Delphi Complete Works of Dio Chrysostom

by Dio Chrysostom

  [34] while others, who are insatiable and wretched, fearing that food will fail them, collect and pile up for themselves as much as they can, and after this, when they have to go, they depart without having a share of anything, but utterly destitute, and leave these things to others; for they cannot take them with them. Now these persons are a laughing-stock and disgrace.

  [35] ἀσχημονεῖν. ἑτέρους δὲ πεττεύειν, τοὺς δὲ ἀστραγάλοις παίζειν: εἶναι δὲ τοὺς πεττούς τε καὶ ἀστραγάλους οὐχ οἵους ἡμεῖς νομίζομεν, ἀλλὰ τοὺς μὲν χρυσοῦς, τοὺς δὲ ἀργυροῦς, ὃ δὴ νόμισμα καλοῦμεν ἡμεῖς, ὑπὲρ ὧν διαφέρεσθαι καὶ ζητεῖν ἕκαστον πλεονεκτεῖν. πλεῖστον δὴ θόρυβον τούτους τε καὶ ἀκοσμίαν παρέχειν, τοὺς δὴ κυβεύοντας, καὶ δοκεῖν τῶν συμποτῶν ἀηδεστάτους. ἐνίοτε δὲ καὶ μάχεσθαι καὶ εἰς χεῖρας ἰέναι καὶ τιτρώσκειν ἀλλήλους.

  [35] Others play at draughts and yet others with dice; but the draughts and dice are not like those to which we give these names, but are made some of gold and some of silver — we call them coins — and over them they quarrel and each seeks to get the greater share. It is these last-named men who cause the greatest uproar and disorder — I mean those who play at dice — and they appear to be the most disagreeable of the revellers. Sometimes, too, they fight and come to blows and wound one another.

  [36] μάλιστα δὲ τοὺς μεθυσκομένους ταῦτα δρᾶν. μεθύσκεσθαι δὲ οὐκ ἀπὸ οἴνου, καθάπερ τοὺς παῤ αὑτοῖς, ἀλλ̓ ὑφ̓ ἡδονῆς. τοῦτο γὰρ ἐν τῇ κοινῇ ἑστιάσει τὸ πόμα παρέχειν τοὺς θεούς, ὥστε ἐξελέγχεσθαι τὸν ἑκάστου τρόπον. δύο δὲ οἰνοχόους ἐφεστάναι, τὸν μὲν ἄρρενα, τὴν δὲ θήλειαν: ὀνομάζεσθαι δὲ αὐτοῖν τὸν μὲν Νοῦν, τὴν δὲ Ἀκράτειαν. τοὺς μὲν οὖν φρονίμους τὸν ἄρρενα οἰνοχόον ἔχειν, καὶ παῤ ἐκείνου μόνου τούτους δέχεσθαι σπανίως τε καὶ

  [36] But it is the drunken who are most inclined to act this way. However, it is not wine that makes them drunk, as it is with us, but pleasure. For this is the beverage that the gods furnish at this banquet to which all mankind is invited, so that the character of each man may be revealed. And two cup-bearers stand at their elbows, one male, the other female; the one of them is called Intelligence and the other Intemperance. Now those banqueters who are sensible have the male cup-bearer and from him alone they accept the drink sparingly, in small cups, and only when it has been so mixed that it is quite harmless;

  [37] σμικραῖς κύλιξι καὶ πάνυ ἀσφαλῶς κεκραμένον. κεῖσθαι γὰρ ἕνα [p. 304] κρατῆρα, τόν γε τῆς Σωφροσύνης, ἑστάναι γὰρ πολλοὺς ἐν τῷ μέσῳ καὶ διαφέροντας τῇ γεύσει ὥσπερ οἴνων πολλῶν: εἶναι δὲ αὐτοὺς ἀργυροῦς τε καὶ χρυσοῦς: ἔτι δὲ καὶ ζῷα ἔξωθεν κύκλῳ ἔχειν καὶ ἕλικάς τινας καὶ τορείας. τὸν δὲ τῆς Σωφροσύνης λεῖόν τε εἶναι καὶ οὐ μέγαν καὶ ὡς ἂν εἰκάσαι τις ὁρῶν χαλκοῦν. δεῖν οὖν ἐκεῖθεν πολλαπλάσιον λαμβάνοντας καὶ ξυγκεραννύντας σμικρόν

  [37] for there is only one bowl, that of Sobriety, has been placed before them, nevertheless there are many bowls available for all and differing in taste, as though filled with many kinds of wine, and they are of silver and of gold; and besides, they have figures of animals encircling them on the outside and certain scrolls and reliefs. But the bowl of Sobriety is smooth, not large, and of bronze, to judge by its appearance. So from this bowl they must take many times as large a portion and mix with it a little of the pleasure and drink.

  [38] τι τῆς ἡδονῆς πίνειν. οἷς μὲν οὖν ἐστιν ὁ Νοῦς οἰνοχόος, οὕτως οἰνοχοεῖν, φοβούμενον καὶ προσέχοντα μή πῃ τῆς κράσεως ἁμαρτὼν σφήλῃ τὸν δαιτυμόνα καὶ καταβάλῃ. τὴν δὲ Ἀκράτειαν τοῖς μὲν πλείστοις ἄκρατον τὴν ἡδονὴν ἐγχεῖν, μηδὲ μικρὸν σωφροσύνης παραμιγνύουσαν, τοῖς δὲ ὀλίγον τι παντελῶς λόγου ἕνεκεν. τοῦτο δὲ εὐθὺς ἐξίτηλον γίγνεσθαι καὶ μηδαμοῦ φαίνεσθαι. τοὺς δὲ πίνοντας μὴ διαλείπειν, ἀλλ̓ ἐπισπέρχειν τε αὐτὴν καὶ κελεύειν θᾶττον ἰέναι παῤ αὐτούς, καὶ προαρπάζειν ἕκαστον. τὴν δὲ ἐπείγεσθαι καὶ περιτρέχειν ἀσθμαίνουσαν καὶ ῥεομένην ἱδρῶτι.

  [38] Now for those whose cup-bearer he is, Intelligence pours out the wine just so, fearing and giving close heed lest in some way he should fail to get the right mixture and cause the banqueter to stumble and fall. But Intemperance pours out a neat draught of pleasure for the great majority without mixing even a little of sobriety with it, though for some she puts in just a very little for the name of it; still this little straightway disappears and is nowhere to be seen. And the drinkers do not take intervals of rest, but hurry her on and bid her come faster to them, and each one of them grabs first at what she brings. But she hurries and runs about panting and dripping with sweat.

  [39] τοὺς μὲν οὖν ἐκείνης ἑστιάτορας ὀρχεῖσθαί τε καὶ κυλίεσθαι προπίπτοντας ἐν τῷ μέσῳ, καὶ μάχεσθαι καὶ βοᾶν, οἷα δὴ ποιοῦσιν οἱ μεθυσθέντες ὑπὸ οἴνου: πλὴν οὗτοι μὲν ἐπ̓ ὀλίγον καὶ μετρίως: μικρὸν γὰρ ἐξαρκεῖ καταδαρθεῖν, ἔπειτα ἄμεινον ἑαυτῶν ἔχουσιν, ἅτε ἐλαφρᾶς οὔσης τῆς μέθης: οἱ δὲ ὑπὸ τῆς ἡδονῆς καρωθέντες ὡς ἂν ὑπὸ ἰσχυροτέρου πόματος κατεχόμενοι δἰ ὅλου τοῦ βίου ταῦτα ποιοῦσι, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἀπαλλαγῆναι ζῶσιν, εἰ μή γε ἀποθανοῦσιν. οὗτος γὰρ ὕπνος ἐστὶ τῶν οὕτως μεθυσκομένων καὶ

  [39] Some of her guests dance and lurch, falling prostrate in the sight of all, and fight and shout, just as men do who are drunken with wine. However, these do so only for a little while and moderately; for they are content to sleep a little while, and after that they feel better than ever, since their intoxication was slight. But those who have become stupefied by pleasure, being affected by a stronger potion, act this way all through life; and it is impossible for them to get free while they live but only when dead. For death is the only sleep for people intoxicated in this way and it alone helps them.

  [40] μόνος αὐτοὺς ὠφελεῖ. πολλοὶ δὲ καὶ ἐξεμοῦσιν ὑπὸ πλησμονῆς: γίγνεται δὲ μετὰ σπαραγμοῦ τε καὶ λύπης τῆς ἐσχάτης τὸ τὴν ἡδονὴν ἐκβάλλειν. ὅστις δ̓ ἂν ἰσχύσῃ, κουφίζεται καὶ ῥᾷον διάγει τὸ λοιπόν. σπανίως δὲ τοῦτο συμβαίνει τὸ ἐθέλειν ἐξεμεῖν, ἀλλὰ πολὺ μᾶλλον ἀεὶ πίνειν ἐθέλουσιν. οὐδὲ γὰρ παύονται τοῦ δίψους, ἀλλ̓ ἀεὶ σφοδρότερον ἔχουσι, καθάπερ οἱ τῷ οἴνῳ ἀκράτῳ χρώμένοι. οὗτοι μὲν οὖν τοιοῦτοί εἰσι καὶ καταισ
χύνουσι καὶ ὑβρίζουσι [p. 305]

  [40] Many too vomit from surfeit, and it is accompanied by retching and the severest pain — this casting out of the pleasure. But whoever persists is relieved and gets on better for the future. Yet it rarely happens that a person wishes to vomit; much rather do they wish to keep on drinking. For their thirst does not cease, but ever becomes more intense, just as with people who use untempered wine.

  [41] τὴν χάριν τῶν θεῶν: οἱ δὲ μέτριοί τε καὶ ἐπιεικεῖς τῇ μὲν ἡδονῇ πρᾴως χρῶνται καὶ διὰ χρόνου φοβούμενοι: ὥσπερ δὲ ἄνθρωπος ἐλευθέριος κληθεὶς ὑπό τινος τῶν κρειττόνων, βασιλέως ἢ δυνάστου, τοῦ μὲν ἐσθίειν καὶ πίνειν ἀμελεῖ, πλὴν ὅσον ἀναγκαῖον, προσέχει δὲ τοῖς ἔνδον καὶ τούτοις τέρπεται: κἀκεῖνοι μέθης μὲν καὶ πεττῶν καὶ ἀστραγάλων ἀμελοῦσιν, ὁρῶσι δὲ τἄνδον ὅπως ἔχει, καὶ τόν τε ἀνδρῶνα, ἐν ᾧ κατάκεινται, θαυμάζουσί τε καὶ ζητοῦσιν ὅπως γέγονε, καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτῷ πάντα ὥσπερ γραφάς τινας εὐειδεῖς καὶ καλὰς κατανοοῦσι, καὶ τὴν ἄλλην οἰκονομίαν τε καὶ τάξιν καὶ τὰς ὥρας, ὡς εὖ τε καὶ ἐπισταμένως ἅπαντα πράττουσι, καὶ προσέχουσιν αὐτοῖς, καὶ μόνοι δὴ τοῦ κάλλους

  [41] “Such, then, is the character of these people, and they disgrace and insult the bounty of the gods; whereas the temperate and reasonable enjoy pleasure in moderation and at intervals, owing to their fear; and just as a gentleman who has been invited by some superior, such as a king or a prince, neglects the food and drink, except in so far as he cannot avoid eating and drinking, and pays attention to what is in the palace and enjoys this; so the reasonable neglect the drinking and draughts and dice and look at the state of things within, admire the banqueting-hall in which they are reclining, try to learn how it was made, and observe everything that is in it, just as they would some fair and beautiful paintings; and they notice the management also and its orderly system, and the Seasons too, observing how well and intelligently they do everything; they observe attentively all these things and alone perceive their beauty.

  [42] αἰσθάνονται. μέλει δ̓ αὐτοῖς ὅπως μὴ δοκῶσιν ὡς τυφλοί τε καὶ κωφοὶ μετειληφέναι τούτων, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀπαλλαγέντες ἔχωσί τι εἰπεῖν περὶ αὐτῶν, εἴ τις πυνθάνοιτο, ἅ τε εἶδον ἅ τε ἔγνωσαν. καὶ ταῦτα φροντίζοντες καὶ μετὰ νοῦ τῆς ἡδονῆς ἐμμελῶς μετέχοντες διάγουσιν, εἷς ἑνὶ διαλεγόμενοι καὶ κατὰ δύο καὶ τρεῖς ὅμοιοι. ἐνίοτε δὲ μεγάλης κραυγῆς γενομένης καὶ θορύβου παρὰ τῶν μεθυόντων κἀκεῖσε ἀπέβλεψαν, ἔπειτα εὐθὺς πάλιν πρὸς ἑαυτοῖς ἐγένοντο.

  [42] They are anxious also not to appear to take part in all this like persons who are blind and deaf, but they wish to have something to tell about it when they leave, if anyone should ask them about what they saw and observed. And throughout the banquet they continue to take thought for these things and to enjoy the pleasure intelligently and moderately, while they debate man to man, or in congenial groups of two or three. Sometimes, however, when a great noise and disturbance is caused by those who are drunk, they look in their direction and then straightway again give attention to their own concerns.

  [43] καὶ ἐπειδὰν ἀπιέναι δέῃ, οἱ μὲν ἄσωτοι καὶ ἀκρατεῖς ὑπὸ τῶν ἀκολουθούντων ἕλκονται καὶ σύρονται μετὰ πόνων τε καὶ νοσημάτων κεκραγότες καὶ οἰμώζοντες, οὐδὲν εἰδότες οὔτε ὅποι παρῆλθον οὔτε ὅπως εἱστιάθησαν, κἂν πάνυ πολύν τις αὐτῶν μείνῃ χρόνον. οἱ δὲ ὀρθοί τε καὶ ἀσφαλῶς τοῖς ἑαυτῶν ποσὶν ἀπίασι, προσαγορεύσαντες τοὺς φίλους, φαιδροί τε καὶ γεγηθότες, ὡς οὐδὲν

  [43] “And when they have to depart, the dissolute and intemperate are pulled and dragged away by their slave attendants with discomforts and spells of sickness, shouting and groaning all the while, and having no knowledge whatever where they have been or how they have feasted, even if one or another of them remains a very long time. But the others depart erect and standing securely upon their own feet after bidding farewell to their friends, joyous and happy because they have done nothing unseemly.

  [44] ἀσχημονήσαντες. ταῦτα οὖν ὁ θεὸς ἐπισκοπῶν καὶ πάντας ὁρῶν ὡς ἐν ἰδίῳ οἴκῳ ὅπως ἕκαστος εἱστιᾶτο, τοὺς βελτίστους ἀεὶ παῤ αὑτὸν καλεῖ, κἄν τῳ σφόδρα ἀρεσθεὶς τύχῃ, μένειν αὐτὸν κελεύει καὶ συμπότην καὶ ἑταῖρον ἐποιήσατο, καὶ τοῦ νέκταρος ἤδη οὗτος εὐωχεῖται. τοῦτο δὲ ἔοικε μὲν τῷ τῆς σωφροσύνης πώματι, διαυγέστερον [p. 306] δέ ἐστιν ἐκείνου πολὺ καὶ καθαρώτερον, ὡς ἂν οἶμαι

  [44] God, therefore, looking upon these things and observing all the banqueters, as if he were in his own house, how each person has comported himself at the banquet, ever calls the best to himself; and if he happens to be especially pleased with any one, he bids him remain there and makes him his boon companion; and thenceforth this man regales himself with nectar. This resembles the beverage of Sobriety, but is clearer by far than the other and purer because, as I think, it belongs to divine and true sobriety.”

  [45] θείας ὂν καὶ ἀληθοῦς εὐφροσύνης᾿. — Δ. Παπαῖ, ὦ Χαρίδημε, οἷος ὢν ἡμῖν τέθνηκας, ὡς πολὺ τῶν κατὰ σαυτὸν ἀνθρώπων ὑπερέξειν ἔμελλες, οἵαν δὲ καὶ τῷ πατρὶ καὶ τοῖς πολίταις ἐπίδειξιν σαυτοῦ παρέσχου, μὰ Δἴ οὐ λόγων, ἀλλὰ μεγάλης καὶ ἀληθινῆς ἀνδρείας. ἐγὼ μὲν οὐκ ἔχω ὅπως παραμυθήσωμαι ὑμᾶς τοιούτου στερηθέντας μὴ βαρέως φέρειν. οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐμαυτὸν οἷός τέ εἰμι

  [45] Dio. Alas, Charidemus, what a man has been lost to us in your death! How far you would have surpassed the men of your generation, and what a splendid revelation of your character you have given to your father and your fellow citizens, a display, not of words assuredly, but of great and true manliness. For my part, I know not how to console you of his family, bereft of such a man, by exhorting you not to sorrow too deeply, for I am not able adequately to console even myself for the purpose.

  [46] ἱκανῶς παραμυθήσασθαι ἐν τῷ παρόντι. σὺ δέ, ὦ Τίμαρχε, μόνος δύνασαι τὸν πατέρα τοῦτον κουφίζειν καὶ θεραπεύειν αὐτοῦ τὴν ἀτυχίαν, ἐὰν μέλῃ σοι μὴ πολὺ ἐκείνου καταδεεστέρῳ φαίνεσθαι. καὶ γὰρ ἄτοπον, εἰ τὴν μὲν οὐσίαν αὐτοῦ τὴν μὲν ἤδη παρείληφας τοσαύτην οὖσαν, τὴν δὲ αὖθις λήψῃ τοῦδε ἀποθανόντος, τὴν δὲ σωφροσύνην καὶ τὸ θάρσος καὶ τὸ τῶν καλλίστων ἐρασθῆναι ἀφήσεις, ὡς κατά γε ταῦτα οὐδὲν ἐκείνῳ προσήκων.

  [46] You alone, Timarchus, are able to lighten this father’s grief and
to bring healing to his misfortune, by making it your concern not to be found much inferior to the departed. For it would be strange indeed if, while you have already received part of his property, great as it was, and will receive the other part in the future when your father here dies, yet you should forsake sobriety, courage, and a love for all that is most beautiful, as if in these matters you were of no kin at all to Charidemus.

  THE THIRTY-FIRST DISCOURSE: THE RHODIAN ORATION

  ΡΟΔΙΑΚΟΣ.

  THE THIRTY-FIRST DISCOURSE: THE RHODIAN ORATION

  Some information about the island of Rhodes and its capital city of the same name may contribute to an appreciation of this Discourse. The island, which has an area of approximately 424 square miles, lies in the extreme eastern part of the Aegean Sea and is about ten miles south of Cape Alypo , the ancient Cynossema Promontorium, on the coast of Asia Minor. From it one can see to the north the elevated coast of Asia Minor and in the south-west Mount Ida of Crete. It is still noted for its delightful climate and its fertile soil. There is a legend that the earliest inhabitants of Rhodes were the Telchines, skilled workers in metal, and the Children of the Sun, who were bold navigators; yet, whatever the racial affinity of these people may have been, in historic times the population was Dorian. In the fifth century before Christ its three cities of 1 Lindus, 2 Ialysus, and 3 Camirus were enrolled in the Delian League, but in 412 B.C. they revolted from Athens. Then in 408 they united to form the new city of Rhodes on the north-east tip of the island. This city presented a very impressive appearance, laid out as it was by the architect Hippodamus in the form of an amphitheatre on a gentle slope running down to the sea. After the founding of this city the prosperity and political importance of the island steadily increased. It threw off the yoke of Athens in the Social War, 357 354, and although it submitted first to Mausolus of Caria and then later to Alexander the Great, it reasserted its independence after the latter’s death, greatly expanded its trade, and became more powerful than before, so that its standard of coinage and its code of maritime law became widely accepted in the Mediterranean. In 305 4 the city successfully withstood a siege by the redoubtable Demetrius Poliorcetes, who by means of his formidable fleet and artillery attempted to force the city into an active alliance with King Antigonus. On raising the siege Demetrius presented the Rhodians with his mighty siege-engines, from the sale of which they realized enough to pay for the Colossus, the celebrated statue of the Sun-god, one hundred and five feet high, which was executed by Chares of Lindus and stood at the entrance of the harbour. In 227 Rhodes suffered from a severe earthquake, the damages of which the other states helped to restore because they could not endure to see the state ruined. Chiefly by her fleet Rhodes supported Rome in her wars against Philip V of Macedon, Antiochus III, and Mithridates, who besieged the city unsuccessfully in 88. It assisted Pompey against the pirates and at first against Julius Caesar; but in 42 that Caius Cassius who formed the conspiracy against Caesar’s life captured and ruthlessly plundered the city for refusing to submit to its exactions; and although befriended by Mark Antony after this, it never fully recovered from the blow. In the year 44 of our era, in the reign of Claudius, it lost its freedom temporarily, but recovered it at the intercession of Nero, who throughout his life remained very friendly to Rhodes. Then at the beginning of the reign of Vespasian it was reduced to a Roman province. This has been considered the end of Rhodes’ freedom. Von Arnim, however (Leben und Werke, 217 218), gives good reason for believing that Rhodes was given its freedom again for a short time under Titus. This view is accepted by Van Gelder (Geschichte der alten Rhodier, 175), who suggests that this may have occurred somewhat later under Nerva or Trajan, by Hiller von Gaertringen in his article on Rhodes in Pauly-Wissowa, Suppl. V, col. 810, and by Lemarchand in his Dion de Pruse, 84. Rhodes was noted for its paintings and its sculpture. In Dio’s time the city is said to have had 3000 statues. (See Pliny the Elder .. and cf. § 146 of this Discourse.) Then too it was the birthplace of the philosopher Panaetius, whose pupil, the philosopher and historian Poseidonius, had his school there; Apollonius Rhodius also spent part of his life there; and in this city both Cicero and Caesar in their youth studied rhetoric under Apollonius Molo. This Rhodian oration, by far the longest of Dio’s extant Discourses, purports to have been delivered by Dio before the Rhodian Assembly. In it Dio urges the Rhodians by all possible arguments to give up their bad habit of not actually having the statue of a man made and set up when one was decreed him as an honour, but of simply having his name engraved on some statue already standing, after first chiselling out the name, if any was there, which was already on the statue. This Discourse throws an interesting light upon the time in which Dio lived. Then it was thought one of the highest honours for a man to have a statue of himself which was erected by public decree in a city like Rhodes, so that even Romans sought this honour. No doubt it was because so many Romans whom Rhodes could not afford to offend brought pressure to bear in order to secure the honour of a statue, that this practice of ‘switching inscriptions’ developed. The city already had some 3000 statues in its temples and streets, and yet many others were anxious for the honour of a statue. This was all the vogue at that time. Lemarchand (op. cit., 58) quotes from Cicero, Plutarch, Philo, Favorinus, Pausanias, Pliny the Elder, and Dio Cassius to show that the practice was not unknown elsewhere. Yet perhaps it had well-nigh ceased by Dio’s time, for in §§ , he says that the Thracians alone are guilty of it. Von Arnim thinks that this address was not actually delivered, that it was merely written. The Rhodians, he says, met in Assembly to deal with matters of state, would not have been willing to listen to such a “long-winded expectoration” on a subject not on the order of the day. He points also to the unusually careful avoidance of hiatus. Lemarchand, on the other hand, who believes that we have here at least two addresses by Dio on the same subject, which were later made into one by some editor (perhaps by Dio himself, who then carefully removed cases of hiatus), thinks that at least the first address was actually delivered. He feels that the speech is not a unit on account of the numerous repetitions and contradictions in it which he lists, and on account of two different styles and tones, the one dry and dull, the other vigorous and at times impassioned. Von Arnim, in attempting to date this Discourse, takes into account three factors: Rhodes is a free city (see for example §§ 111 ), Nero is dead (as may be inferred from §§ 148 ), and the Discourse shows Dio as a sophist, yet not hostile to philosophy, as he was in early life according to Synesius. To be sure Rhodes was free until 70 or 71 of our era, but he feels that even then Dio, who would have been about twenty-four years old, he says (about thirty would be nearer the truth if Dio was born about A.D. 40), would still have been too immature to compose such a speech as this. Therefore he would put this speech in the reign of Titus, when, as he attempts to show, Rhodes regained its freedom for a time. Lemarchand, on the other hand, with his theory of two speeches, at least, combined into one, would place the first speech in the early years of Vespasian’s reign, when Rhodes had just lost its freedom. For in this first speech Dio does not one refer to the freedom of Rhodes imply that it is not free, he says. The second speech, where Rhodes is spoken of as free, he would put in the reign of Titus; and he would accept von Arnim’s contention that Rhodes then regained its freedom for a short time.