε παίδων καὶ περὶ γυναικῶν.
[8] For it is absurd that while those playing at odd and even show intelligence, and that too when they are guessing and do not see the thing about which they make a guess, yet those who are deliberating about public matters should display neither intelligence, nor knowledge, nor experience, although these matters are sometimes of the greatest importance, such as concord and friendship of families and states, peace and war, colonization and the organization of colonies, the treatment of children and of wives.
THE TWENTY-SEVENTH DISCOURSE: A SHORT TALK ON WHAT TAKES PLACE AT A SYMPOSIUM
ΔΙΑΤΡΙΒΗ ΠΕΡΙ ΤΩΝ ΕΝ ΣΥΜΠΟΣΙΩΙ.
THE TWENTY-SEVENTH DISCOURSE: A SHORT TALK ON WHAT TAKES PLACE AT A SYMPOSIUM
Dio begins by saying that it is at symposia and at the great national festivals that the characters of men are shown most clearly. Then, after speaking of the varied effects of wine on men according to their characters, he passes on to a description of the different types of men seen at one of the national festivals such as the Isthmian games. The last type mentioned is the philosopher, who finds it just as difficult to get the attention of men as the physician does. The elaboration of this thought, and the comments on the foolishness of men in giving no heed to either their bodies or their souls, take up the second half of the Discourse.
From this brief outline it will be seen that the title is not very suitable. What Bio says about symposia and national festivals is merely to gain attention for his real theme, which is the folly of men in taking no thought of either body or soul until trouble is actually upon them. It is very natural for Bio here, as in other parts of his writings, to refer to bodily infirmities, because he suffered from ill health himself as a result of the hardships incurred in exile.
The simplicity of the ideas expressed and their similarity to those found in the eighth and ninth Discourses, which belong to the period of Dio’s exile, make it seem probable that this Discourse also was written in that period.
[1] Οἱ ἄνθρωποι γίγνονται καταφανεῖς ὁποίαν ἔχουσι διάνοιαν ἕκαστος ἐν ταῖς πανηγύρεσιν οὐχ ἧττον ἢ ἐν τοῖς συμποσίοις, πλὴν ὅτι ποικιλώτερον τὸ τῶν πανηγύρεων καὶ χρόνου πλείονος. οὐκοῦν εἰς τὰ συμπόσια δήπου οἱ μέν τινες ἀφικνοῦνται τοῦ πιεῖν ἕνεκεν καὶ οὐθὲν ἄλλο πράττουσιν, ὥσπερ οἱ διψῶντες τῶν ὁδοιπόρων, ἐπειδὰν ἔλθωσιν ἐπὶ κρήνην τινά, πίνουσιν ἐπικύψαντες. ἀλλὰ ἐκεῖνοι μὲν ἐμπλησθέντες καὶ τὸ δίψος ἀποσβέσαντες ἡσυχῇ ἀπαλλάττονται, οὔτε πράξαντες οὔτε εἰπόντες ἄτοπον οὐδέν: οἱ δὲ
THE TWENTY-SEVENTH DISCOURSE: A SHORT TALK ON WHAT TAKES PLACE AT A SYMPOSIUM
The qualities of mind and character of individual men stand revealed at our national festivals no less than at symposia, except that at festivals the revelation is more varied and extends over a longer period of time.
As of the symposia, we may assume that some persons attend for the sake of drinking and devote themselves to that, just as thirsty wayfarers when they come to a spring stoop down and drink. Yet travellers, when they have drunk their fill and quenched their thirst, quietly go their way without having done or said anything indecorous, but the others, on the contrary, both say and do many disagreeable things at times.
[2] πολλὰ καὶ δυσχερῆ ἐνίοτε καὶ λέγουσι καὶ δρῶσιν. οὐ γὰρ ὁμοίως ὑποδέχονται [p. 284] τοὺς δεομένους αὐτῶν αἵ τε Νύμφαι καὶ ὁ Διόνυσος: ἀλλὰ ἅτε διθύραμβος ὢν ὁ Διόνυσος καὶ ὑπὸ κεραυνοῦ καὶ βροντῆς γενόμενος, ὥς φασιν οἱ ποιηταί, τοὺς ἀμαθέστερον χρωμένους ἀτεχνῶς πυρὸς πίμπλησι καὶ τῷ ὄντι πολλοὺς αὐτῶν ἐμβροντήτους ἐποίησεν. οὗτοι μὲν οὖν σχεδόν τι μαινόμενοι πολλὰ κακὰ δρῶσιν, ὥσπερ Ὅμηρός φησι τὸν Κένταυρον μεθυσθέντα ἐν τῇ τοῦ
[2] For Dionysus does not welcome his votaries who need him with the same sort of welcome as the Nymphs do theirs; but since he is of a frenzied nature and the child of lightning and thunder, as the poets say, he literally fills with fire those who use him in too ignorant a way, and actually makes the majority of them thunderstruck or stupefied. Nay rather, his votaries, being practically crazed, do many evil things, just as Homer says of the Centaur that in a fit of drunkenness he wrought evil in the home of Peirithoüs.
[3] Πειρίθου οἰκίᾳ κακὰ ἐργάσασθαι. καὶ ἄλλοι δὲ φύσει ἀδολέσχαι οἷον ἀκροατῶν τινων λαβόμενοι τῶν συμποτῶν ἀναισθήτους καὶ μακροὺς διατίθενται λόγους: οἱ δὲ ᾄδουσι καὶ ἀπᾴδουσι, σφόδρα ἄμουσοι ὄντες, καὶ σχεδόν τι μᾶλλον λυποῦσι τῶν μαχομένων καὶ λοιδορουμένων. ἕτεροι δὲ αὐστηροὶ καὶ σώφρονες εἶναι λέγοντες ἀποκναίουσιν ἀηδίᾳ, μήτε ποτοῦ τὸ μέτριον μήτε λαλιᾶς
[3] And others, too, who are naturally loquacious, feeling that they have got their table-companions for an audience, recite stupid and tedious speeches; while still others sing in tune and out of tune, although they have no gift whatever for music; and one might almost say that they give more annoyance than those who quarrel and use abusive language. But there is another class of men who claim to be abstemious and temperate, that bore people to death by their disagreeable manner, since they will not condescend either to drink moderately or to take part in the general conversation.
[4] κοινωνεῖν ἀξιοῦντες. ὃς δ̓ ἂν ᾖ πρᾷος ἀνὴρ καὶ τὸν τρόπον ἱκανῶς ἡρμοσμένος, τῶν τε ἄλλων ῥᾳδίως ὑπομένει τὴν δυσκολίαν καὶ αὐτὸς ὡς οἷόν τε ἀμαθῆ χορὸν εἰς τὸ δέον καθιστὰς ῥυθμῷ τε καὶ μέλει τῷ προσήκοντι, τούς τε οἰκείους λόγους εἰσφέρων καὶ δεξιότητι καὶ πειθοῖ προσαγόμενος τοὺς παρόντας, ὥστε ἐμμελέστερον καὶ φιλικώτερον ξυνεῖναι ἀλλήλοις.
[4] But the man that is gentle and has a properly ordered character, easily endures the rudeness of the others, and acts like a gentleman himself, trying to the best of his ability to bring the ignorant chorus into a proper demeanour by means of fitting rhythm and melody. And he introduces appropriate topics of conversation and by his tact and persuasiveness attempts to get those present to be more harmonious and friendly in their intercourse with one another.
[5] τὰ μὲν δὴ τῶν συμποσίων τοιαῦτα: ἀφικνοῦνται δὲ καὶ πρὸς τὰς πανηγύρεις, οἱ μὲν ἱστορίας ἕ
νεκεν τῶν τε ἄλλων θεαμάτων καὶ τῶν ἀγώνων: καὶ τούτων ὅσοι σφόδρα ἐσπουδακότες περὶ τὸ πρᾶγμα, διατελοῦσιν οὐθὲν ἄλλο πράττοντες ἐξ ἑωθινοῦ: πολλοὶ δὲ ὤνια κομίζοντες παντοδαπά, ἀγοραῖος ὄχλος, οἱ δέ τινες ἑαυτῶν
[5] So much for symposia. But people also attend the national festivals, some just to see the sights and the athletic contests in particular; and all those who take a very great interest in these continue doing nothing else from early dawn. Many too bring in merchandise of all sorts, the tradespeople, that is; and some display their own arts and crafts;
[6] ἐπιδειξόμενοι τέχνας καὶ δημιουργίας, ἄλλοι δὲ σοφίαν τινὰ αὑτῶν ἐκφαίνοντες, πολλοὶ μὲν ποιήματα ἐπιδεικνύντες τραγῳδίας τε καὶ ἐπῶν, πολλοὶ δὲ καταλογάδην συγγράμματα, τὸν σχολῆς ἕνεκεν ἥκοντα καὶ ῥᾳθυμεῖν βουλόμενον ἐνοχλοῦντες: οὗτοι δὲ μάλιστα ἐοίκασι τοῖς μινυρίζουσι καὶ ᾄδουσιν ἐν τοῖς συμποσίοις, ὧν ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἀκούειν ἔστι, κἂν μὴ θέλῃ τις. ἐν τούτοις ὁ δυνάμενος λόγους εἰπεῖν ὠφελίμους καὶ συμφέροντας καὶ τὴν ὅλην σύνοδον εὐσχημονεστέραν καὶ ἀμείνω παρασχεῖν, οὗτος ὑπὸ τῆς ταραχῆς καὶ τοῦ πλήθους τῶν ἄλλων ἡσυχίαν ἄγει καὶ τρέπεται
[6] while others show off their accomplishments, many of them declaiming poems, both tragedies and epics, and many others prose works, so that they annoy the man who has come for a rest and wishes to have a holiday. And these people seem very much like those who hum tunes and sing songs at the symposia, whom you cannot help hearing even if you do not wish it.
But the man who in the midst of these folk has the ability to speak words edifying and profitable and thus make the whole gathering more decorous and better, because of the general disturbance and the great throng of those of the other sort keeps quiet and withdraws into himself.
[7] καθ̓ αὑτόν. πεπόνθασι γὰρ δὴ οἱ πολλοὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἐκ φιλοσοφίας [p. 285] λόγους ὅπερ οἶμαι πρὸς τὰ τῶν ἰατρῶν φάρμακα. οὔτε γάρ τις ἐκείνοις εὐθὺς πρόσεισιν οὐδὲ ὠνεῖται, πρὶν ἢ περιπεσεῖν φανερῷ νοσήματι καὶ ἀλγῆσαί τι τοῦ σώματος: οὔτε τῶν τοιούτων λόγων ἀκούειν ἐθέλουσιν ὡς τὸ πολύ, ὅτῳ ἂν μὴ λυπηρόν τι ξυνενεχθῇ
[7] For really most men feel towards the words of philosophy exactly as they do, I believe, toward the drugs which physicians administer; that is, no one resorts to them at first, nor buys them until he contracts some unmistakable illness and has pain in some part of his body. And in the same way people are, as a general rule, not willing to listen to the words of the philosopher until some affliction visits them, something which men consider grievous.
[8] καὶ τῶν δοκούντων χαλεπῶν. αὐτίκα τὸν εὐτυχοῦντα, ὁποίαν τινά φασιν οἱ πολλοὶ τὴν εὐτυχίαν, οἷον χρήματα ἐκ δανείων τὰ πολλὰ ἢ χώραν ἱκανὴν κεκτημένον καὶ αὐτὸν ὑγιαίνοντα καὶ τέκνων σῳζομένων καὶ γυναικός, καί τινα δύναμιν καὶ ἀρχὴν ἔχοντα μεγάλην ἄνευ πολέμου καὶ στάσεως καί τινων φανερῶν κινδύνων, οὐκ ἂν εὕροι τις ῥᾳδίως προσιόντα τοῖς τοιούτοις οὐδὲ ἀξιοῦντα
[8] To give an illustration: the prosperous man — I use the term in the sense in which the majority use it — for instance, a man who derives a large income from his loans, or has a good deal of land, and not only enjoys good health, but has children and a wife living, or a man who has some position of authority and a high office without war, or rebellion, or any open dangers — such a person you would not easily find approaching these philosophers, or caring to listen to the teachings of philosophy.
[9] κοινωνεῖν τῶν ἐκ φιλοσοφίας λόγων. εἰ δέ τῳ ξυμβαίη τι πταῖσμα κατὰ τὸν βίον καὶ ἤτοι πένης ἐκ πλουσίου γένοιτο ἢ ἀσθενὴς καὶ ἀδύνατος ἐκ δυναμένου ἢ ἄλλην τινὰ ἔχων λύπην, οἱ δὲ οἰκειότερόν πως διατίθενται πρὸς τὸ πρᾶγμα καὶ τρόπον τινὰ ὑπομένουσι τοὺς τῶν φιλοσόφων λόγους καί πώς φασι δεῖσθαι παραμυθίας. κἄν τις ἀπολέσας τύχῃ τινὰ τῶν οἰκείων, ἢ γυναῖκα ἢ παῖδα ἢ ἀδελφόν, ἀξιοῦσιν ἀφικνεῖσθαι τὸν φιλόσοφον καὶ παρηγορεῖν, ὡς τότε δέον σκοπεῖν ὅπως μετρίως φέρῃ τις τὰ γιγνόμενα
[9] But if some disaster should overtake any one touching his livelihood, and he should become either poor after having been wealthy, or weak and powerless after having been influential, or should meet with some other misfortune, then he becomes much more friendly disposed toward that craft, somehow manages to endure the words of the philosophers, and practically admits that he needs comfort. And if it is his misfortune to lose any of his relatives, either his wife, or child, or a brother, he asks the philosopher to come and speak words of comfort, as if he thought it were only then necessary to consider how one may endure with resignation what happens and be able to face the future; before that he does not.
[10] καὶ δυνήσονται ἀντέχειν τοῖς λοιποῖς, πρότερον δὲ οὔ: ὥσπερ καὶ περὶ τὸ σῶμα ἔχουσι σχεδὸν οἱ ἀνόητοι: τὸν μὲν ἄλλον χρόνον οὐθὲν αὐτοῖς μέλει ὅπως δύνωνται ὑγιαίνειν, ἀλλὰ σιτίοις τε καὶ οἴνῳ καὶ ἀφροδισίοις καὶ τῇ ἄλλῃ διαίτῃ ὡς οἷόν τε ἀκολάστως καὶ ἀδεῶς χρῶνται, ἐὰν δ̓ ἄρα τις καταλαμβάνῃ κόπος καὶ πυρετὸς περὶ τὰς τοῦ ἀέρος μεταβολάς καὶ θεραπεύειν σφᾶς κελεύουσι μεστοὶ ὄντες ἀταξίας πολλῆς καὶ νοσημάτων ἰσχυρῶν, οἷον εἰκὸς τοὺς τοιούτους καταλαμβάνειν, ὅπως δὲ μηδὲν ἰατροῦ δεήσονται, τοῦτο τὴν ἀρχὴν οὐ σκοποῦσιν. [p. 286]
[10] It is much the same as the feeling of ignorant persons in regard to their bodies: ordinarily they have no concern whatever about their health, but enjoy foods, wine, and women, and all their other regimen as intemperately and unconcernedly as possible; but if any weariness or fever does unexpectedly seize them owing to the changes in the weather, then they indeed demand to be treated, since their health is greatly disordered and they are suffering from severe illnesses, such as you expect would attack people of this sort. But how to avoid having any need of a physician is a problem which they do not consider at all.
THE TWENTY-EIGHTH DISCOURSE: MELANCOMAS II
ΜΕΛΑΓΚΟΜΑΣ Β ΤΗΙ ΤΑΞΕΙ Α.
THE TWENTY-EIGHTH DISCOURSE: MELANCOMAS II
Dio, accompanied by at least one friend, comes up from the harbour — of Naples presumably — to witness the athletic contests then being held, and has his attention drawn especially to a tall handsome boxer who is training, surrounded by a great crowd of admirers. On asking one of the bystanders who the man is, he learns that it is the boxer Iatrocles, so often the antagonist of Melancomas, who has recently died. This bystander s
peaks in the highest terms of Melancomas both as a boxer and as a man, and is evidently greatly distressed by his death. Thereupon Dio offers various reflections to comfort him.
vonº Arnim, chiefly from a study of this Discourse and the following one, which is the funeral oration for Melancomas, comes to the conclusion that the occasion of it was the Games in honour of Augustus (Ludi Augustales) as held at Naples in the year A.D. 74, when Titus, soon to be emperor and now thirty-three years old — Dio himself would be of about the same age — was either Director of Games (γυμνασίαρχος) there or Exhibitor of Games (ἀγωνοθέτης).
On the other hand, Lemarchand (Dion de Pruse, Les Oeuvres d’avant l’Exil,º ff.) gives various reasons for thinking that Melancomas is a purely imaginary character. He considers it rather remarkable that, apart from one passage in Themistius (i.e. Oration 10, ), who got his information from Dio (see Scharold, Dio Chrysostomus und Themistius, Burghausen 1912), there is no other reference in ancient literature to this incomparable athlete and boxer, no inscription that has come to light commemorating any victory of his. He also shows in detail that this Melancomas is the embodiment of all the youthful qualities and virtues for which Dio shows admiration in other Discourses, and that Dio at times, as in the Euboean Discourse, describes what is ideal rather than actual. And in Dio’s time, he adds, the Romans began to take an interest in athletics, so that outstanding athletes came from Greece and Asia Minor to give exhibitions — note that Melancomas’ father is represented as coming from Caria in Asia Minor. Their contests served to recall the glorious past of Greece. Therefore, may not Dio, who was an ardent Hellenist and who looked with disapproval on the cruel gladiatorial exhibitions (see Discourse .), have wished to increase the interest in athletics by creating and describing this ideal athlete, this gentle boxer, who would not think of injuring his opponent by striking him with his fist armed with the terrible caestus? But this gentleness would make little appeal to most men of Dio’s time.
Delphi Complete Works of Dio Chrysostom Page 252