Delphi Complete Works of Dio Chrysostom

by Dio Chrysostom

  whom Zeus the immortal created?

  And yet the poet says that there were also certain springs of rare beauty in the suburbs, one that was warm and whose waters were most pleasant, such that steam actually rose from it, and the other as cold as ice, even in summer, so that both in summer and in winter the lovely daughters of the Trojans could do their washing without discomfort.

  [21] οὐ μόνον δὲ πλούτῳ καὶ χώρας ἀρετῇ καὶ πλήθει διέφερον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄνθρωποι κάλλιστοι παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς ἐγίγνοντο, καὶ ἄνδρες καὶ γυναῖκες, καὶ ἵπποι τάχιστοι, καὶ θεοφιλεῖς ἐδόκουν εἶναι, καὶ τείχει καρτερωτάτῳ περιπεφραγμένοι ἦσαν. τὸ μέν γε τεῖχος αὐτοῖς Ποσειδῶνος ἔργον ἦν καὶ Ἀπόλλωνος. ὁ δὲ Ζεὺς τῶν ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον πόλεων ἐκείνην ἔφη μάλιστα ἀγαπῆσαι. τάχος δ᾽ ἵππων, ὥστε ἐπ᾽ ἄκρων θεῖν τῶν σταχύων. ἐπὶ κάλλει δὲ Γανυμήδην ὁ Ζεὺς ἐποιήσατο οἰνοχόον. Ἀλεξάνδρῳ δὲ ἐκ τῆς Ἑλλάδος ἐπηκολούθησεν ἡ ἀρίστη τῶν ἐκεῖθεν γυναικῶν. τὴν δὲ Κασσάνδραν Ὅμηρος οὔ φησι λείπεσθαι τῆς Ἀφροδίτης τὸ εἶδος.

  [21] And not only were the Trojans distinguished for wealth and richness of soil and number of inhabitants, but also human beings born at Troy were very beautiful, both men and women, horses were very fleet, the people were held to be dear to the gods, and they were fenced about with a circuit-wall most strong — in fact that wall of theirs was the work of Poseidon and Apollo. Moreover, Zeus declared that of all the cities beneath the sun he loved that city most. Such was the fleetness of their steeds that they could run upon the tips of the heads of grain, such the beauty of Ganymede that he was made the cupbearer of Zeus; and Alexander lured away from Greece the noblest woman of that land; as for Cassandra, Homer declares that she was not inferior to Aphroditê in beauty.

  [22] ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως, ἐπειδὴ τρυφὴ καὶ ὕβρις εἰσῆλθεν αὐτοὺς καὶ παιδείας καὶ σωφροσύνης οὐδὲν ᾤοντο δεῖσθαι, πολὺ πάντων ἀτυχέστατοι γεγόνασιν. οὐχ ἡ σύμπασα χθὼν ταῖς συμφοραῖς αὐτῶν διατεθρύληται; καὶ οὐδὲν ὤνησεν αὐτοὺς οὔτε τῶν ἵππων τὸ τάχος οὔτε ὁ Ζεὺς οὔτε ὁ Γανυμήδης, ἀλλ᾽ ὑπ᾽ ἀνδρὸς ἐξ οὕτω λυπρᾶς καὶ ἀδόξου πόλεως ἀπώλοντο, καὶ ἴσχυσεν ὁ τῆς Ἰθάκης πολίτης περιγενέσθαι τῶν ἐκ τοῦ Ἰλίου πάντων, καὶ τὴν εὐρυάγυιαν ἅπασαν

  [22] But despite all that, because luxury and insolence came upon them and they thought they had no need of culture and sobriety, they have become by far the most unfortunate of all men. Has not the whole earth been filled with the tale of their disasters? Yea, neither the speed of their horses nor Zeus nor Ganymede availed them aught, but a man from a city so wretched and obscure destroyed them, and that citizen of Ithaca was able to overcome the men of Ilium one and all and to pillage utterly and destroy the ‘wide-wayed land.’

  [23] πορθῆσαι καὶ ἀνελεῖν; οὐδὲ γὰρ οὐδ᾽ οἱ θεοὶ φιλοῦσιν ἔτι τοὺς ἀσελγεῖς καὶ ἄφρονας καὶ ἀκολάστους καὶ πρὸς ὕβριν ἐγκλίνοντας καὶ ῥᾳθυμίαν καὶ τρυφήν. ὥστε μὴ τούτοις θαρρεῖτε μηδὲ ἀποδέχεσθε τὸν συνηδόμενον ὑμῖν καὶ θαυμάζοντα λόγον μηδὲ τοὺς δεινοὺς ἐγκωμιάζειν: οὗτοι μὲν γὰρ ἐξαπατῶσιν ὑμᾶς καὶ μάτην ἐπαίρουσιν, ὥσπερ νηπίους παῖδας: ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον, ὃς ὑμῖν δείξει [p. 304] τι τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων, καὶ πρῶτον ἁπάντων, ἂν δύνηται, παρασκευάσει φρονεῖν ὑμᾶς, ὅτι τούτων ἕνεκεν, ὧν εἶπον, οὐκ ἐστὲ εὐδαίμονες, οὐδ᾽ ἂν ὁ Νεῖλος ὑμῶν διέρχηται τὴν πόλιν τῆς Κασταλίας γενόμενος διαυγέστερος, οὐδ᾽ ἂν ὁ Πακτωλὸς ἐνθάδε φανεὶς μὴ κατὰ ψῆγμα τὸ χρυσίον ὑμῖν φέρῃ, καθάπερ φασὶ Λυδοῖς πρότερον,ἀλλ᾽ ἄθρουν ὥσπερ ἰλύν, μηδ᾽ ἂν Αἴγυπτον ἢ Βαβυλῶνα τῇ πολυτελείᾳ τῶν οἰκοδομημάτων ὑπερβάλλησθε.

  [23] Aye, the gods no longer love men who are wanton and senseless and unrestrained and inclined toward insolence and laziness and luxury. Therefore, rely not on these speakers of yours and do not accept their words of congratulation and admiration or the men themselves who are so clever at singing praises; for they only deceive and vainly excite you like foolish children; but rather welcome the man who will point out to you some of your faults, and will first of all, if he can, enable you to think, because such things as I have name do not make you blessed, not even if the mighty Nile itself should flow through your city with waters clearer than Castalia; not even if Pactolus, appearing here, should bear to you its gold, not grain by grain, as they say it used to do for the Lydians in days gone by, but in a mass like mud; not even if you should surpass Egypt and Babylon in the costliness of your buildings.

  [24] εἰ γὰρ ταῦτα δύναται ποιεῖν ἀνθρώπους μακαρίους, ποταμὸς ἢ κρᾶσις ἀέρος ἢ τόπος γῆς ἢ καὶ θαλάττης λιμένες ἢ ναὸς ἢ τεῖχος, οὐκ ἔστιν εἰπεῖν ὅσων λείπεσθε. Βυζαντίους ἐκείνους ἀκούετε παρ᾽ αὐτὸνοἰκοῦντας τὸν Πόντον, μικρὸν ἔξω τοῦ στόματος, αὐτομάτων ἰχθύων αὐτοῖς ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ἐκπιπτόντων ἐνίοτε: ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως οὐδεὶς ἂν εἴποι διὰ τὸν ἰχθῦν εὐδαίμονας Βυζαντίους, εἰ μὴ καὶ τοὺς λάρους, οὐδὲ Αἰγυπτίους διὰ τὸν Νεῖλον οὐδὲ Βαβυλωνίους διὰ τὸ τεῖχος.

  [24] For if these are the things which can make men blessed — rivers or climate or situation or even harbours opening on the sea or temples or fortifications — it is impossible to list the cities that surpass you.

  You are told that the people of Byzantium yonder, who dwell close beside the Pontus itself but a short distance outside its entrance [reap much profit from their situation], since from time to time fish are thrown out upon their shores without man’s intervention; but still no one would call Byzantines blessed because of their fish — unless he would say the same of cormorants — nor would he call Egyptians blessed because of the Nile, or Babylonians because of their wall.

  [25] οὐχ ὁ Πηνειὸς δι᾽ ἐρήμου ῥεῖ Θετταλίας; οὐχ ὁ Λάδων διὰ τῆς Ἀρκαδίασἀναστάτου γενομένης; οὐκ αὐτὸς ὁ Κύδνος ἄνω καθαρώτερος; τί οὖν; διὰ τοῦτο βελτίους φήσετε ἐκείνους ἑαυτῶν; ἴσως μὲν ἀληθεύετε, ἐὰν λέγητε: οὐ μὴν ἐρεῖτε. τοὺς γὰρ ἀπείρους τρυφῆς καὶ πανουργίας, τούτους ἐγώ φημι πράττειν ἄμεινον. τί δ᾽ αὐτῆς τῆς Ἰταλίας; οὐ Σύβαρις μὲν ὅσῳ μάλιστα ἐτρύφησεν, τοσούτῳ θᾶττονἀπώλετο; Κρότων δὲ καὶ Θούριοι καὶ Μεταπόντιον καὶ Τάρας, ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ἀκμάσασαι καὶ τηλικαύτην ποτὲ σχοῦσαι δύναμιν,

  [25] Does not the Peneus flow thro
ugh a Thessaly that is desolate? Does not the Ladon flow through an Arcadia whose people have been driven from their homes? Is not the Cydnus itself purer higher up? What then? Will you say that on that account the people in that region are superior to yourselves? You might be speaking the truth if you said they were — though you will not say it — for those who are unacquainted with luxury and rascality are in my opinion better off. What of Italy itself? Take Sybaris, for example; is it not true that the more luxurious it became the more speedily it perished? And as for Croton, Thurii, Metapontum, and Tarentum, in spite of the high level of prosperity to which they each attained and the great power that once was theirs, what city is there that they do not now surpass in desolation?

  [26] ποίας πόλεως οὐκ εἰσὶ νῦν ἐρημότεραι; πολὺ δ᾽ ἂν ἔργον εἴη πάντας ἐπεξιέναι τοὺς διὰ τρυφὴν ἀπολωλότας, Λυδοὺς πάλαι, Μήδους, Ἀσσυρίους πρότερον, τὰ τελευταῖα Μακεδόνας: οἳ νεωστὶμὲν τὰ ῥάκη περιῃρημένοι καὶ ποιμένες ἀκούοντες καὶ τοῖς Θρᾳξὶ περὶ τῶν μελινῶν μαχόμενοι τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἐκράτησαν, εἰς τὴν Ἀσίαν διέβησαν, ἄχρις Ἰνδῶν ἦρξαν. ἐπεὶ δὲ τὰ ἀγαθὰ τὰ Περσῶν ἔλαβον,

  [26] But it would be a vast undertaking to attempt to catalogue all who through luxury have suffered ruin: the Lydians long ago, the Medes, the Assyrians who preceded them, and lastly the Macedonians. For the Macedonians, although they had but lately shed their rags and were known as shepherds, men who used to fight the Thracians for possession of the millet-fields, vanquished the Greeks, crossed over into Asia and gained an empire reaching to the Indians; yet when the good things of the Persians came into their possession, the bad things also followed in their train.

  [27] τούτοις ἐπηκολούθησε καὶ τὰ κακά. τοιγαροῦν ἅμα σκῆπτρα καὶ ἁλουργίδες καὶ Μηδικὴ τράπεζα καὶ τὸ γένος αὐτῶν ἐξέλιπεν:ὥστε νῦν εἴ τις διέρχοιτο Πέλλαν, οὐδὲ σημεῖον ὄψεται πόλεως [p. 305] οὐδέν, δίχα τοῦ πολὺν κέραμον εἶναι συντετριμμένον ἐν τῷ τόπῳ. καίτοι μένει τὰ χωρία τῶν πόλεων, ὧν εἶπον, καὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν, οἷα καὶ πρότερον ἦν, καὶ τοὺς ποταμοὺς οὐδεὶς ἄλλοσε ἔτρεψεν, οὐδ᾽ εἴ τι τοιοῦτον ἦν ἕτερον: ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως ὧν ἂν πολυτέλεια καὶ τρυφὴ ἅψηται, τούτοις οὐκ ἔστι πλείω χρόνον διαγενέσθαι.

  [27] Accordingly both sceptre and royal purple and Median cookery and the very race itself came to an end, so that to-day, if you should pass through Pella, you would see no sign of a city at all, apart from the presence of a mass of shattered pottery on the site. And yet the districts belonging to the cities and peoples I have named still remain just as they used to be, and no one has diverted the rivers into other channels, nor was anything else of that sort different once from what it is today; but in spite of that, whatever is touched by extravagance and luxury cannot long endure.

  [28] μὴ γὰρ οἴεσθε τοὺς κριοὺς μηδὲ τὰς ἑλεπόλεις καὶ τὰς ἄλλας μηχανὰς οὕτως ἀνατρέπειν ὡς τρυφήν, εἴτε ἄνδρα βούλεταί τις πεπτωκότα ἰδεῖν εἴτε πόλιν. οὐ ποταμός ἐστιν οὐδὲ πεδίον οὐδὲ λιμὴν ὁ ποιῶν εὐδαίμονα πόλιν οὐδὲ χρημάτων πλῆθος οὐδὲ οἰκοδομημάτων οὐδὲ θησαυροὶ θεῶν, οἷς οὐδὲν προσέχει τὸ δαιμόνιον: οὐδ᾽ ἂν εἰς τὰς πόλεις τινὲς μεταφέρωσι τὰ ὄρη καὶ τὰς πέτρας ξὺν πολλῇ ταλαιπωρίᾳ καὶ πόνοις καὶ μυρίοις ἀναλώμασιν: ἀλλὰ σωφροσύνη καὶ νοῦς ἐστι τὰ σῴζοντα. ταῦτα ποιεῖ τοὺς χρωμένους μακαρίους, ταῦτα τοῖς θεοῖς προσφιλεῖς, οὐχὶ λιβανωτὸς οὐδὲ σμύρνα: πόθεν; οὐδὲ ῥίζαι καὶ δάκρυα δένδρων οὐδὲ τὰ Ἰνδῶν καὶ Ἀράβων φρύγανα.

  [28] For think not that rams and siege-towers and the other engines of war are as ruinous as luxury, whether it is a man whom one wishes to see prostrate or a city. No, it is not river or plain or harbour that makes a city prosperous, nor quantity of riches or multitude of houses or treasuries of the gods — objects to which deity pays no heed — nay, not even if some people do transport to their cities the mountains and rocks at the cost of great physical pain and labour and untold expense, does that bring happiness; instead it is sobriety and common sense that save. These make blessed those who employ them; these make men dear to the gods, not frankincense or myrrh, God knows, nor roots and gum of trees or the fragrant herbs of India and Arabia.

  [29] ὑμεῖς δέ, ἂν μὲν ἐκ τύχης ὁ ποταμὸς μεταβάλῃ καὶ ῥυῇ θολερώτερος, ἄχθεσθε καὶ πρὸς τοὺς πρῶτον ἐπιδημήσαντας αἰτίαν λέγετε: τὸν δὲ τρόπον τῆς πόλεως μεταβάλλοντα ὁρῶντες καὶ χείρω γιγνόμενον καὶ τεταραγμένον ἀεὶ μᾶλλον οὐ φροντίζετε. ἀλλὰ ὕδωρ μὲν οὐ μόνον πίνειν βούλεσθε καθαρόν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁρᾶν:

  [29] But as for you, if by chance the river shifts its course and flows with more turbid stream than usual, you are annoyed and feel that you must offer an explanation to people who have come to Tarsus for the first time; on the other hand, though you see the manners of the city shifting and growing worse and ever more and more disordered, you pay no heed.

  [30] ἦθος δὲ καθαρὸν καὶ μέτριον οὐ ζητεῖτε. καίτοι πολλάκις ἀκοῦσαί τινων ἔστι: μὴ γὰρ ἡμεῖς μόνοι μεταβεβλήκαμεν, ἀλλ᾽ οὐχὶ σχεδὸν ἅπαντες; ἔστι δὲ τοῦτο καθάπερ εἴ τις ἐν λοιμῷ διὰ τὸ πάντας ἢ τοὺς πλείστους νοσεῖν μηδεμίαν ἐθέλοι ποιεῖσθαι πρόνοιαν, ὥστε αὐτὸς ὑγιαίνειν, ἢ νὴ Δία ἐν θαλάττῃ χειμαζόμενος, ἔπειτα πάντας ὁρῶν τοὺς ἐν τῇ νηὶ κινδυνεύοντας ἀμελοῖ τῆς σωτηρίας. τί δέ; ἂν ὅλος καταδύηται στόλος, διὰ τοῦτο ἧττόν ἐστιν ἄτοπον τὸ ξυμβαῖνον;

  [30] Yet, though you want water to be pure, not only for drinking but also for sightliness, you fail to seek a character that is pure and free from excess. Indeed one may often hear men say: “Yet perhaps it is not we alone who have changed, but practically everybody.” But that is just as if in time of epidemic someone, because all, or nearly all, were ill, should not care to take any precautions for his own health, or, by Zeus, as if a man storm-tossed at sea, perceiving that all on board were in peril, should therefore neglect his own safety. What! If an entire fleet goes down, does that make the disaster any the less portentous!

  [31] ῾τί οὖν ἁμαρτάνομεν ἡμεῖς;᾿ τὰ μὲν ἄλλα ἐῶ. γελοῖον γάρ, εἴ τις πρὸς τὸν ὅλως οὐκ ἐπιστάμενον κιθαρίζειν, ἔπειτα ὡς ἔτυχε κρούοντα, ἐπιχειροῖ λέγειν ὅ,τι ἥμαρτεν ἢ τίνα φθόγγον παρέβη. [p. 306] τοσοῦτον δὲ μόνον εἰπεῖν ἄξιον, ὃ μηδεὶς ἂν ἀρνήσαιτο. φημὶ δὴ θαυμαστόν τι πάθος ἐν τῇ πόλει ταύτῃ πεπονθέναι πολλούς, ὃ παρ᾽ ἄλλοις τισὶ πρότερον ἤκουον
μᾶλλον ἢ παρ᾽ ὑμῖν γιγνόμενον.

  [31] “Well, what is the fault we are guilty of?” Your other faults I shall refrain from mentioning. For it would be ludicrous if one should try to tell a man who had absolutely no knowledge of the harp, and yet goes on to strike its strings at random, what particular mistake he has made or what note he has misplayed. But so much at least is worth mentioning, and nobody could deny it: I assert that an amazing thing has happened in this city to many people, something that I used to hear occurred formerly in other cities rather than at Tarsus.

  [32] τί δὲ τοῦτ᾽ ἔστιν ἂν μὴ δύνωμαι δηλῶσαι σαφῶς, ἀλλὰ ὑμεῖς γε πειρᾶσθε ὑπονοεῖν: καὶ μηδέν με νομίσητε τῶν ἀπορρήτων λέγεινμηδ᾽ ὃ κρύπτουσιν οἱ ποιοῦντες, εἰ καὶ σφόδρα δόξει θαυμαστόν. μεταξὺ γοῦν ὀρθοὶ βαδίζοντες, λαλοῦντες οἱ πλείους καθεύδουσιν: εἰ δ᾽ ἐγρηγορέναι τοῖς πλείοσι δοκοῦσιν, οὐδὲν ἂν εἴη τοῦτο. καὶ γὰρ τοὺς λαγὼς φήσει τις ἐγρηγορέναι τῶν ἀπείρων, ἐὰν ἴδῃ κοιμωμένους. πόθεν οὖν ἐγνώσθη τοῦτο; ἐξ ἑτέρων τινῶν, ἃ σημεῖά

  [32] However, if I prove unable to explain clearly what that thing is, at least you may try to guess my meaning; and, furthermore, do not think that I am telling any secret or something that the guilty ones attempt to disguise, no matter if their conduct does appear most amazing. At any rate, however amazing it may be, while on your feet, walking or talking, most of you all the while are fast asleep; and even if you seem to most men to be awake, that would mean nothing at all. For instance, anyone unacquainted with rabbits will say they are awake, even if he sees them sleeping. How, then, has this state been recognized? From certain other signs which indicate their sleeping, since their eyes at least are wide open.